TromboneChat

Hi all,
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 1980s King 606 that plays well but looks awful.  The lacquer is as you'd expect with great patches of it completely worn off.  I have polished those patches and it looks absolutely beautiful.  I started thinking about removing the lacquer completely so tried soaking the tuning slide in scalding water.  Nothing.  All that happened was the black paint on the weight peeled off.

Can anyone suggest any other home remedies?

Many thanks
Andy

During those years, they used an epoxy lacquer. It can be removed, but you need heavy duty paint strippers to get it to wrinkle and come off. It's a messy and smelly process. There are quite a few threads written about the process.

Quote from: Euphanasia on Today at 12:25 AMDuring those years, they used an epoxy lacquer. It can be removed, but you need heavy duty paint strippers to get it to wrinkle and come off. It's a messy and smelly process. There are quite a few threads written about the process.

Thanks for this. I expected it must be something like that as all the threads I had read on the subject said hot water and it will just come away but this certainly was not the case.
Cheers
Andy

Cellulose lacquers strip with hot water (think Bach Strads).  Yamaha, King, and Conn all use epoxies.  I've heard people say Citristrip (a terpene) works, but with LONG soak times.  Strippers with Methylene Chloride work, but it's VERY hazardous (carcinogen and can displace air in a closed room).  Some have reported success with a lye based oven cleaner.  Great if you like that black finish when you are done.

Quote from: BGuttman on May 08, 2017, 06:31AMCellulose lacquers strip with hot water (think Bach Strads).  Yamaha, King, and Conn all use epoxies.  I've heard people say Citristrip (a terpene) works, but with LONG soak times.  Strippers with Methylene Chloride work, but it's VERY hazardous (carcinogen and can displace air in a closed room).  Some have reported success with a lye based oven cleaner.  Great if you like that black finish when you are done.

Older Bach Strads yes,  newer ones use epoxy......

I have stripped two mid 70's vintage Bach 50B bells. I just stripped the flare inside and out, not the attachment tubing. I did not use the Hot Water Method because I only stripped the bells.
The Citrus stripper easily available from DIY stores was not hard to use nor did it take any more than the recommended time. I have patience enough for 20 minutes or whatever the directions say. I did the work outside on one bell and in my garage workshop with the other. Easy to to apply, easy clean up good result. I'd do it again if a had an old bell with a flaking finish.

If it's "Eastlake orange"  you'll need EZoff oven cleaner.   Don't get the kind with low odor either.   It has to be the old fashion toxic stuff

I would give citrustrip a go. I don't know what year it was but I stripped lacquer off of one of my King's easy. it came out very nice.

Its a little bit unorthodox, but I've had a lot of success with a bench grinder with a wire wheel like this one: http://www.sears.com/weiler-2325-vortec-pro-medium-face-bench/p-SPM8859597829?plpSellerId=Overstock.com&prdNo=10&blockNo=10&blockType=G10 . Full disclosure: I did this to several bells I was okay with destroying before doing it to bells I liked.

I've used both EZ-Off and Citristrip.  EZ-Off works better if you want to spray it on and wipe it right off, but it can discolor the brass if you leave it on too long (Brasso seems to fix that though).  Citristrip works fine if you only have limited ventilation, don't want to deal with highly caustic chemicals, and have a lot of patience.  With that stuff, the longer you wait after you apply it, the better the results seem to be (2 hours is the longest I've left it on).  I used both on the F. Schmidt, because the EZ-Off didn't seem to work as well as it did on my 606.  After I got done with the Citristrip, I wet sanded it with 400 grit sandpaper, which got the rest of the lacquer off and left it with a nice brushed finish.

I've used both EZ-Off and Citristrip.  EZ-Off works better if you want to spray it on and wipe it right off, but it can discolor the brass if you leave it on too long (Brasso seems to fix that though).  Citristrip works fine if you only have limited ventilation, don't want to deal with highly caustic chemicals, and have a lot of patience.  With that stuff, the longer you wait after you apply it, the better the results seem to be (2 hours is the longest I've left it on).  I used both on the F. Schmidt, because the EZ-Off didn't seem to work as well as it did on my 606.  After I got done with the Citristrip, I wet sanded it with 400 grit sandpaper, which got the rest of the lacquer off and left it with a nice brushed finish.