Feeling Lazy,can I plane painted wood?

[Chris Kehl]

I probably know the answer to my own question, but thought I would see if anyone else has done it, and what the outcome was. I have quite a bit of antique pine trim from our house, and I'm going to make it into a wine cabinet for my wife. Just really don't want to strip all the paint off them if I don't have to. Just thought I would see if anyone has any experience, good or bad.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I've done it. As long as you're sure it's not lead-based paint, and there are no nails in the boards, go for it.

[Wayne A Hall]

I had this same discussion recently with the business that sharpens my planer blades. He said it would dull planer blades in a minute. I will have to confess that I have never tried it.

[Greg Johnson]

I did it a few years ago. It does dull blades fast, but for me, it was worth it. I think it was the pine more than the paint that dulled the blades because of all the pitch in the wood. The blades gum up and then heat up. I have heard of people periodically cleaning the blades while planing pine. I just went for it and replaced the blades when I was done.....

Greg

[paul dyar]

Tried it once. Don't know what kind of paint, but one board ruined the blades.

Paul

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I probably know the answer to my own question, but thought I would see if anyone else has done it, and what the outcome was. I have quite a bit of antique pine trim from our house, and I'm going to make it into a wine cabinet for my wife. Just really don't want to strip all the paint off them if I don't have to. Just thought I would see if anyone has any experience, good or bad.

Chris - I recently planed some boards that had some sort of finish on it (not paint....poly or varnish or something). They were from an old desk that was basically junk but I wanted to see if I could salvage some of the boards. The boards came out great.....I think it dulled the blades pretty quickly though. Next time, I'm going to hit them with a belt sander and coarse grit sandpaper to eliminate the finish, and then plane the bare wood.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have used a cheap hand plane.

[george wilson]

I don't recommend planing pre sanded wood. Even pre sanded metal is bad for files,because some grit gets into either.

[Glenn Vaughn]

I had 12,000 LF of bevel siding to strip - strippers would not strip it, sanding did not work. Bought a Makita power planer - it took the paint off but the blades would only last for a board or 2. Turns out is was milk paint - ended up buying 12,000 lf of quartersawn spruce from vermont (largest internet purchase I have made - close to $9,000).

The siding was from 1906 and the whole interior of the house was painted with milk paint. Rock hard but a royal pain to get off.

[Robert Reece]

Could you "resaw" it off on the bandsaw. A sharp carbide blade and good setup and you could just trim off a tiny bit of wood and the paint. Just a thought, might not work at all.

[John Hain]

You're looking at this situation all wrong.

This is your excuse for a ROTEX. Hell, you're even making her something from it.

[Chris Kehl]

I can now comment on this from my own experience....it didn't work for me. Trashed the blades in the planer. I'm sure results will vary with the type of finish, and how much there is. My boards have several layers of old paint. So looks like I'm doing it the old fashioned way....:cool:

[david merz]

Try some carbide planer blades. They should handle the paint. Good luck.

[Lee Schierer]

Kris , there are commercial furniture strippers that will strip your wood for you for a price. Might be worth it depending upon how you value your time and how much you want to avoid doing it yourself.

[Erik Christensen]

well maybe i am an i am an idiot but i do that all the time without even thinking about it - i do run a metal sensor over the wood first to make sure no nails but then I just chuck it into the planer...

i do have a helical head with carbide cutters and have yet to rotate the 1st cutter nor notice any bad cuts but it could be i am either a) lucky b) carbide cutters are cool with the paint I have put through it or c) i am too dumb to know what a dull planer output looks like

[Steve Clardy]

I've done it may times. I usually try to wait till the planer blades are about ready to resharpen, then do it.

[Chris Kehl]

Erik,

I think your carbide cutters are the difference. I am using a DW735 with disposable blades. I may look around and see what options I have for blades. I would be much easier than scraping. Thanks for all the feedback!

[kenneth kayser]

I have stripped paint from walnut (yes, someone painted walnut) I didn't do very much, but did not observe any ill effects on my blades. It seems to me that, as long as you are cutting the wood under the paint, it should be little different from planing wood. Maybe it is important to have a dust collector in place to be sure that the paint dust is not drawn into the next cut.

Chemical stripping is a slow, messy, dangerous (unless adequate lung and skin protection is used), expensive process. The waste is hazardous material. Heat stripping is all of the above except expensive (electricity is cheap) and is not dangerous if the finish is lead free. Sanding is slow and, depending on the finish will clog the paper. Planing is fast, safe (if you control the lead) cheap (unless you go through a lot of blades). If you can afford the waste, re-sawing a 1/16th off sounds like a very good idea, especially if lead is present. (Still wear a mask.) If lead is present, that sounds to me like the only really safe way to do it.

[Paul Atkins]

Paint colors are made from oxides. Ever heard of aluminum oxide? Anyway, very hard on metal edges whatever the source.

[Ole Anderson]

Ok, same problem with non-pigmented finishes (varnish, shellac, lacquer)?

[Conrad Fiore]

Chris,
I have a DW735 and last year I milled about 200 feet of old 1 x 4 and 1 x 8 pine that had been varnished. The stuff was old trim and jambs that I replaced. I used an old set of blades to remove the varnish and I had no problems. I built two Shaker cabinets with the material and it was a good use of recycled lumber. The boards were about 40 years old and very stable with a nice patina.

[Chris Kehl]

Conrad,

I'm happy to report that I have had some luck getting my boards cleaned up. Old fashioned elbow grease and a scraper have helped my success. The paint was just too much for the blades. Our house was built in 1920, and I'm sure it is original trim to the house, so you can imagine how many layers of paint are on some of them :eek:. Once it's 99% gone, I'm having no problems. I will say that I have planed varnished trim, and had good luck. But the paint is another animal. I looked around for carbide blades for the DW735, and the cheapest I found was $249.00 for one set! So it looks like the scraper fits my hand just fine for now. I plan to post pictures, and progress on the wine cabinet in the projects forum soon.

[David Keller NC]

Chris - While you can certainly safely scrape the boards, sanding or even planing something like this is a major no-no. The old paint is virtually guaranteed to be lead-based, and running it through a planer will create quite a bit of lead dust, and your dust collector won't capture all of it. What remains will reside in your shop and/or your HVAC system for years, giving you and yours a continuous airborn lead exposure for some time to come.

While some folks have objections to methylene-chloride based paint stripper, it is easily the most effective and safest method to remove old paint from wood. And it is quite non-toxic if used outside, or inside with an elcheapo carbon filter respirator from the big box store.

[Kevin Womer]

I've done it. As long as you're sure it's not lead-based paint, and there are no nails in the boards, go for it.
Have to agree, but it will dull the heck out of the knives as others have mentioned.