razor blade

[Treeslayer]

we finely swapped the hood off the boy's pick up. first thing i did was grab the razor scraper. that ugly blue will come right off, not in a ribbon but it turns to dust.
the primer under it however, not so much. its pretty hard. i really dont want to use heat, im already sweating lol.
i think ill razor off what ever comes easy and then grab the DA and try out that sunmight 80gr.
funny thing, those little rust spots came off with the blue. but they have to come from the metal under all the layers right? strip to bare metal is the right thing here correct?

 

[1A Rock]

strip to bare metal is the right thing here correct?

Yes, 80 grit Sunmight will make short work of a hood.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

A heat gun should only warm up the immediate area right in front of the blade.
I find it works great especially if there are multiple coats of paint on the vehicle.
After you get the majority of the paint of then 80 grit on a DA gets the metal ready for Epoxy primer. Be sure to clean it well with W&G remover first.

 

[Treeslayer]

i have done about half the hood with a heat gun and a short handle razor scraper. what have i learned? my fingers are sore lol.
i need, a longer handled more ergonomic scraper handle. also a better heat gun.
talk to me about heat guns boys. do i really need hotter or do i need more cfm? i have the cheap HF one now. i have had wagner and a couple others that were no better. this one is about done. switch dont work any more. any body tried the bauer or hercules from HF?

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

i have done about half the hood with a heat gun and a short handle razor scraper. what have i learned? my fingers are sore lol.
i need, a longer handled more ergonomic scraper handle. also a better heat gun.
talk to me about heat guns boys. do i really need hotter or do i need more cfm? i have the cheap HF one now. i have had wagner and a couple others that were no better. this one is about done. switch dont work any more. any body tried the bauer or hercules from HF?

All those junk ones you bought, could have gotten you a decent one. Master Appliance makes the best ones. Dewalt has a couple of fairly good ones. They are more affordable than Master's. Cheap ones won't last.

 

[Treeslayer]

All those junk ones you bought, could have gotten you a decent one. Master Appliance makes the best ones. Dewalt has a couple of fairly good ones. They are more affordable than Master's. Cheap ones won't last.

if only i had accepted that years ago lol.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

I use a Porter Cable Heat gun that I have now had for over a decade. Most Horrible Freight products I have tried didn't last a week and the cost of returning them made it easier just to toss them in the trash.

I use a long handled razor blade scraper (similar to this) for stripping paint. That way the heat gun is directed in front of the blade and not on your fingers.

 

[shine]

you need to warm the panel. out in the sun works great here. but once warmed up the heat gun works better. should be able to come off in strips. your turning it to rubber.

 

[D.A.T.]

I don't recommend razor blades now after using scrapers with a raised burr on them--far more efficient, very quick and maneuverable.

C.F Osborne makes some made in America good ones with wooden handles. Gooseneck cabinet makers scrapers work well on curves and hooked burrs are easy to form with a burnisher.

 

[shine]

i use just a short blade holder. i use the heat and take my time. paint comes off in stips. easy and no gouging.

those chips doing it without heat will cut the hell out of your eye. sharp as a razor blade and take forever to clean up. little bastards will jump out and bite your ass every time you hit it with air. also look great intombed in clear.

 

[Treeslayer]

I use a Porter Cable Heat gun that I have now had for over a decade. Most Horrible Freight products I have tried didn't last a week and the cost of returning them made it easier just to toss them in the trash.

I use a long handled razor blade scraper (similar to this) for stripping paint. That way the heat gun is directed in front of the blade and not on your fingers.
View attachment 32412

yeah, i just got one of those today just like that. ima go try it out directly. my old shorty was all metal and got pretty hot after a while.

 

[Treeslayer]

I don't recommend razor blades now after using scrapers with a raised burr on them--far more efficient, very quick and maneuverable.

C.F Osborne makes some made in America good ones with wooden handles. Gooseneck cabinet makers scrapers work well on curves and hooked burrs are easy to form with a burnisher.

i thought about that DAT, but its just more time honing than i want to spend. every where sells razor blades. if i had to do it every day im sure i could come up with a better tool.

 

[Treeslayer]

i use just a short blade holder. i use the heat and take my time. paint comes off in stips. easy and no gouging.

those chips doing it without heat will cut the hell out of your eye. sharp as a razor blade and take forever to clean up. little bastards will jump out and bite your ass every time you hit it with air. also look great intombed in clear.

yes sir Mr Shine, i abandoned that method quickly. i would have to go over the same spot so many times that way. if i get the heat just right, i can remove all of it at once to clean metal half way across the hood. i did get hold of a blade with a burr, as soon as i saw the track it made i threw it away and got a fresh one. next box of blades i buy, ill see about getting better ones. these were cheap and been around the shop for years here.

 

[Treeslayer]

it is a good thing i am doing this. i have hit several spots where some one applied a thin skin of filler to bare metal. of course there is fine rust under that filler. they didnt strip the whole hood and its pretty flat, idk why they did that.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

A guy brought me this '62 Chevy truck. He had paid a shop in California $6000 to paint it before he moved to Arizona.
The problem was the paint was cracking everywhere.

It was clearly an adhesion problem so I told him I would have to strip the truck.
Got my heat gun and razor scraper and here's what I found:

And if that weren't bad enough look at the left bed side:

The heat gun and scraper saved me hours of sanding.
Once stripped I went over everything with 80 grit on a DA.

Finished:

 

[Treeslayer]

good lord R/T, that will make a guy find a nice stick and go find the dude that did that. 6k? thems killin words there.

 

[Treeslayer]

boys i was wrong, the blades i have here are ten times better than the one that came with the scraper. it was full of burrs brand new. i honed it with a diamond stone but it got burrs again quickly. my old blades are much better, and since they are thin they follow the surface much better.
thicker is not always better..........or thats my story and im sticking to it?

 

[EricB]

All those junk ones you bought, could have gotten you a decent one. Master Appliance makes the best ones. Dewalt has a couple of fairly good ones. They are more affordable than Master's. Cheap ones won't last.

I have a Master heat gun that’s about 20 years old now. Just keeps going. I haven’t had to yet, but all the parts for it are available if anything needs to be replaced. I also got a long handled scraper like what ‘68 shows above from Amazon for about $8

 

[Treeslayer]

hood top is nekid

 

[Treeslayer]

maybe i can take a little strain off some of the pros in here. i am no pro at any of this, i am a newb, a dummy. but, i think i have a handle on this paint removal by razor blade thing. what your doing is kinda floating the blade between the panel and the paint. once you get a feel for it, you will understand what i mean. to the newb, dont give up, it takes a little bit to get the hang of it. it is way less messy than sanding.
ya kinda get a feel with the heat gun and scraper, and can get long 3-4 foot strips off at a time. hopefully some one finds this thread and gets some thing out of it.