bigfootnampa Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have a project going for a customer where I need to remove some old paint to access the original substrate. The old paint is peeling in places but mostly just cracked and it is pretty tough to scrape. I tried using my slick to pare away the old paint and that worked pretty good. I then made some lighter chisels and worked with those. One became so clearly preferable that I decided to clone that design and upscale it. So now I seem to have a pretty good team of chisels on the job! The picture is of the chisel family posing with some of their work. They are so PROUD! These are made of salvaged steels but all will take a hair shaving edge and work most of a day shaving the old dried paint which is VERY abrasive stuff. A slight curve allows me to use them like my slick to shave very accurately or by flipping them the other way they'll dig in a bit more aggressively. They are all forged by upsetting the working ends a little and then fullering and flattening to a dovetail. I have hardened and tempered them and sharpened them with a slightly convex bevel on both sides. These are just sharpened on the belt sander with 120 grit and then buffed with white diamond. I can quickly resharpen the edges this way and they will shave hair impressively when recently resharpened. I have learned to bubble/blister the paint with a torch before I start in with the chisels as this makes the work go faster. These chisels are 3 1/4", 1 3/4", and 1 3/8" widths by 20 1/2", 16 1/4" and 14 3/4" overall lengths. The edges are thinned to about 1/16" or a bit less before beveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 OOooops... no pictures! Sorry guys I have tried everything I can find here to get them up and still no luck! Here is a link to them on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12090459@N06/6307501583/in/set-72157627915891429/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Wow.Them's some AUTHENTIC-looking tools,Have no idea why i think that,but just do, Very envious of the practicality of just doing something like this,and also of the openmindedness that it takes to leave stuff completely rough-forged like that.Right on,Clay. I've stripped a few sq.miles of paint in the past,and see how these would come in handy,for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 I started by making some nice heavy scrapers... but they just didn't have the ability to cut through the crusty old paint films like these will. I really enjoy and prefer the rough forged surfaces to ground and/or polished ones. The edges are quite refined though and you could carve oak lumber with these easily. That would actually be easier than the work that I am using them for. I have some really nice German and Swiss factory made chisels... but these are way better! They are easy to make as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Having owned a 100 year old house before; I liked the carbide scrapers and a heat gun (blow drier on steroids) for paint removal. The heat gun is less likely to burn the wood or vaporize the old lead paint! However: if what you made works for you then it's the RIGHT and a BEAUTIFUL thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Well I have carbide scrapers and a digitally controlled heat gun, but for this job the torch is fast and cordless and the chisels much easier to get the job done with than scrapers of any kind. I think if people would try them they'd soon forget about their scrapers! I am only recently converted myself! This paint is actually pretty good stuff... the old fiberboard siding is deteriorating beneath it. Thus the paint is HARD and I have to be careful not to dig too deeply into the fiberboard. I am treating the fiberboard (once I have it exposed) with Kwik Poly which penetrates and hardens it. Then I rebuild the surface with an acrylic putty (Golden's molding paste). A trial area done last summer has held up well even though it was the worst area on the house. Places where the fiberboard was swollen and fuzzy have been rebuilt to appear like new! The molding paste is an expensive product but a proven performer... I've used it for many years. It has good working properties and gets very firm and is sandable, yet it stays flexible enough to be very crack resistant. The only drawback is that it shrinks as it dries and so requires several coats to get a good fill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Our house was an old structural brick 2 story with full basement and attic; so I only had to do the trim; but in places that needed a 40' ladder. (Of course it had 32 sash hung windows) The neighbors were having some painting done and I talked with their crew one time who told me "We thought about coming over and giving a bid on what you are doing; but after we watched a while, we saw how carefully you were getting down to bare wood and sanding it and priming it and giving it two layers of paint and decided that it was best we not get involved..." My goal was to never paint that house again---and I succeeded we sold it before having to repeat the process! Fiberboard?---Shudder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Yeah the fiberboard is junky but the house is 35 years old and after this ought to last another 20 or so with 1 or 2 routine repaints. The trim is dark gray which limits it's life because of the UV absorption. They even used fiberboard for the soffits and never even thought of backpriming it! I've had to replace some of that and more will need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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