Wire cup brush to remove paint, o.k. ?

Well, I want to take the Riv down to bare metal before paint. I don't really want to mess around with aircraft stripper. So, I was thinkin' of takin it off with a wire cup brush on a 5" grinder. Should this be okay, or do you guys see any problems occuring ? Just so you know, I would sand the bare metal with a high grit sandpaper before primer. Would that make a difference ? Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks guys !

Todd

 

Be VERY careful. Those things fly apart fast!!!!

 

What, the cup brushes ? I've never heard that before. I take it you mean the bristles come off the brush ?? Maybe I should wear a jock strap just to be safe.............

 

Find someone who handles 3m products and look for something called the sandblaster system looks like a stiff sponge deal purple in color. you need to get the adapter to put it on your grinder and then the disk deal, It works well does not clog like sandpaper and works fairly fast. , about $15 for the one time adapter and the same for the disks, but they last better than sanding disks and no little wires poking in your cloths when you are done. Ace hardware gets them here.

 

I'd say too agressive. Also, you'll probably heat up the metal pretty quick, which is not a good thing.

 

if its a wire brush on a mini grinder they can catch in your cloths and do a number on you before the plug pulls, and the wires fly out.

 

Yeah, that's more or less what I was worried about. (warping the metal) There is a autobody place here in town that carries 3M products, so I think I'll go with the stuff Toymont suggested. That will take it down to bare metal, right ? Thanks guys !

Todd

 

a 4" wire brush running at 13,000 rpm's is 155mph.

 

check this out. as mentioned earlier. i removed the vinyl top on a continental with these things in a quickness! they work awesome, but WILL scratch gl***......just use caution, and you'll be ok.

 

Those paint strip discs work great, my new favorite for stripping paint!
I've even found them at Lowes', thought the ones from the industrial supply place here last longer. You can get them for 4" grinders, and also for drills, fro tighter spots. I even found some made for using on a die grinder, w/2" diameter!

 

3M also makes what appears to be a "wire cup brush", but the whiskers are plastic with abrasive molded in. It does not generate near the heat the wire brush does and strips paint quite well.

 

Harbor Freight has their own version of those 3M sandbaster disc.

The $3.99 HF versions wear out very fast, but if you only have a 12" square area to strip, they work great. great for cleaning up before welding.

Hopefully the 3M version lasts longer, if they do, that would be the way to go.

At 155 mph, those little wires go nice and deep too.

 

I did an entire truck with cup brushes. Use the twisted bristle. I went through about four. Took too long. If there is something else I'd try it.

 

The sandblasters work great on a pedestal grinder too for striping the paint off of awkward stuff like air cleaners and shining up rusty bolts and stuff like that.

 

Awesome guys ! Thanks !

 

Ah.... yeah.... sorry, I'm glad you figured out I was talking about the bristles. A local guy was using the same method and luckily his neighbor noticed him laying in the floor or he wouldn't be with us now. One of the bristles went through his face shield, through his safety gl***es and stopped half way through his eyeball. He nearly bled to death before the neighbor found him and got help.
Just something to think about.

I heard this story a couple of days AFTER I tried the same method but I was in total dumb*** mode. I was wearing short pants...... yeah, I know. I thought I could keep it pointed away from my body and the bristles would riccochet away from me.... like I said. Total dumb***. I was pulling bristles out of my shins with needle nose pliers. The whole time my wife was standing over me reminding me how stupid that was. I wish that wasn't a true story!



I would go with the 3M product!!!

 

Hey,

I don't care what method you wind up using to remove all that old
lacquer and enamel from your Rivi, but by what ever method use
a face shield. Yeah, kinda geekie lookin', but there isn't anything
cool lookin' about an eye patch!
I'd rethink the chemical stripper as a time/money saver. It will, at
least cut through the cheap enamel coats, and into the old lacquer,
as well. Less dust in the shop is never a bad idea! And......you gues-
sed correctly if ya bet on some or all of that old automotive paint
to be lead based.
The flap wheel discs are great for final clean up.


S****ey Devils C.C.

 

I've used one before for that purpose and have the scar to prove it.
Went through by jeans and into my leg befor I could get my finger off the trigger. Plus the little wires flying off randomly really hurt!

 

Wire wheel will cause too much heat,which will warp the sheet metal.It also work hardens the metal.3M strip-it wheels(plastic)work very well,although you still need to watch the heat buildup.

 

FWIW, when blasting it's not HEAT that causes warpage.

 

Haywood, been there done that, got the scars on my shins to prove it! I was cleaning rust and crud off an old Ford ch***is, and didn't take much notice of the '*****les' on my shin (Yes I was wearing shorts) until I finished the section I was cleaning.

When I stopped for a breather I looked down and there's all this blood trickling down my legs. It took me an hour to clean the bits of wire shrapnel out of my ankles.

Cheers, Glen.

 

I thought pirates are cool ?! ?


Thanks guys, I think I'll stick with the 3M discs. I'm not painting in the garage so I'm not worried about the dust. From what I've read on here the chemical strippers seem to create quite a mess.

Todd

 

You can do a large door or quarter panel with one of the sandblaster discs with no problem, and they take it to bare metal pretty fast

 

Got one of those sandlaster disc and WOW, what a deal. Works fast and a little dust is easy to clean. Was using a chemical stripper and it was messy as hell and all I had to do was look a the wire wheel and say hell no. Thanks for the tip Toymont. The quick progress with the wheel has helped kick up some momentum on my project.

 

No problem

 

even though it's been pretty much decided, i thought i'd throw in my 2 cents. those sandblaster discs ROCK. doing hotel maintenance i had to strip and repaint a large metal door with about 5 coats of paint on it. i did BOTH sides of the door and still had a relatively useable bit of that disc left. does a great job of removing the rust too.

 

I think that wire brushes works well where the paint is thin/not have any primer under it, and to remove rust, but if you're going to strip an entire car, it will cause too much heat before you're finished.

 

Think those 3m sandblasters would be too rough on alluminum? I'm going through the tedious task of removing ****tered house paint from a vintage travel trailer that'll have to be polished afterwards.

 

Back in the dark ages before the small grinders, this was all we had. They are heavy duty and will remove paint and rust buuut.... They can be dangerous too. My buddy was doing a rear end when the cup brush caught on something ripping the grinder out of his hands. The brush caught in his sweatshirt sleeve, it ran right up his arm throwing the grinder body into his jaw knocking him out. He said he thought he was kicked by a mule. Another buddy with a lighter shirt on got the sleeve caught in the brush and the shirt turned into a turnacate cutting off his circulation. We had to cut the shirt off to restore his circulation.

Those cup brushes are a lot harder to control than a flat sanding/grinding disc. Be careful. They will get away from you.

 

im about to start cleaning up my engine bay before i put in the 302. someone told me to use scotchbrite pads to strip the paint, but that seems like it would take forever. do you guys think this sandblaster would work better?