A homemade tool for removing paint

[bent valves]

One project I hate is scraping a house before painting. This product seemed to be the answer to my dreams but was outrageously priced for an angle grinder with a custom head.

http://paintshaver.com/paintshaver.html

So I made one using an 11 amp DeWALT grinder (D28402) and machined an aluminum housing and rotor. The tool uses 3 carbide cutters to strip the paint and are the same as used to machine metal on a lathe or mill.

The first picture shows a side view of the aluminum cutter body. The angle grinder handle has been modified to be up and over the grinder, out of the way.

This photo shows the cutter wheel that spins the 3 cutters inside the housing. The wheel is about 3.5" in diameter. 3 allen button-head screws in base of the housing adjust the depth of cut by compressing Belleville spring washers.

The end view showing where the edge of a clapboards get shaved. The round bolt head on the right sets that depth of cut.

Another side view showing the discharge port. The real Paintshaver uses a vacuum hose connected on the discharge to **** up leaded paint. I was not worried about that because lead paint was not used on my house.

I was able to strip several coats of paint down to bare wood almost as fast as repainting. Goggles and a dust mask is a must have when using this tool because it kicks up a cloud of paint chips.

 

[bimmer1980]

nice work! you must have some decent equipment to work with! if you haven't already, you should start a thread on some of the equipment your have.

 

[y20dth]

Very nice.!

 

[Jordan]

Impressed! you should patend that!

 

[Krusty]

I wish there was a tool like this for "Dutch Lap" siding that has the curved concave profile above a flat vertical surface. Scrapping paint off those is a struggle.

Krusty

 

[larry4406]

Impressed! you should patend that!

he cloned an existing tool, but without the dust port. Perhaps that one is already patented?

 

[nolatoolguy]

WOW, that looks ausome. What did you use to mill out the parts?

 

[bent valves]

Here is my South Bend 9" lathe. I used this to turn the steel rotor on my paint shaver.

Here is my Asian Jet JMD18 mill. I added digital readout scales. The aluminum housing was hogged out using an end mill and a rotary table. It was also used to machine the steel rotor to accept the carbide cutters.

I enjoy metal working a lot more than house painting.

 

[Chreese]

Nice job. Are the carbide cutters removable/interchangeable or is it necessary to sharpen them as the get dull?

Chreese

 

[Sterff]

Great work! Thats very neat.

 

[moose knuckle]

Sure would hate to get a finger stuck in there by accident!!!!

 

[cyamaha2007]

Wow you are very talented. I used to have a great neighbor that had a ton of tooling and we would teach me how to do stuff like this. Can you post a pic of a piece of wood after it was scrapped.

 

[bent valves]

cyamaha2007, I did not take any photos of my house but if you go to the link in the first post, there is a demonstration video. Mine works the same way.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

How well does it actually work? What do you have for siding?

 

[TAftw]

AWesome job, very cool tools! Where are you located in NE? I'm in Western Mass, out past Springfield.

 

[eugz]

was just looking at one of these today. would you make me one? and how much would you charge?

 

[NASTYZEN]

Let's see some shots of it in action. I'm not fully understanding how it works?
Looks great though, nice work.

 

[hh76]

I really expected to see a sharpened putty knife or something when I read the title.

Impressive! I've been wanting to get one of those for a while, but just can't justify the price. I guess I should get myself some tooling and build one.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

was just looking at one of these today. would you make me one? and how much would you charge?

Two year old post and the original poster hasn't been on since March. You will probably have to pm or email him to get an answer.

 

[bent valves]

I don't post often but I occasionally lurk in the background.

eugz, my project list is too long to consider making another Paintshaver. If I start selling them I'm sure the Paintshaver company wont be happy. This tool is about as dangerous as operating a chainsaw at the top of a ladder and that is probably the reason it cost so much. The product insurance company knows that most painters drink beer for lunch.

To be honest if I were to make another it would be lighter in weight. Swinging the shaver on an outstreached arm will wear you down.

I have tried the Sandvik scraper with a carbide scraper blade and that took forever to get the paint off. I also tried the Porter Cable 7403 that used a 5041 carbide disk to abrade the paint away. That worked OK but weighs about 10 pounds and made me want to quit and just have another beer. Also it could not remove paint from the bottom of a clapboard.

My house is sided with cedar clapboards and the design of the Paintshaver was by far the fastest way to get down to bare wood on the face and underside. It is too bad they price them so high.

 

[geologist]

I want one. Taking orders?

 

[signcrafter]

I have one of these and it works pretty good. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FFYLJQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[eugz]

danger danger! lol, check out my efforts after 20min in shed, to scared to turn it on haha.
lucky i have a machine shop that can make me up cutter heads and mill blocks of alliminium.
keen to find out some more info on oyurs tho, how the guard adjusts for depth for starters.
hope we can chat soon!
ps love ya work mate,

 

[eugz]

he cloned an existing tool, but without the dust port. Perhaps that one is already patented?

yep sure is,i was looking at that one then stumbled across this beauty! i need one bad! 1300 is outa my price range

 

[eugz]

danger danger! lol, check out my efforts after 20min in shed, to scared to turn it on haha.
lucky i have a machine shop that can make me up cutter heads and mill blocks of alliminium.
keen to find out some more info on oyurs tho, how the guard adjusts for depth for starters.
hope we can chat soon!
ps love ya work mate,

ps the cutter head was a dewalt trenching blade for radial arm saw with moulder blades that has been in cupboard for 30yrs with every1 to scared to use it on radial arm saw.