Speedheater Cobra

Ajax

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Joined
May 24, 2013
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I have a 1920s house with lots of old windows and trim that needs to be maintained.  There's not a lot of rot, but layers and layers of paint that need to be removed from the wooden double sash windows.  I need to put in new hardware, strip and reputty the muttins, and the sills need to be cleaned, patched, and repainted.  There's also some external trim around the windows and shutters that could use an overhaul.  The house is stucco, so I'm looking at working on internal and external trim and window frames only.  I visit the Craftsmans Blog quite often and I have his book on restoring old windows.  He recommends the new Cobra IR heater from Speedheater.  Anybody use this new device?  The Original one is well received and costs about the same.  The Original covers more area, but the Cobra is smaller and has an adjustable head.  Apparently, the Cobra heats up the paint a lot faster.
 
Ajax said:
Found a used one on eBay but it looks beat up...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Infrared-P...heater-Cobra/183206193633?hash=item2aa7f0a9e1:g:UlEAAOSwE29a6eRY
  Are they easy or at least inexpensive to service if a used one needs work before you can use it on a daily basis?  I looked at your link on them, interesting and yet another tool in a Paint Removal Arsenal.... [scratch chin]
I've used a Master Appliance Heat Gun for years on Paint Removal, but always looked at the Infrared Removal Tools with interest... [cool]
 
I use the model before the Cobra and have had great results.....I've used it a lot as I am restoring about 30 windows with nearly 300 lights. I've attached some photos where you can see part of my set up.

Here are the various tools I've used that may be applicable based on the size of your job:

- Speedheater with attachment
- Handheld paint remover
- Bahco scrapers (highly highly recommend these)
- Abatron Wood Epoxy(you will probably find some rot once you remove the paint)
- Festool Sanders and vacuum
- Festool Domino (you could use simple dowels instead)
- A really firm putty knife
- EDIT* Sarco Putty.....the stuff from the big box stores will never dry.

There are lots of great resources on the web: I thought this gentleman, from Florida, had the best process:
 

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Hi Paul,

It's a 3'x4' fiberglass grate that I purchased from these folks:http://www.amdgrating.com/

It was not cheap (about $215, $50 of that is for shipping because its heavy). Given the size of my project and the need to contain the lead paint chips, I bought it. I built the cabinet with some scrap ply with the intention of creating a downdraft table......I reconsidered that idea, when I realized I didn't want lead paint going into my dust extractor. So, I just let the paint drop into the box and I manually clean it and vacuum it. I'll convert it to a downdraft/assembly table later on.

Oh......one, last second, idea that I came up with (probably because it was located right next to my MFT) was to build it to the same height as the MFT with rigid foam, on top of the grate, for ripping long sheets of ply. I only have a 20x20 space so getting multiple uses out of this was ideal given the square footage it takes up. 

It's not all that sexy but I'll try to post some additional photos when I get a chance so you can see the whole set up.
 
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