Has anyone tried Removall 501 from Napier, Hydro Strip or other chemical compounds to remove paint for rail cars? If so, I would like to hear about your expeiences with these products.
Thanks
Ron

Hi Ron - wood or metal?

dave

The Museum of Transport, St. Louis County, has used a product called "Peel Away" on several projects with good resulst. Peel Away can be used on wood or metal. The only draw back is the expense.

Metal. but I am also looking for a good product for wooden cars

I have used a product called "Aircraft Stripper" with amazing results. The only thing is to be sure to keep it off your skin. And use it in a well ventilated area!!

I agree with the recommendation of aircraft stripper for metal cars. I don't like using anything quite that caustic on wood, however. There's an outfit in tennesswee that sells industrial furniture refinishing supplies that has a nice range of products, wish I had their catalog handy. If the wood has layers of built up paint, heat plates and guns work very nicely.

dace

Aircraft stripper is somewhat over rated in my opinion. I was part of a stripping team on an office car the interior of which is comprised of both wood and metal. The Removall product sounds familiar....if I remember correctly. It comes in both a liquid and semi gel form(clear but about the consistency of a very thick paint). Spend the extra money and go with the gel, ultimately you will use less product and spend less time on the project.

At the Valley Railroad we use "PEELAWAY" 1 for wood and "PEELAWAY" 6 for metal. It is good stuff and it doesn't stink or kill you (a real bonus!)
J.David

Any good recommendations for stainless steel?

I need to strip some paint, heavy decals and assorted gunk from a dome car soon.

Also, any good treatments for cleaning the stainless and getting to to really shine again? Got two dome cars with heavy grime problems.

Thanks!

Eugene

It depends a lot on the grade of stainless, and the resulting resistance to chemicals. In general avoid any compounds with chlorine or having chloride ions in the formula. And in general, acids do little harm to stainless.

In the dairy industry, treatment with acids is done to 'passivate' the stainless after welding and acids are a routine part of cleaning stainless steel equipment. (This is usually for series 300 stainless alloys) In Europe they favor Nitric Acid but this is a dangerous to humans and tricky to handle compound. In the US Phosphoric Acid is more often chosen, and it can be obtained with additives such as chelating agents that make it more effective.

As with any chemicals, make sure you know what you are doing, work safely and do not simply flush this stuff down the drain. Get expert help and the proper equipment before starting on a project like this.

Bob Kutella

Thanks, Bob.

I'm stripping/cleaning 18-8 stainless, which I guess is now referenced as 304. Someone told me that Morrison Knudesen used to have a great method for cleaning 18-8, but I've never been able to find info on it.

Eugene