Citristrip questions

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Kashka-Kat
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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by Kashka-Kat »

That photo looks pretty good - about typical for what heat gun can do. IF that orange is shellac then steel wool plus denatured alcohol or (a little stronger) what they call "furniture refinisher" might be all you need to get off most of that residue - the shellac will melt and carry off the paint residue. Use a little metal stripping brush (like a toothbrush only metal) in the corners and crevices. I just like to avoid ANY of the harsher strippers as much as possible - even the "safer" ones. They are so time consuming, such PITA to get out of the wood. Agree about Citristrip - I detest that stuff. Ready strip is OK. Ive not used soygel, will have to check it out.

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Vala
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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by Vala »

About shellac, yes the wood was originally stained and shellaced but does the shellac really remain after the heat gun? I thought it peeled off with the paint.

1918ColonialRevival
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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

Vala wrote:About shellac, yes the wood was originally stained and shellaced but does the shellac really remain after the heat gun? I thought it peeled off with the paint.


It does, but sometimes it'll leave a gummy residue on the wood. That's where the steel wool and denatured alcohol come in - it'll get the stubborn sections clean.

phil
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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by phil »

the low setting on your heat gun is probably useless for stripping paint, if it starts getting too hot just back off or point it away for a moment. dont burn the paint because you don't want the fumes or to scorch the wood.

Yes some shellac will probably remain, dont' use stripper on that if denatured alcohol or acetone works as that won't leave a gummy mess.

If they are parts I can pull off like casings I use the heat gun to get the bulk off then I use belt sander , or I have a simple 4" x 4' belt sander table that I use for smaller parts like casings. For the rounded edges sometimes I'll just take a slight trim off the edges on the tablesaw and then follow with a 3/8" round over bit on the router to renew the curved edges. this is faster than scraping and playing around with cleaning all the edges. I still heat gun the paint off because I don't like cutting paint on the tablesaw.

on things like the door or tables I would strip most off then use a cabinet scraper. The kind of scrapers with the replaceable blades are ok for paint stripping on rougher things but they aren't intended for finishing work. a cabinet scraper is better for something like that door where you really don't want to gouge it. I wouldn't go at it with the carbide scraper or the triangular one posted above.. you'll do damage with that. that particular one is very dull it can be sharpened ( or get new blades) but you need to use a stone that is harder than the carbide. th elittle diamond stones are OK for maintaining sharpness.

you can relieve the corners of the cabinet scraper to prevent damage from the sharp corners. You can get two or three thicknesses for finer or coarser work. this kind of scraper will pull curls like a hand plane but much finer but you can't use it with a heat gun. it's not for major paint removal it's to use on bare wood.
to sharpen them you can clamp them in a vice and draw a mill file across them to put a new sharp edge ( sharp like an ice skate) if you want it to be more aggressive you can burnish the edge with a hard steel shaft like a screwdriver shank and that will roll the edge over. these are a good investment as they will last pretty much forever. thye will get into tight corners where the pull scraper wont; go. for shapes like the molding on the door , wear a proper stripper glove and soak medium coarseness steel wool in stripper or acetone or whatever solvent, just keep a little dish so you can keep dipping it. you can also just fold up bits of sandpaper and use that on the contours. You can try using the wet-or-dry type sandpaper with your solvent if you like, that works well.
you can use a strong magnet in a plastic bag for picking up bits of steel wool.

once I get the paint off and the remnants I usually brush on dainish oil , let it soak and dry, next day I do another coat and dry down. third day I use the danish oil with the wet-or dry sandpaper and a rubber block. I'll do that until I have a nice surface that is saturated with the oil but I dry it down after each session. later you can topcoat with shellac, lacquer or polyurethane.

I'm doing my living room floors right now. I did two coats of danish oil and let it soak what it could and dried down. this third coat I'm using 50/50 dainish oil and turpentine with sandpaper. as I go I dry down and sort of burnish it in circles with a dry cloth, finishing the last wipe with the grain. Its a bit of scrubbing and turpentine fumes but it brings out the beauty in the wood.. you'll see the figure of the wood more .. lastly I'll seal it in with oil based poly or if I want to leave it just oil I can renew once in a while.

If you feel the wood and then go at it with sandpaper soaked in danish oil and turps ( or use blopentine) then dry it down and feel it again , you'll feel a big difference , the wood is now very smooth and silky to the touch. you can keep doing that to wood and it'll produce a beautiful finish that you can't get with just a topcoat. this is more like the finish you'd see on a gunstock or a burl smoking pipe. it's good for things like wooden knife handles. afterwards look at the wood and move about or move the light about and you'll see the ribbon and beauty in the wood. You can go crazy and make something like a gunstock beautiful with like 20 applications,, but you can also just spend a few minutes and do something like that door ( or my floor) and not go insane with the labor. as soon as you try sanding with a block and wet paper you'll see a huge difference from doing it dry. It'll become like a piano finish only it wont; have a hard shell over the wood.. it'll be like an old antique handrail that's been used millions of times.. I love that sort of finish.

