Removing Paint from Hard to Reach Welds

[ChrisFox]

Started a new rehab last week and we have to remove all the paint from the welds so the guys can come and check to see if they are good. Surface ones are easy with a grinder and wire wheel. What I'm having trouble with is the inside ones. Tried sandblasting. Works great till they break. We only got the cheap sandblasters. They lasted less than a day. Aircraft stripper works well, let it sit for 20min then hit it with wire brush or screwdriver but it's slow going.

Anyone have any tips on getting to those buggers any quicker?

These are what we are working on. 2 More on the right of this pic and 4 more in the shop.

It's the center section that's killing me. They are about 7 inches deep, 2 on each side and there are around 18 little welds down in there.

 

[buildyourown]

I've always burned it off with the rosebud, but you still need to be able to kinda get a brush in there to get the **** out.
I would pay somebody to blast the whole thing.

 

[joe49]

Cutting torch, burn the paint. Then hit cutting O2 to blow burned paint off. Inline torch would make the deeper parts easier.

 

[ChrisFox]

Might try that today when I get to work. Wire wheel on drill is getting old.

 

[RivennHewn]

Needle scaler

 

[Zeke]

Not to be sarcastic, but buy a better sandblaster. Other suggestions sound good too.

 

[Bears Fan]

Not to be sarcastic, but buy a better sandblaster. Other suggestions sound good too.

Ditto Or hire someone that does sandblasting professionally

 

[tiggi]

You can use paint remover, apply nice thick even coat, let is sit for 10-15 mins and blast it with a hose or even power washer if you have one. Also they have aerosol cans if you cant get the brush in there. Just make sure you protect your skin and eyes because that stuff will burn you.

 

[stikman56]

Needle scaler

This....they work well.

 

[ChrisFox]

We put up the tent for sandblasting tomorrow morning. Asked the boss if they would let me burn off the paint. Apparently they know my predisposition for bonfires. Oh well. Hopefully I can talk them into buying instead of renting the good sandblaster. Every time we rehab a ride, all the welds have to be checked.

Scaler looks fun, even have the compressor out back.

 

[sberry]

Torch. Would have been done already and then some.

 

[BFBOB]

TORCH???
Not me. I'd be concerned about that paint containing lead. Don't want to breathe lead fumes!
Lead dust isn't great either. Did you test the paint for lead before proceeding? Test kits a cheap these days.

 

[rsanter]

Needle scaler

This.....
Or get a better sand blaster

Bob

 

[SouthCoastMudder]

Sandblast them, as a weld inspector that's how I want them prepped.

 

[ChrisFox]

TORCH???
Not me. I'd be concerned about that paint containing lead. Don't want to breathe lead fumes!
Lead dust isn't great either. Did you test the paint for lead before proceeding? Test kits a cheap these days.

We painted it 3 years ago so we're good on lead.

 

[ncfh]

Sandblast them, as a weld inspector that's how I want them prepped.

CWI myself, and I agree.

 

[sberry]

Are they going to have a CWI or are they looking for cracks?

 

[sberry]

Even if a guy was going to blast them it would be about 30% the work with the paint burnt. Sandblast is slow and hazardous and is highly skilled. Using the right material helps. Hard sharp sand for paint is 10x as fast as fine soft sand.

 

[sberry]

Might try that today when I get to work. Wire wheel on drill is getting old.

This is pretty sad to think a boss has you with a wire wheel on a drill. No wonder it takes so long. Obviously you are getting paid by the hour, go with it.

 

[ChrisFox]

We got the guys coming in next week I think to check all the welds. Got the sandblast tent going tonight. 1 guy in the tent, 3 guys with angle grinders getting the easy stuff and 2 of us with aircraft remover and scrapers and whatever we can use. Trimming down the wire brush helped get into the corners. Welded it to a 5 inch bolt I cut the head off of. Now I can get in there. With that aircraft stuff sitting for about 20min then go after it with drill, it comes of fairly quickly.

Little bit more trimming after this pic did the trick.

 

[fastjohnny]

Get a harbor freight needle scaler and try it out. The wire wheel is a toy in comparison.

 

[welder4956]

Professional sandblast company would make quick work of that job. The cost to send it out would probably be less than the labor you have already spent on it. Grit blast with Black Beauty would clean it quick.

 

[mechan]

Unless they are sand blasted and cleaned well afterwards to remove any deposits that would cause an erroneous spot to bleed you may as well not pay for a VT or PT inspection ...

 

[Zrexxer]

Nothing additional to contribute, but what is this and why are the welds being reinspected 3 yrs after fabrication?

 

[ChrisFox]

Scheduled maintenance. Big ones are the swing arms and little ones are the center supports to these.

 

[boobag]

Scheduled maintenance. Big ones are the swing arms and little ones are the center supports to these.

http://i.imgur.com/KTSPzJT.jpg[/MG][/QUOTE]
can you strip them completly and have them plated, so that you never go through this again?

 

[rockwithjason]

TORCH???
Not me. I'd be concerned about that paint containing lead. Don't want to breathe lead fumes!
Lead dust isn't great either. Did you test the paint for lead before proceeding? Test kits a cheap these days.

unless the items are 70's vintage or older this is a non issue

 

[Zrexxer]

unless the items are 70's vintage or older this is a non issue

That's not even close to true... unless it was painted with house paint. Industrial and agricultural coatings are exempt from the LBP ban, and to the best of my knowledge, are still being manufactured for sale in the US.

 

[Amazingglazier]

Just bought one of them to clean off the rusty frame on our new/old 1988 Winnebago Chieftain, it works great, wish I had bought it 2 years ago when I blasted my 1990 Dakota pickup convertibles frame! They are cheap at HF , buy a couple xtra packs of needles and keep it oiled up good!

 

[bad_idea]

Needle gun sounds like fun?! You have obviously never ran a needle gun for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I loathe those things. If you can get away w/ torching the paint take that route. We can't do that due to safety. I would say the sand blaster is your best bet. As a side note, we test all paint and have found new paint to contain high levels of Cadmium and other fun stuff. Lead isn't the only hazard to be concerned about. You should pull paint samples before all work.