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Flame stripping is an ancient method often used on large items. I wanted the coating off the Softail rear hub shown so I grabbed my old Victor weed burner and after gutting the hub turned the coating and internal grease residue to ash. That brushed off easily afterwards saving time and hassle vs. grit blasting (which I detest doing) the whole hub. I'll hand sand it or lightly blast before Cerakoting. Flame stripping gets inside holes like those for the spoke nipples since it doesn't depend on direct impingement.
Exercise reasonable intelligence but you're not gonna hurt a carbon steel hub or other thick-ish steel part with a torch. Don't do this on sheet metal which overheats easily. That hub got MUCH hotter when it was welded at the factory. There is no heat treat to anneal!
This would work fine for truck stuff like the painted Cornbinder bumper I picked up for Dragstews. Heat destroys paint and coatings without requiring a direct shot so a wood stove, gas cooker (like the beast I used for a table in the pic) etc would do nicely. So would a shop oven.
The coating turns to dust which easily brushes off. I used a steel toothbrush and various rotary brushes afterwards but the time saved vs fighting paint was WELL worth a few minutes to roast it.
This would of course work on steel weldments like frames but I'd avoid it on brazed antique frames and of course avoid aluminum and plated or chromated parts unless they're being deplated/decoated anyway.
Automotive rebuilders similarly bake off residue from engine blocks and heads but their ovens are large and expensive.
Exercise reasonable intelligence but you're not gonna hurt a carbon steel hub or other thick-ish steel part with a torch. Don't do this on sheet metal which overheats easily. That hub got MUCH hotter when it was welded at the factory. There is no heat treat to anneal!
This would work fine for truck stuff like the painted Cornbinder bumper I picked up for Dragstews. Heat destroys paint and coatings without requiring a direct shot so a wood stove, gas cooker (like the beast I used for a table in the pic) etc would do nicely. So would a shop oven.
The coating turns to dust which easily brushes off. I used a steel toothbrush and various rotary brushes afterwards but the time saved vs fighting paint was WELL worth a few minutes to roast it.
This would of course work on steel weldments like frames but I'd avoid it on brazed antique frames and of course avoid aluminum and plated or chromated parts unless they're being deplated/decoated anyway.
Automotive rebuilders similarly bake off residue from engine blocks and heads but their ovens are large and expensive.
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