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Corsetière
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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by Corsetière »

heartwood wrote:ha, great video corsetiere!

i don't typically work on woodwork that is attached to a house but, when i do, i use a chemical stripper....many a time is the case that one needs to dial 911 for the fire department and that can be hours after one has finished for the day...

when you think about it, each curve is just a series of straight lines...i use my bahco triangle scraper for pretty much everything--along with a putty knife...bahco also has round and pear shaped blades...from what i see in your photo vala, you don't need to chem stripper...just careful scraping and picking with a scraper, dental tools and maybe a 1/4" chisel...
...jade


Thanks! I will have to look into that bahco scraper! You can never have enough tools!

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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by Big Blue »

I'm a big fan of the Bahco scrapers, too. They are a real help refinishing wood trim work . All the different shaped blades can be very handy.

I only have one, but would like to get a second so that I can have two different shaped blades ready to go as I am working. The blades are easy to change, but I have found myself going back and forth so many times during any given project that having a second a second tool seems like a good idea.

I recently discovered they make pruners, too. I'm hoping to grab a pair of them at some point. My Felco #13 pruners are indispensable, but the size of the Bahco they have at my local nursery would be great to have as well. If they are as nice as the scrapers, I'll be super happy.


As I have heard before, you can never have enough tools! ;-)

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Re: Citristrip questions

Post by phil »

those look like decent quality ones. How much are you paying for blades? since I started using little jointer blades in mine I have gone through quite a few. I have to replace them so I have been just saving the "dull ones" but they are still basically razor sharp so I finish them off as paint scrapers. but supply is limited.
Its nice to be able to change them more frequently but at the prices I seem to have to pay at the box store it gets pricey. sometimes I just sharpen them. using a diamond stone and touching them up by hand is a good idea.. or you can use a carborundum grind stone and that will sharpen them. If I did a lot I would make a jig to do it.

Ive sharpened my own jointer blades on the tablesaw. I just put the stone in the saw where the blade belongs and made a little wooden jig so I can hold the blades flat on the table up against the grindstone and shift the blade back and forth.. it works pretty well if you just dont want to keep dropping money at the box store. this method also leaves a hollow grind which will make touchups with a diamond stone freehand easier...

the problem with sharpening those little blades on a grindstone is you need a fixture to hole them or you just burn your fingers as they don't have a lot of material so they heat up fast. If you are out working than it's not worth sharpening them but for the thrifty homeowner there are ways.

Often I also have to change a lot of planer blades, like in big thickness planers.

this brand, Tersa is the best. the thing about these ones is they have sort of a key and they slide in from the edge of the cutting cylinder. it's really easy to slip the old blade out and a new one in and since no changes are made to the blade height I don't have to adjust them. some of the older machines take a long time to fiddle with the blades to get them set up just right , but the Tersa ones are a brilliant idea..

well I started looking at this.. I often just chuck those long blades and they are like 3 feet long. and they are carbide.. they are double sided.. well what I found is that Tersa does make a blade holder. Its easy to chop the planer blades of to the length you want with a demil or a zipdisc on and angle grinder. the ones from thickness planers dont' have an added little block thing.. they show new scraper blades but they are still too expensive for my budget. . I want to re-use the old tersa ones, when I pull them they are plenty sharp for scraping paint.

I think Ill try to make a holder for the tersa knives and start saving them for scraping.. at first I figured they would be too hard to hold. they have no holes in them. but I can make a clamp style holder.. a blade 2 or three feet long will make a bunch of paint scrapers.. Maybe it would be nice to be able to change the cutting angle slightly? a shop made tool could perhaps have a tilt that can be locked at different angles.

the blades and holders tersa sells might be OK too but I'm trying to recycle them and avoid the cost. It looks like their replacement blades have a little tab which makes them expensive.

anyway here is the link to the Tersa scrapers
https://tersaknives.com/collections/ral ... li-shark-l

these are the ones i want to make a holder for.. it looks like the carbide ones 660mm long are $220.00 each but they go in the garbage if they get a nick or even slightly dull. - wow expensive blades. that might be for a pair, they come 2 in a pack.

https://tersaknives.com/collections/ter ... 4070873414

I think a lot of people start off with a sharp blade and persevere and half the time they are still using the old blade which is too dull to work well. the paint is pretty hard on them never mind nails.
Just clean the blade and then run a fingernail along the length of the blade. If you feel nicks , it's spent.
But I think what happens is that a lot of us go well it's still working and continue way longer with the dull blade,, because a new blade might be 10 or 20 bucks. This is a lot more work and fatigue but you can easily dull a blade in 15 minutes of scraping.. and that adds up. I think finding a source of really cheap sharp carbide material just makes sense especially for those who want to do like the side of a house or something.

If you are scraping finished wood, like a window sill or something, ahving a sharp scraper means you can get the paint off without really scratching the wood up. - of course depending on the kind of paint and your technique.

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