[SteyrAUG]

Have a new guy question.

I'm trying to strip 30 year old black paint from wood. I have been soaking the items in liquid paint stripper from the hardware store.

I notice that when I strip the paint it almost seems to stain the wood and even with some sanding there is still a lot of black residue that penetrated the wood.

Did I essentially "stain" the wood by letting it soak for 30-45 minutes? Should I be applying the stripper and then trying to wipe it away in just a few minutes?

 

[frankp]

Most of the liquid or gel strippers I know of are 10-15 minutes and then wipe off. They will definitely not work properly if you let them sit too long. Check the directions on your stripper to see what the manufacturer recommendations are. If you've left it on too long, call them and ask what their recommendation is for fixing the problem.

 

[woodnthings]

your paint has become a stain

By thinning it with the stripper it has penetrated the pores and grain. You need a wash of thinner to get most of it, but you will not rid rid of it all. Black is the most difficult to remove.

BTW check your tag line... re pro gun

 

[Manco247]

Are you going to repaint it, if so just use a wash coat over the residue to cover up. Or stain the wood? You may try looking into bleaching the wood, it may, in respect, discolor the black to where it won't be noticable. They do make a wood bleach, but not sure the exact effects on the paint.

 

[Brian T.]

I'll go so far as to say that the original paint penetrated the wood. No solvency hocus-pocus from the paint stripper. Enlarged vessel element diameters in common hardwoods added to capillary action will suck the paint into the wood. Paint on a hot day, cold night and Charle's Law (simple physics) defines an even bigger problem.

You can phuque this up even more with temp swings during the rehab process.

If you go to the trouble to strip the paint off hard with a cabinet scraper, you get to see the same mess as post-stripper.
I leave it. The freckles help to define the horror show that I started with.

 

[Quickstep]

I think you might find that once you've gotten all the paint off, that one more application of stripper will also dissolve the black that got into the wood. Some sanding may help too.

 

[SteyrAUG]

By thinning it with the stripper it has penetrated the pores and grain. You need a wash of thinner to get most of it, but you will not rid rid of it all. Black is the most difficult to remove.

BTW check your tag line... re pro gun

Probably what happened. Unfortunately I really didn't notice until AFTER I started with the clear poly coat. I'm sorta stuck with a two tone project at the moment. But at least I learned that such a thing as "wood bleach" exists. That will be useful for future projects.

Would I get a better result with sanding only? I thought wood stripper would simply dissolve the black paint, I hadn't considered it would penetrate the wood pores.

And finally, are "pro gun" taglines not permitted or something?

 

[SteyrAUG]

Are you going to repaint it, if so just use a wash coat over the residue to cover up. Or stain the wood? You may try looking into bleaching the wood, it may, in respect, discolor the black to where it won't be noticable. They do make a wood bleach, but not sure the exact effects on the paint.

Clear coat. But I'm a step ahead and already did it. Wood bleach probably would have been very useful, I appreciate the tip.

 

[BernieL]

A bit late - but depending on the object surface and shape, I would use a Stanley #80 scarper. I could remove paint off the surface of an average table in about 30 min using the #80. For smaller areas, I use a card scraper and have a set of scrapers for concave and convex surfaces. Scrapers are ideal for removing paints because most paints do not penetrate deep into the woods - they cover it.

The #80 is very easy to sharpen... sharpen a 45 degree angle and leave the burr on it. You can curl the edge back with slight pressure from a burnishing tool. The card scraper is more difficult, but I learned how and in my thinking, if I can do it, anybody can. I even learned to sharpen the curved scrapers and I'm glad I took the time. Scrapers are an important tool in my arsenal and I think they are the most overlooked tool in most shops.

Here is a picture of Stanley #80

 

[Seenya]

Probably what happened. Unfortunately I really didn't notice until AFTER I started with the clear poly coat. I'm sorta stuck with a two tone project at the moment. But at least I learned that such a thing as "wood bleach" exists. That will be useful for future projects.

Would I get a better result with sanding only? I thought wood stripper would simply dissolve the black paint, I hadn't considered it would penetrate the wood pores.

And finally, are "pro gun" taglines not permitted or something?

No, it's misspelled. It says "pron admiring".

 

[SteyrAUG]

No, it's misspelled. It says "pron admiring".

Word filter won't allow "adult content admiring" so I used the internet slang spelling.

 

[HowardAcheson]

>>>> But at least I learned that such a thing as "wood bleach" exists.

That will be useful for future projects. Yes wood bleach might be helpful for something in the future. But, there are three wood bleaches each of which are best for particular applications. Chlorine bleach (Clorox) is used to remove dye stains from wood. It has only a very minor affect on any other discolorations. The second bleach is oxalic acid. This bleach is use to remove mineral and water stains from wood. It has no affect on dye stain and will not materially reduce the color of the wood. Third is two part A/B bleach which will remove the natural color of the wood.

To help determine a solution to your black coloring tell us exactly what paint remove you are using. There are a number which do not do a fast, efficient or complete job.

Finally, there are some discolorations that no bleach will remove. In those cases you either have to learn to love what you have or you need and opaque finish like paint.

 

[johnnie52]

Word filter won't allow "adult content admiring" so I used the internet slang spelling.

I have admired a pron or two in my day. especially those really big one they cook on the barbie down under.

So you admire big shrimp too?

PS, you know we are going to rag on you about this for a long time.... right? :laughing:

 

[SteyrAUG]

>>>> But at least I learned that such a thing as "wood bleach" exists.

That will be useful for future projects. Yes wood bleach might be helpful for something in the future. But, there are three wood bleaches each of which are best for particular applications. Chlorine bleach (Clorox) is used to remove dye stains from wood. It has only a very minor affect on any other discolorations. The second bleach is oxalic acid. This bleach is use to remove mineral and water stains from wood. It has no affect on dye stain and will not materially reduce the color of the wood. Third is two part A/B bleach which will remove the natural color of the wood.

To help determine a solution to your black coloring tell us exactly what paint remove you are using. There are a number which do not do a fast, efficient or complete job.

Finally, there are some discolorations that no bleach will remove. In those cases you either have to learn to love what you have or you need and opaque finish like paint.

You probably just saved me some money and effort.

Here's the item in question.

My plan was to clean them down the natural wood and clear coat them. Unfortunately one went down to clean wood and the other was very, very stained resulting in what looks like two different kinds of wood completely.

At this point I'll probably strip the clear coat and just paint them black.

 

[SteyrAUG]

I have admired a pron or two in my day. especially those really big one they cook on the barbie down under.

So you admire big shrimp too?

PS, you know we are going to rag on you about this for a long time.... right? :laughing:

Once you get to know me you will realize this is small potatoes compared to some of the things you can give me a hard time about.

 

[HowardAcheson]

One thing you didn't mention is the name of the chemical stripper you used. Was it one that contained methylene chloride? MC is the most aggressive stripper. I would bet that the finish used on those bats is fairly resistant to removal. The pores and grain are prominent and deep which will greatly hinder finish removal.

One thing you could try is to find a commercial finish remover firm in your area. They use a heated chemical product that is very aggressive.

 

[Gilgaron]

You could try some scrapers like

. I have used straight scrapers for dowels and it is lots of work since you only scrape a small area, I just got the set I linked to for Christmas so we'll see how well they do.

 

[SteyrAUG]

You could try some scrapers like these. I have used straight scrapers for dowels and it is lots of work since you only scrape a small area, I just got the set I linked to for Christmas so we'll see how well they do.

Nevermind, link is working now.