Stripping old paint

[Scott Henkemeyer]

Any suggestions on stripping paint off of plane handles? I have used citristrip,but wasn't too impressed with results

[Patrick Chase]

Any suggestions on stripping paint off of plane handles? I have used citristrip,but wasn't too impressed with results

I mostly use NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrollidone) strippers these days. They're slow, but nowhere near as toxic as methylene chloride, and they get the job done very reliably across a wide range of finishes and adhesives in my experience. You can get high-concentration stuff at decent prices from marine supply houses. I'm working through a tub of this right now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013F5YHQ4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Scott Henkemeyer]

Thanks Patrick

[Stew Denton]

Scott,

If the plane is an old Stanley, I have used stripper, but have found that just sanding lightly and slowly with fairly fine sand paper takes the old finish off fairly easily and quickly. I now prefer it to stipper for reworking the tote and knob when restoring such. You have to go slowly, however, to avoid removing much of the wood.

The finish on these old Stanleys, however, is not hard to get off, and have also used gel type solvent based stripper, and if you let it work for a while, it works too.
You must let it have time to work, however.

One thought on the stripper, though. If the tote or knob has been waxed heavily in the past, this will greatly inhibit the stripper from attacking the finish.

Stew

[lowell holmes]

I sand and scrape old plane handles. I also have fixed broken handles by cutting a section out of the handle where the break was and bluing in a piece of maple.
I now have plane with a racing stripe.