Recommend the best wire brush for rotary tools.

[Gaogier]

Hello

i have a few items that are/were in need of paint removal, my sister got some paint stripper she said was really good, so this past week, I have been using paint stripper, but it wasn’t really doing anything, so I got some other paint stripper that was recommended by a man in the shop, who didn’t work there. Anyway it’s taken me over a week to strip all the paint of 2 tools, and needing to strip one item. All paint strippers started Monday morning, i managed to get one finished Friday, and just finished the second tool. However to help get the paint off, I have been using a small wire brush for rotary tools. However the brushes Are not good, especially for the price of what we paid, I get showered with wire from the brush whenever it’s used, I did a test, and left the tool on, but not used, and after 4 mins all the wires fell off.

can you recommend any attachments for the rotary tools that include brushes, polishers, sanding papers and cutting disks. I did get a disk set that is good, it cut through steel easily, but I can only use the small one as the attachment for the bigger ones (the shaft section) is too big to fit in the tool. I am unsure if you can get bigger holders or not, not really looked, mostly due to a comment someone made in store when asking for help with it, I hate this store, but now not wanting to google search it as I don’t want any images - if you know what I mean - popping up.

when needing advise. Now I only use toolstation as Screwfix are either rude, don’t understand simple questions like needing to find precision 4mm replacement bits, or peg board accessories and hooks, or custom draw organisers.

so, I am looking for
wire brushes that don’t lose the wires easily
polishing pads
good sanding drums, of different sizes and grits
shaft adapters to allow bigger items. I think the biggest is 6mm.


the wire brushes is the most important at the moment, everything else can wait a while if needed.

 

[robinbanks]

When you say "item needing paint removal" what is it, exactly?

 

[big-all]

rotary tool like dremil type or other ?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

rotary tool like dremil type or other ?

Why would you use a wire brush to take paint off one of those, B-A? It'd mark.it, surely?

OP, as Robin says we need to know what the thing you are cleaning is made of (e.g.steel, aluminium, brass, wood, etc), the type of finish it currently has (e.g. gloss paint, Hammerite type paint, powder coating, etc,) and the tools you have to do the job (e.g. angle grinder drill, bench grinder, etc). Also what.type and size of brush are you using and on what (a bench grinder with an 8 x 1in crimped steel wire brush is a lot more aggressive than a small diameter brass wire cup brush on a 12 volt cordless drill)

BTW some finishes (e.g Hammerite, powder coating, etc) can bevthe devil's own to remove with a steel wire brus and really need to be removed by shot blasting. Some finishes are better dealt with by abrasives such as silicone carbide or blue zirconium than withbwire brushes

 

[DiyNutJob]

Brake fluid, acetone, cellulose thinner all remove paint. If you don't mind abrasion damage, use sand paper. Depending on how much time you have, you can try immerse it in water, or boil it in water.

None of my rotory brushes (nylon, brass, steel) fail like yours. If ebay ones are no good, get china-direct ones. If still no good (unlikely) then get dremel.

I used rotory steel brush to scratched the hell out of a chrome exhausts tip. The brush did not fail, but my heart nearly did. Eventually, white vinegar in a steam kettle did what I needed. This might work on paint.

 

[big-all]

Why would you use a wire brush to take paint off one of those, B-A? It'd mark.it, surely?

OP, as Robin says we need to know what the thing you are cleaning is made of (e.g.steel, aluminium, brass, wood, etc), the type of finish it currently has (e.g. gloss paint, Hammerite type paint, powder coating, etc,) and the tools you have to do the job (e.g. angle grinder drill, bench grinder, etc). Also what.type and size of brush are you using and on what (a bench grinder with an 8 x 1in crimped steel wire brush is a lot more aggressive than a small diameter brass wire cup brush on a 12 volt cordless drill)

BTW some finishes (e.g Hammerite, powder coating, etc) can bevthe devil's own to remove with a steel wire brus and really need to be removed by shot blasting. Some finishes are better dealt with by abrasives such as silicone carbide or blue zirconium than withbwire brushes

yes a rotory wire brush would bu66er it up its more a "that wont work other than confined small areas before filling" type answer more to lower expectations as the wrong tool and that a hand wire brush was probably what they suggested rather than powered ??

 

[JohnD]

If you decide to use a wire brush tool, I very strongly recommend the use of strong goggles.

Unless you aren't scared of the dark.

 

[Gaogier]

Hello, so

I have a floor fitting crowbar type tool, about 30% of paint has fallen off and unsure what type of paint it was. This has been fully stripped now.

The second tool, was found about a year ago, I can’t remember when but we have had our fence panels replaced a lot over the last 25 years - at least 5 replaced per year. This is a crowbar nail remover type one, google says it’s a utility crowbar… anyway this is now stripped.

The last item to strip, is a part of my bbq, it’s the heat shelf - keep hot bit. It was scratched stainless steel, but it started to get a little rust on it. The man at Screwfix said I should paint it using the bbq/stove paint from a spray can. This was a bad idea, mostly due to the paint came off with the food, so it has huge patchy areas. So I didn’t use it for a couple of years. Now needing to use it this year, I am removing the paint. It’s very thin, stainless steel scratched. If I knew less than what the manufacturer said I would have said it was aluminium. About 90% of paint has been removed on one side, about 5% has been removed from the other.

 

[DiyNutJob]

I don't think paint sticks well to SS. Maybe use Green Scouring Pads for the kitchen? White vinegar steam will work on burnt-on carbon from food or oil.

 

[Gaogier]

we couldn’t understand why the paint bonded so well in parts but didn’t in others. It looked liked more like camouflage than anything.

Found the combination of, using bartoline tx10 paint remover, a large Makita steel wire cup brush, thick, medium and thin steel wire balls, with more paint remover, and basically repeating until the layers of paint is removed. Once 95% is, and what is left is more hard to reach areas like pitting, I then use the small wire brushes via the dremel it is at this step I am having major problems with the brushes keep loosing the wires.

One last item needs paint removed from, my grandfather had a set of table and chairs I think in the 80’s, anyway they were originally white, and my mum said my grandfather was very proud of it, but when he died in the mid 90’s they were repainted black, but my mum fell out with my Nan and didn’t see her for some 18 years, in that time, my Nan paid my cousin to paint them every year, but he stole off her for drugs and did as little as he could to get money, he basically poured the paint on the table and left it, so in places there are some 4-5mm of paint to be removed. Mum has the table now, and she spends hours and hours sitting there removing as much as she can… in 3+ years could be closer to 5+ years by now, she hasn’t done maybe 1/3 of it.

 

[robinbanks]

I think I'd buy a new hot shelf or cover the existing one in foil rather than spend hours cleaning it up

For the table have you tried a heat gun and scraper to remove the bulk of it then paint remover on the residue?