Strip paint from MDO

[Justin Choi]

I bought some 1/2" MDO at a nice discount a while back, but it's got primer on one face. I'm thinking about resurfacing a worktop with 1" MDO topped by laminate. Since I'd glue two panels together and apply contact cement to an outside face, the primer is giving me a problem. I want to strip the primer off the MDO without damaging the overlay. Has anyone done this? Is heat better or should I use a stripper? Total area is about 4x10.

[Paul F Franklin]

Even if you remove the paint, you wouldn't use ordinary wood glue on MDO since the phenolic overlay is more like plastic than wood. The APA guide to MDO suggests sanding the overlay lightly and gluing with resorcinol or phenolic type adhesive. So I'd probably sand the primed faces with 100 grit and then glue with something like Weldwood.

[Howard Acheson]

Using a chemical paint remover may be problematic. MDO has one or both surfaces surfaced with a paper overlay and it is treated to be waterproof for external conditions. It would seem to me that paint remover chemicals or heat will damage the surface. I would suggest you try your removal on a scrap or a piece of your MDO>