So here is my dilema, I need to remove the paint from a brass locomotive part in order to rebuild it. I soaked it in acetone to rid it of the CA that was holding it together, I thought it would get the paint, nope. I then tried the time tested brakefluid. Nope, not a dent. I'm going to try the Easy-off tonight, but if that doesn't work I'm at a dead end. Any other ideas out there?
Since its brass, any of the commercial paint strippers available at your hardware store should be fine. You can't hurt the brass. BTW, if you find something really good. let us know. Here is a little primer on "everything you wanted to know about paint strippers but were afraid to ask". CLICK HERE It covers the hazards of using paint strippers and every second line is a warning about death and/or dismemberment. LOL
I just did that.. I just stripped two brass cabeese, and a brass GP9. I started it off with easy off oven cleaner. Let it set on it for about 30 minutes, then took a tooth brush to it. That got most off. Then I soaked them in denatured alcohol over night, and took the tooth brush too them again, along with a small scribe to pick the paint out from under rails and such that wanted to hide. It worked pretty good. That got them this clean.. still need to pick some of the stuborn bits off tho.. HINT: Don't leave the oven cleaner on too long. I left some on one over night, and it tarnished the brass. I am afraid if left on too long, it might etch the brass. I caught mine before it did any irriversable damage tho I think..
I'm trying to stay away from the known carcinogens. Hopefully the Easyoff works, if not Its off to the store for some "tougher" paint stripper.
Having done way too much paint stripping--so my brain is probably kind of soggy--I've found that, if you can break the bond between finish and metal in just one spot, you can then easily make the spot bigger. I've scratched a spot, or used a small drop of medium-strong acid to make a spot, to break the bond, then proceeded outward with traditional strippers. It takes a lot of time and patience. I'm not into soaking stuff for long periods--too many disasters. There are no magic solutions, and some finishes are much harder than others. I've found lumpy finishes are usually much easier to remove than fine, factory-applied finishes. The old carcinogenic Floquil thinner, btw, would remove almost anything. Easyoff is not especially friendly, at least to my lungs. Paints are getting tougher as "paint" suppliers understand the polymerization process. I guess, if I were a model railroader manufacturer, I'd want my paints to be really tough, so to reduce consumer complaints! On one hand, we want the mfgs. to produce highly detailed paint schemes of great quality; on the other hand, some want to remove these durable detailed coatings! I use "paint" in parens because I see coatings everyday that amaze me. You can literally "spray-paint" a working battery on a substrate, or "spray-paint" a diamond-like substance onto a very hard alloy to make it much harder.
Paint strippers http://terrauniversal.com/products/cleanproducts/ultrasonictabletop.php I would think in your neck-of-the-woods, it wouldn't be difficult to find someone with one of these. Conversely, in your neck-of-the-woods, there should be others who would pay you to strip their stuff. If you buy, get one big enough to do HO scale too.
