Remove 100 year old paint from brass?

Duckshot

Silver Member
Sep 8, 2014
4,455
9,643
trapped on the earthly plane of causation
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I picked up a disston hand saw D-8 thumbhole rip, 26" five point, circa 1890 at a yard sale. Its in decent shape, a perfectly nice handle with no chips or cracks. Nice saw. Should be a decent user despite some pitting at the back of the plate near the handle.

But, some son of a wh*** painted the medallion red, probably as an owner's mark. Is there some gimmick for removing lead paint from brass without damaging the brass?

I tried naptha and it polished the brass but left the paint. ???
 

FreeBirdTim

Silver Member
Sep 24, 2013
3,757
6,730
Scituate, RI
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I used a heat gun to remove alligatored lead paint from my house many years ago. Bad smell and toxic fumes, but it worked.
 

huntsman53

Gold Member
Jun 11, 2013
6,955
6,769
East Tennessee
Primary Interest:
Other
Soak it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, then while still wet scrape the paint off with a hard plastic scraper. You can use a green Rose Thorn for the tight spots where the scraper won't go.
 

SusanMN

Silver Member
Jun 1, 2007
4,534
4,098
Minnesota
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark, Xterra 705, Makro Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Put it in water and boil it until the paint falls off. This works great on old brass house hardware, even when covered with many coats of paint.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top