Old putty/cement removal

Any suggestions for removing old, dried putty/cement from lead came? I've
been using a Dremel and a thin abrasive wheel and grinding it out while
doing a repair. I was thinking about some cutter that would be the same
thickness as the heart of the came?

"nJb" wrote in message
...
Moonraker wrote:

Any suggestions for removing old, dried putty/cement from lead came?
I've
been using a Dremel and a thin abrasive wheel and grinding it out while
doing a repair. I was thinking about some cutter that would be the
same
thickness as the heart of the came?

Not sure if it would work but how about "stacking" thin wheels until
they are the right thickness. Might be worth a try.
--
Jack


http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/

I do't like all the dust those things generate, so I use one of two things,
solvent or heat..

lately I tried an old trick I used a long time ago, use alcohol or after
shave,(cheap stuff)
I should mentin this only works if the glass is still in the hole, cracked
or not, and put a metal can under the particular hole.

Pour "some" alcohol on the glass to come out, light it, the heat from the
alcohol will soften the putty, most of the time. If the glass is gone abnd
the rock hard putty is still in the channel, I like those cheap little
torches to heat it up, remember to keep it moving and you won't melt the
lead, but the putty will soften and leave less evidence than if you try
digging it out mechanically.

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"nJb" wrote in message
...
Moonraker wrote:

Any suggestions for removing old, dried putty/cement from lead came?
I've
been using a Dremel and a thin abrasive wheel and grinding it out
while
doing a repair. I was thinking about some cutter that would be the
same
thickness as the heart of the came?

Not sure if it would work but how about "stacking" thin wheels until
they are the right thickness. Might be worth a try.
--
Jack


http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/

I do't like all the dust those things generate, so I use one of two
things,
solvent or heat..

lately I tried an old trick I used a long time ago, use alcohol or after
shave,(cheap stuff)
I should mentin this only works if the glass is still in the hole, cracked
or not, and put a metal can under the particular hole.

Pour "some" alcohol on the glass to come out, light it, the heat from the
alcohol will soften the putty, most of the time. If the glass is gone
abnd
the rock hard putty is still in the channel, I like those cheap little
torches to heat it up, remember to keep it moving and you won't melt the
lead, but the putty will soften and leave less evidence than if you try
digging it out mechanically.




I just had this mental image of flambe'ing somebody's front door.
shudder...........

I agree about the dust. Does Laquer thinner work to soften the old cement,
or would denatured alcohol be better? It seems like I've had a run on
recement jobs recently. Taking a dental pick to all those "miles" of lead
to dig all that cement out is killing me.

Regular household ammonia will soften the putty. Then it can be
scraped away easily. Be careful to only put it where you want it.

Good idea....
"vic" wrote in message
om...
Brush on straight ammonia

Maybe one of the linoleum (Armstrong) cushion floor type knives, the
one with the "backwards hook" at the tip of the blade might work,
they're nice and thin anyway. Same idea, a bit thicker, is a [ceramic
tile] grout remover/scraper. Please keep us posted, it'd be handy to
know what works best.
Bart.

tinnitus, custom compensated bridges,
tabs, stained glass: www.haruteq.com

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