Needle scaler for paint removal

[bfd]

I wouldn't be too aggressive with the needle gun could cause peening and change sizes also stress relieving and warping just be careful bill

 

[Eddyde]

I agree with not taking off all the original finish, it will only make a lot of unnecessary work for yourself. Also there may be Red-Lead primer present which is quite toxic. As far as needle scalers, they work well when the needles are sharp meaning ground flat on the ends, not pointed. I touch them up, in the field, with an angle grinder.

 

[Bob Korves]

Allow me to go against the grain here a bit and give a vote for sometimes choosing to leave old machinery looking old. They ARE old, and that is an important part of their charm. They have survived many decades of use and abuse, and are still able to do their jobs, and often some of those scars are quite visible. Sometimes I think it is best to leave the aesthetics just as they are, carefully fix whatever is broken and needs work, clean up the handles and the dials and all the sliding ways, bearings, and other things important to the work they do. The chips and dings add character. Use the machine as it was meant to be used. My 1946 B&S surface grinder has been repainted multiple times and multiple colors, and shows all of those layers in different places. I cleaned up and painted the table because most of the paint was missing on it and there was rust. For the rest of the machine, I cleaned up the handles and knobs and painted them, like new. The ways and most of the working parts of the machine were in good operating order. I did have to rebuild the plain bearing spindle, a fussy job. It looks like an OLD grinder. It IS an old grinder. It works good.

I had the honor of a private tour of a large private collection of antique machines, including about a dozen beautiful antique planers, some as old as the mid 1800s. The machines were painstakingly and tastefully cleaned up to show their age while still looking like working machines from the era. They are perfect examples of machines from the era. The owner also has a completely renovated old band saw, the type with the giant exposed spoked wheels. It was completely and carefully disassembled, each part cleaned and polished, paint stripped and repainted with shiny new paint, in the contrasting and gaudy colors of the late 1800s as part of the restoration. The work appears flawless. The machine looks like new. He told me it was his first restoration, and that it makes him sad every time he looks at it, because he took away the beautiful age of the machine, which can never be returned to it. He was correct, it looked completely out of place with the other fine old machines.

Please think long and hard about how you approach putting an old machine back in service. They are not making any more of them, and they are tangible history. Yours may not be that old now, but they will be someday, with some care and luck.

 

[bfd]

I used a needle scaler to remove some left over cement in a portable mixer I bought. don't put your head in the drum while you are scaling. you need ear plugs and earmuffs. one mistake I will never make again. it worked though cleaned up the left over cement. bill

 

[bfd]

to go along with bob korves the item is only original once bill

 

[jwmay]

Well here’s what it looks like now. It’s that green paint that’s being difficult. The blue stuff mostly just peeled right off. It wasn’t flaking at all at the bottom there, which is why that portion is still blue. I probably won’t use the needle scaler, but I wanted some opinions about it from more experienced folks. I’ll just keep picking at it. I think it looks ok, but I’d sure like to have it all OEM color eventually. Thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate your consideration on this topic greatly.

 

[Eddyde]

I used a needle scaler to remove some left over cement in a portable mixer I bought. don't put your head in the drum while you are scaling. you need ear plugs and earmuffs. one mistake I will never make again. it worked though cleaned up the left over cement. bill

Another trick to remove cured concrete from a mixer, throw in 20 lb. or so of corse gravel and run it for a while. It's also a good way to keep the drum clean after each use.

 

[Glenn Brooks]

Interesting to see some people have had success with a needle scaler. I use one to clean up stick welding by products, and large rust deposits. Works great as a first pass to get rid of loose, scaly material. But never have had much success taking all the old finish done to bare metal. Well, if you want it to consume the rest of your life, maybe. Very slow and inefficient for me. Maybe I don’t have enuf air pressure working the gun.

I like a 4”angle grinder with wire wheel for wholesale paint removal. Doesn’t work in corners. Etc. but a wire wheel has been the most efficient and quickest method I have used. Followed by hand scraping, solvent wash, and so forth for final prep work. Actually I sometimes use use phosphoric acid to cut machine oil on the original paint, as a first pass. Then usually always give the bare metal a final coat also. It’s surprising how much rust exists on bright shiny, freshly prepped castings. The phosphoric acid chemicaly changes the iron oxide to iron phosphate, which makes a great sealer coat for the metal, before painting.

Iam with the others who say leave the bondo and undercoat in place, if possible. Particularly, the early day asphaultum finish, aka Gilsonite, often found on machine tools made thru the 1920’s. makes a supurb undercoat. It is very resistant to moisture penetration.

Glenn

 

[Buffalo21]

I made the mistake to try to repaint my 1940 round colum Bridgeport, the last piece, I ever tried to paint/repaint. Nothing I did, stopped the new paint from blistering and falling off in sheets. Tried cleaning all the paint, filler and whatnot off of the mill, acid washed it, 3 or 4 different times, tried automotive epoxy primer, nothing worked. I finally talked to a industrial coating engineer (I took care of their boiler), he gave me a sample of some old time machinery paint, they made in the 30-40s. Some isolated blistering, after scraping the blisters and many coats, I finally got a paint finish on the mill, not pretty, but everything is now covered. Since then, I avoid painting machinery, The Jet lathe and mill arrived, had minor scratches and chips, and came with touch up paint, never used it, decided at was a machine tool, not a new Buick, so I leave them alone.

 

[woodchucker]

I made the mistake to try to repaint my 1940 round colum Bridgeport, the last piece, I ever tried to paint/repaint. Nothing I did, stopped the new paint from blistering and falling off in sheets. Tried cleaning all the paint, filler and whatnot off of the mill, acid washed it, 3 or 4 different times, tried automotive epoxy primer, nothing worked. I finally talked to a industrial coating engineer (I took care of their boiler), he gave me a sample of some old time machinery paint, they made in the 30-40s. Some isolated blistering, after scraping the blisters and many coats, I finally got a paint finish on the mill, not pretty, but everything is now covered. Since then, I avoid painting machinery, The Jet lathe and mill arrived, had minor scratches and chips, and came with touch up paint, never used it, decided at was a machine tool, not a new Buick, so I leave them alone.

Sounds like you had some oil issues. I have used paint thinner/mineral spirits, TSP (very good), and acetone for stubborn remnants. The acetone will get anything off practically. The TSP gives a good bite for the paint.

While I understand the need to keep old machinery old looking, I subscribe to the theory antiques don't need to be untouched to be antiques. Especially wood stuff. During their time if something happened to them they would have been retouched. So why is it sacrilegious to redo it. Same with a machine... Every now and then a good rebuild is in order, including the paint.