At 11:33 AM 9/23/2009, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
>* I don't know how to effectively describe the sticky, grippy, tenacious
>nature of this stuff. A wire brush would immediately gum up. A paint
>scraper would get globbed up in a second, with thick strands of this
>substance between the lifted scraper and the stuff remaining on the
>drainer, and it would never remove the stuff completely anyway: it's in
>the pores of the metal. Think honey on hardboard rather than paint on metal.

Not a paint scraper, Mike, a razor blade scraper, like you'd use to
get things off your windshield.  Ah -- the fancy version is called a
gasket scraper and has its own blades, but the cheap one is at any
hardware/paint store and uses single-edged razor blades.  Use a fresh
blade, oil it if it helps against the stickies, and offer it up to
the work at a 25-degree or so angle from parallel, keeping the blade
firmly pressed against the metal.  The angle needs to be greater than
the final bevel angle of the edge, so the edge itself actually
touches the metal, but not a lot greater so it will cut well.  Even
if you have to use a fresh blade for every cut, should be a win.

And I wasn't joking in the least about freezing it with "canned air"
from the office supply store.  Hold the can upside down and what
comes out will evaporate to about -30F.  If you can get the stuff
below its brittle point you've got it made.

Any little bits/smears left over will undoubtedly come off with a 3M
rust/paint-removal wheel available at any FLAPS.

Just the job for a strapping son...

:-)
d