Best way to remove paint from a metal mailbox?

ncav8tor

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I figured this would be as good a place as any to pose the question.

I want to remove the paint from my metal mailbox and post. What is the easiest way to do it? I’m assuming some kind of chemical stripper? Can anyone suggest a product or method?


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Is the mailbox painted or powder coated? Powder coat is a pain in the tail to remove with stripper, blasting will be the fastest.

Whats your end goal? Just to repaint? Your end goal will dictate what you need to do with paint removal.
 
So why do you want bare metal? You'll want something left behind for the new paint to adhere to, unless you want to polish the whole thing, or have to prime it all.

With the cost of new mailboxes, it may be cheaper, and faster to just buy new.
 
Doubtful it's a powder coat, but aircraft stripper will melt it away anyway. DO NOT GET IT ON YOUR SKIN.
I can’t find the stuff retail anymore, loved it in those red and gold spray cans.
 
orange stripper is safer than the aircraft one, but yeah I'm with the "why?" crowd. Just scuff it, prime and repaint like any other metal work.
 
It is a twenty year old decorative metal mailbox post and mailbox. The end result is to have it look new. It will be painted the same color (black).

I’ve seen people paint over old paint improperly and then have something that that flakes off a few years later. So, I was thinking I would need to remove the old paint first and then repaint.


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The paint that’s still on there is obviously well stuck to the metal, so scuffing it with sandpaper and painting will work well. If you need a perfect high gloss finish then you have a lot of prep to do, but for a mailbox, clean, sand, prime, paint.
 
yeah 20 years old = 2000 probably still made in China. Now if it was a '66 Chevelle or an old P&R Smith and Wesson wheelgun we were talking....

I inherited my current mailbox when my father-in-law's house got bought by the state for the stupid I-274 project that will most likely never be completed in Winston. I literally knocked off the cement off the post, drove a T post into the ground, put a pool noodle around it, and slipped the pipe right over it. Voila! good enough for the mailperson to hit with her vehicle and still rotate, stiff enough not to blow around in the wind, and looks good enough for the next owner to enjoy at least until the close.

The mail running at my house isn't the anticipation of joy that it was when I was a kid. Unless I order a crap ton of brass or bullets from a private seller. Then I get to watch the mailperson struggle with a heavy-for-it's-size package and lug it to my door.
 
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The mail running at my house isn't the anticipation of joy that it was when I was a kid.

We didn't get bills when we were kids lol.

Good idea on the Tpost and pool noodle, might have to go that route with mine. My mailbox is banged up pretty good.

OP, do you know anyone with a blast cabinet?
 
We didn't get bills when we were kids lol.

Good idea on the Tpost and pool noodle, might have to go that route with mine. My mailbox is banged up pretty good.

OP, do you know anyone with a blast cabinet?

Nope but then I want no part of trying to get it out of the ground either. [emoji23]


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Personally I would not try to strip off the old paint. It's well adhered; as JimB recommended simply scuff it up by sanding and repaint. There are some epoxy paints that really last a long time; the Rustoleum professional paint (hardhat) lays down well and looks good, but I'm not sure if it fades.

This past January an idiot truck driver (not to be confused with the majority of truck drivers who are not idiots...) backed over my Mother in law's mailbox and trashed it. Fortunately I had a nice cypress log in stock and we knocked out a replacement (8" x 8") and had her back in service within a day. Most of the time was allowing the stain to dry. I thought that it turned out well.

Mailbox 2.jpg
 
I like the others' idea of scuffing and painting.
If you want to strip it - Aircraft stripper. Spray it on, watch it bubble, scrap or spray it off. Just be very cautious with it, it eats through stuff quickly.
Even got it to start eating through some powdercoating after a few applications
 
The appropriate prep is to use a scotch pad to give the new paint something to bite to. You absolutely do not want bare metal, unless you plan on priming the whole thing first.

Make sure to use an automotive finish scotch pad.
 
Have you tried a ball bat? They seem to work good on mailboxes?
 
you can also wash it with TSP it will knock off the shine and ready the paint for a new coat
 
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