Shopsmith Forums

Good morning all,
I have 38 spindles to re paint white, They are 20 years old and have some kid raising abuse marks ect. They were originally sprayed before install but have been brush painted twice I think, in the 20 years,
I have them all out right now. I tried disk sanding the flat 8" section of the bottom to get through the old paint, but that scews up my sanding disk and smells like bad burnt paint.
I was going to make a little jig and sand the rest of the spindle in the lathe position. But I think the paint will wipe out the sand paper fairly fast.
Maybe Im over doing it? I just want them to look nice back in place.
I was going to hang them on a nail and string, spinning them to spray paint.

I need suggestions...

Wow that is a formidable task. I have found that some of the older latex paints can liquefy when they get sanded and the soft paint will clog the sandpaper. Try using a sandpaper cleaning stick before the softened paint can harden on the disc.
Try slowing the sanding disc down and use a fairly rough sandpaper (80 or 100 grit) to remove the paint and then a finer disc for the finish sanding.
As long as you are going to paint them again removing all of the paint is not really necessary. Just make sure that the surface is smooth and does not have ridges that can show up through the new paint.
The lathe function is the best way to sand the round section of the spindles. Avoids flat spots and such.
One other thought, for the round sections you may want to try using a scraping lathe tool to remove the paint and then sand. The lathe tool will remove the paint faster and you can save sandpaper.
Bill V

I use Citristrip, bought at Home Depot or other places. It is a gel and easy on the hands and nose.

Along with the paint stripper, I might buy one of those under bed plastic totes to use as a"bath" of stripper so you could do multiple spindles. Pour enough to cover the bottom by an inch or so, lay the spindles in and turn at intervals until all sides are coated and the goo has soaked into the paint. Then just scrape off the residue, clean the spindle(s) as indicated and add another bunch. Production line cleaning.

Just a thought.

Be well,
Ben