How To Strip Paint From Metal

[hilbert]

I have been working on restoring a bronze windlass. The exterior of the unit was painted white.
I had some biodegradable Amazon Strip Off that I used on the rope gypsy.

It did a fair job of removing the paint, but the finish is not as I had hoped.
The remaining residue is not so much paint as pigment in the porous surface.
This would be OK if I were going to paint it again, but I would like to leave it as bare metal.

This stripper seems to have done as much as it can. Would a more aggressive stripper do more?
It there a better way to do this?



Thanks,

[Russell]

First soak it in white vinegar overnight then wipe it clean and see what it looks like then.

After that, maybe a dremel with a polishing wheel and some polishing compound?

[Oswego John]

Jonathan,

You might try applying another coat of paint remover. Give it some time to work, but before it dries scrub it with a soft wire brush. I get small hand held brushes at Ace hardware. They look like toothbrushes. They come in brass, steel and plastic Don't use the plastic one, the paint remover will destroy it.

The wire bristles should remove the softened paint that is in the crevices.

Good luck,
O J

[tartansailor]

800 grit wet sandpaper in an electric sander.

[Steve Laume]

Do you have or could you get access to a bench mounted wire and buffing wheel? I have done a bunch of different bronze parts with a combination of sandpaper, wire wheel and buffing wheels. You can pretty well decide whatever finish you want from a dull satin to a gleaming polish.

I think you have gone about as far as paint remover is going to take you. The vinegar is great for taking off the heavy patina but will not leave a finish you will probably be happy with. It will save you some time with the other physical methods.

That is a nice hunk of bronze, Steve.

[S/V Necessity]

Back when I used to work in a an antique repair shop, we kept a small pail (with a tight lid) of ammonia for just that purpose. Place the parts in the pail and let soak over night. If you go this route make sure all your bearings and other parts are removed. I don't know if it matters, but we only put brass and bronze into the ammonia. After the ammonia soak the parts went to a bench grinder mounted with buffing wheels.

[hilbert]

My thanks for all the suggestions.
In the end, I removed the paint residue with a drill and a 3M Paint and Rust removal abrasive disc.
I would not recommend this for a fine finish, but it was satisfactory for what will eventually be weathered bronze.