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Garage => Interiors & Exteriors => Topic started by: daantjie on 09 February 2017, 10:41 PM

Title: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 09 February 2017, 10:41 PM
No not THAT kind of stripper guys 8)

Trying to refinish some of my dash wood but all the wood stripper I've tried barely makes a dent. I guess yet another German overenginering example but holy cow that finish is tough :o

Any tips on what works?
Cheers
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: Peter on 10 February 2017, 12:34 AM
Hi Dan, ha ha yes I was expecting something else when I open this post  8)  On my W108 I used Rock Miracle Paint & Varnish Stripper and it worked very well however the W116 has about a dozen more coats of clear finish I think.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 10 February 2017, 12:54 AM
Yes I even tried the famed "aircraft" stripper and it barely made any impression. I've used Rust o leum on other wood finishes before and almost immediately the old finish would start bubbling. The stuff they used on the 116 must have been super heavy duty.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: rumb on 10 February 2017, 08:38 AM
I have read, but not tried yet acetone.  you place the item covered with acetone in a closed tray 24 hours and all the finish is suppose to fall off.  of course you have to remove any plastic backings.

I have also read to use a heat gun to soften and then scrape carefully.

There is a post on this page that says to use a clothes iron:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w126-s-se-sec-sel-sd/2024713-my-wood-trim-restoration-project-2.html

Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 10 February 2017, 11:35 AM
Thanks Robert.  Perhaps it takes more patience with the stripper, but I could not see that it was making much of an impact and that stripper is very caustic.
Cheers
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: rumb on 10 February 2017, 01:59 PM
I refinished the wood in my W108 a few years back.  multiple coats, patience and care are needed.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 10 February 2017, 09:17 PM
Think I'm going to give the heat gun a go. This messing around with stripper is for the birds :(
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 11 February 2017, 02:15 PM
I'm starting to realize why the pros charge such large amounts to refurb wood...  I simply do not have the patience for it >:(
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: floyd111 on 12 February 2017, 08:07 AM
Get a belt sander, get rid of the veneer, and apply a new sheet of veneer!. It 'll allow you to match all wood parts in 2 sheets of the same tree's veneer.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: marku on 12 February 2017, 10:54 AM
Tried Nitromors? Don't know if it is generally available but seems to strip most things - either liquid or gel. One thing it will not strip is cellulose for which I recently used PQR15 Aircraft which it says on the can not to be used on aircraft not sure that it would strip the veneers. Fitting bare unfinished veneer is not easy.  How bad are they if it is just the top finish gently sand it back and refinish with a polyester varnish. The SL Shop here had complete sets of finished veneers which included those for the console for £1600.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: daantjie on 12 February 2017, 11:11 AM
Quote from: floyd111 on 12 February 2017, 08:07 AM
Get a belt sander, get rid of the veneer, and apply a new sheet of veneer!. It 'll allow you to match all wood parts in 2 sheets of the same tree's veneer.

Think I will try this approach. I checked with a guy selling veneers on ebay and he confirmed that the poly cover Benz put on is super resistant.  Only options are sanding through it to the bare veneer and reapply lacquer or go the whole hog and put new veneer on.
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: rumb on 12 February 2017, 03:01 PM
If you do decide to strip, you should never use any sandpaper, except perhaps some 600 grit just before your start applying varnish.  Steel wool to remove softened paint or a plastic scraper -  get several because the stripper will melt them also.

The veneer is literally paper thin.


Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: UTn_boy on 12 February 2017, 05:49 PM
Daanjie, and others, you should be aware that only up to 1972 was Nitrocellulose lacquer used for top coat on the wood.  After about the middle of 1972, a two part polyester resin was used to topcoat the wood.  The polyester resin is the hardest to strip, not the lacquer.  The lacquer comes off very easy with stripper.  Though, the quickest way to strip the lacquer is to soak the whole piece of wood in Acetone or MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone).  For the polyester resin, heat is the quickest way to strip it, but can also be stripped by using a very strong paste stripper or a strong liquid stripper in which you'd also submerge the whole pieces. 

Depending on how sun damaged the veneer is, after stripping it, the veneer can sometimes be sanded down past the sun fade. Caution is advised here, as the original veneer is only 1/64th of an inch think (for French walnut).  The other two veneers that late W108/W109 cars used were Walnut root and Macassar Ebony.  Theses two veneers are a little thicker than the French walnut. 
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: polymathman on 12 February 2017, 11:42 PM
Another discussion on same topic:

http://forum.w116.org/interiors-and-exteriors/removing-finish-from-dash-wood-veneer/msg123076/#msg123076
Title: Re: Best stripper
Post by: robparker on 14 February 2017, 05:31 AM
I have done this on 124s and 190s and will be doing to my 6.9 when it's back. Heat gun is the only way to remove lacquer. You need a thin metal scraper with a good flat area and sharp tip and just be careful. You don't want to heat the lacquer up so much that it melts and bubbles. Best to practice on any old bit of wood trim first.