www.MG42.us

I'm looking to getting back to restoring my Lafette 42 tripod, however, I need some additional advice on paint and rust stripping.
Obviously I want keep costs down and consider alternatives to blasting since there are parts which are a bit sensitive such as the ele/trav block, leather wipers within the cradle etc.

In regards to the paint removal I have read that vehicle and furniture restorers use Caustic Soda with great success. However, will this be effective on the remains of the German primer and paint(or what remains) and then the liberal top coat of Austrian green.

When it comes to rust and stain removal my initial thoughts were to use Jenolite liquid, which is a Phosphoric acid based neutraliser, but it is a bit pricey when you may want to soak large components.
I then came across the use of Mollasses and water which, according to Youtube, seems to be very effective.

Have any of you had experience of these alternate cleaning agents and how effective they are on 70 years old paint and rust.

Cheers,
Tom.

Most of the old paint is enamel and isn't hard to strip. The jelly paint stripper available at the hardware store would be simple and cheap. I've never been a great fan of putting acid on steel I like.

The best rust remover is Evaporust.
http://www.evaporust.com/
Buy it by the gallon and let the parts soak in it.

Will not hurt the metal and is safe to use.
You can drink it.
It will also strip parkerizing.

Never heard of that rust stripper. Thanks for the share of what it can do. Might have to find some and give it a try.
Found this on their website
"EVAPO-RUST is perfect for removing oxide weapon finishes such as Bluing, Parkerizing, Zinc Phosphate, and Browning."
Removes bluing, that sounds good, just finishing sand blasting (Al Oxide) some bluing that was half worn off, what a pain removing the rest so I can park and paint it. Might want to try this next time.

However no matter what is stated I'm not going to drink it if it does what they say it will. LOL

Interesting, look forward to more reports on this one.

Later 42rocker

Thanks for the input. I probably just try a mixture and see what comes out best.

Tom.

Evaporust is great stuff for getting rid of rust, but don't mix it with other rust removers.