Removing one part of a two part paint

[davidjmking]

To cut a long story short, someone gave me a huge tub of white paint which I kindly accepted and then gave to a friend to slap on the cabin and on some trimmings which required gloss.

Unfortunately the paint turned out to be just one half of a two pack system. The paint has dried into a blu-tack like gummy mess which neither heat gun nor sharp scraper will budge without a silly amount of time spent.

Has anyone ever slipped up and got themselves into a similar situation? Any ideas, however wacky, which reduce the amount of time stripping would be a godsend. Here's a photo of the front of the cabin after a half hour of scraping.

[Cogeniac]

Have you tried denatured alcohol? It can often cut uncured epoxies.

[wizbang 13]

You only ( only, ha ha) have the cabin front?
fast sharp 24 grit ,7"
or, as long as you seem to be open to experimenting, get the hardener and apply it , vigorously, to the coating.
Is it epoxy or urethane?

[Breakaway]

Find out what it is and apply the appropriate thinner. Lacquer thinner is kind of nasty, but seems to clean up most things IMO. Alcohol, as suggested, or even white vinegar, might be a way to start.

K

[SMARTINSEN]

Methelene Chloride? AKA paint stripper.

See the discussion below.

[JimConlin]

I'd try isopropyl alcohol, lacquer thinner, MEK and acetone in that order.

[hokiefan]

Methyl Chloride? AKA paint stripper.

Definitely not methyl chloride which is an evil toxic odorless kill-you-dead chemical that you can't buy publicly.

You're probably thinking of dicholormethane, the basic ingredient of most paint strippers. I had to go to wiki to find that by the way, but I knew for a fact MeCl wasn't right.

Cheers,

Bobby

[SMARTINSEN]

Definitely not methyl chloride which is an evil toxic odorless kill-you-dead chemical that you can't buy publicly.

You're probably thinking of dicholormethane, the basic ingredient of most paint strippers. I had to go to wiki to find that by the way, but I knew for a fact MeCl wasn't right.

Cheers,

Bobby

I stand corrected. Actually, I just went out to the shop, to check. I have some "marine grade" paint remover, whatever that means besides more expensive. It says on the label METHELENE Chloride. Safety first, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I went up above and corrected the original.

Regarding the original problem, take a look at the MSDS for the 2-part paint. It might give you a clue about what to use to strip it.

[Cmschlatt]

We had contractors install PVC flooring in the rooms on the tug, told em about three times to mix the two part paint to prep the steel before they laid em up. They knew better. Guess who spent 3 days with thinner and rags wiping it up, not this guy. It's a terrible mess cleaning it up. I've had people tell me they mixed the parts a little hot and painted back over but I don't buy it. Call the manufacturers and see whathey recommend to cut/clean it, wear gloves and a respirator

[Cmschlatt]

Do NOT apply the cure over the paint, it needs to be properly mixed to set, if you do you just have a sticky mess to clean up

[Cmschlatt]

You might be thinking methyl ethyl ketone, bad stuff, use protection

[wizbang 13]

Do NOT apply the cure over the paint, it needs to be properly mixed to set, if you do you just have a sticky mess to clean up

He already HAS a sticky mess to clean up. I was not suggesting the hardener would finish the paint job, but maybe make the goo less gooier and easier to grind off. Because there is only a little bit on a flat surface is why I would grind it. It will gum up several 36 discs , quickly, but will only take about 3 minutes.

[Hwyl]

A friend applied the 2nd part and it worked really well, but he caught it before it had been on too long.

He had come home to his wife congratulating herself on doing a great job of painting the galley.

[davidjmking]

Just thought I'd give a quick update. Tried some sanding disks on a grinder first:


They clogged and ate into the wood. Chanced upon this http://www.screwfix.com/p/preparation-wheel-115mm/83915 which worked like a dream. It looked like it was clogging up but seemed to just keep chugging on and got the job done in about 2 hours. giving this result and painted in med white So for anyone in the same predicament the advice appears to be add the 2nd part if you catch it soon enough. If not, a preparation wheel seemed to do the trick.

[Chip Chester]

The grinder with sandpaper might have been spinning too fast -- and getting too hot. Glad you got it sorted, though.
Chip

[beernd]

Have you tried denatured alcohol? It can often cut uncured epoxies.

OK you beat me to it, but anyway, bio ethanol, AKA deanurated alcohol is a good and versatile product.
It also has the advantages of not being very toxic and not breaking the bank when you buy some.

Besides all that, I think you're doing not all that bad after all, having scraped all that off in just half an hour.

Good luck!

[beernd]

All is well that ends well...

I stay away from cheap (or worse, free) high quality paint.
And please don't ask me how I found out