Paint Removal

[Guardian]

Hi everyone
Have a question as to how to remove paint on a pci of 1/4" Diamond plate steel that I got for my reverse flow smoker. The metal appears to have been used as some type of a steel transition ramp for a fork lift or something similar, but without the sides. The previous owner of the material painted both sides with an industrial yellow paint and is very thick on both sides. Im not as concerned about the fire box due to the heat will remove the paint but the baffle plate or heat sink plate is where my concern is at. I dont think that it will get hot enough to burn the paint away if i go ahead and weld it in so should i have it sand blasted or is there some other way to remove this paint or do you think it would be ok to use like it is?

Thanks again for all of your thoughts on this, it is my first attempt at making my own smoker.

Guardian

[Frank_Cox]

remove the paint for sure. I would have it sandblasted if it was me. It would be easier to work with.

Sent using Forum Runner. Try it out for Android or iPhone IOS

[The Czar]

.....

[Smokeone]

I would have it all blasted, even the firebox part. I wouldn't take a chance on the paint not burning off before you cook on it.
Just my .02.

[Tommy Joe]

If the paint is epoxy the fumes are very bad for you. A fellow I worked with got just a wiff of smoke off of epoxy paint he was welding on and ended up in the hospital for 5 days, and was off work for several weeks. I will not weld on painted metal untill I grind off the existing paint.

[Guardian]

Has anyone ever used a weed dragon torch ?
I called all of the local sand blasting shops around town and they all want $ 200.00 to sand blast the paint off. Said it falls into the minimum fee that they get. I had someone tell me that the weed dragons put out 100,000 btu and that would be enough to burn off anything

[Blazer]

I feel that heating it up high enough to burn off the paint would probably warp it and make it a challenge to use.

[k.a.m.]

Guardian, try to make a deal with the blaster. See if he can throw the piece in with another order and pay him on the side or trade for some bbq. I doubt the dragon torch will remove the paint completely the btu's may be there but the oxygen push like a cutting torch has is not. According to Rick my flame thrower puts out an amazing 573,196 BTU/hour. and I can tell you it takes a while to remove paint with it.

[Wreckless]

That's the fire dance scene from Dances With Wolves! I had no idea k.a.m.