Question on pneumatic air scrapers
The other day I bought a pneumatic air scraper (scraper, not air chisel, even though they call the actual scraper a chisel in the manual). The manual says it has a 5/8 stroke distance, with a 3500 spm. When I hooked it up all it did was slightly vibrate the end of the chisel. That was at 90 lb of pressure. Yes I used the air adjustment. In fact I had it wide open to get even that much of a result. I took the tool back to the store and the guy there told me that's all it's supposed to do. He said it vibrates not reciprocates. My question is if it doesn't reciprocate then why does it need a 5/8 stroke? I suspect the clerk is full of crap and has no clue as to how it works. Anybody else used one before??? Isn't it supposed to reciprocate.?? Did you try to actually use it on something? Just wondering if it needs pressure on the tip to actually work correctly. I know some of the air tools we used in the Navy were like that. Kinda like my electric engraver....without a surface to work against it just sort of hums as I remember. Also..the internal piston may have a 5/8 stroke...but the tip may actually move much less than that. Gunguy is correct that the piston travels 5/8 of an inch but the scraper blade barely moves. The piston hits the scraper on only the very end of its stroke. This is pretty much how all pneumatic hammer-type devices work including chisels and needle scalers. I have a small pneumatic scraper and it seems that all it does is vibrate but it does make removing dried-on gaskets MUCH easier than if you do it by hand. Keep the end of the scraper sharp and you will be amazed at how well it works. Ok, thanks for the info. I did try it against the paint. I thought it was supposed to actually strike, not just giggle. I'm trying to remove old paint off of the basement walls so that I can reseal them. I shouldn't say paint it's Thoroseal, a product for sealing up block. In some places it's about 1/16 thick. In some places it has efflorescenced behind it and it's loose, other places it requires more effort to remove. I've been doing it with a hammer and paint scraper, looks like I'll still be using a hammer and a scraper I tried a power grinder, it didn't work out so hot. All it did was kind of glaze and burn the top. I also tried a belt sander with the same result. Paint strippers don't work either. If aircraft paint remover doesn't work ain't nothing going to. If there is some other method I'm open to suggestions. A heavy-duty angle grinder with a heavy duty cup brush might work.. You need the heavy industrial size grinder as a more common small grinder will quickly die under the abuse. Your arms will get tired real quickly and the job will take forever. I know because I had to do this once when I was about 20 years old and it about killed me. If your compressor is big enough (CFM output) you might be able to get a halfway decent job by using a needle scaler. It will take off paint but that Thoroseal goes deep into the pores of the concrete and is a real mother to remove. Have you tried a wire wheel or a wire bristle cup? They have them for drills (though I'd use a rt angle adapter) and angle grinders and even for the large polishers I think. We used the big pneumatic ones in the Navy on ships...and an electric angle type when cleaning up some block walls in warehouse offices for repainting. Just be careful...they'll take a finger right down to the bone if used incorrectly. Worse than a sander or grinder I think. I would think you would just need to remove the loose and scaling stuff before recoating...what are you using for the new? I tried an angle grinder too. Also tried about 10 different kinds of wire brushes. I am replacing the old Thoroseal with new Thoroseal. The stuff wears like iron. The old stuff is over 20 years old and is just now starting to fail. Furd is right it's a real mother to get off. I found that if I use the scraper and hammer I can clean the surface stuff off, then I resort to even more back breaking work. I wet the wall down and wire brush it. ( using a cup brush throws crap everywhere, so I just use a plain straight brush.) That cleans a lot of it out of the pores. I then use muriatic acid, let it sit for a few minutes and wash it down with water. I know, muriatic acid in the basement is not a great idea. My wood shop is down there and I have a big air exchanger, filters the air to the outside, fresh air back in. With a respirator on it has worked out OK. It's the work that's killing me, if I thought the fumes would finish me off I'd take a bath in it. I was sort of looking for a faster approach to getting the heavy stuff off. I want to get it all off, it's too hard to try to figure if it's sound underneath or not. Miss some and I'll be going back over those spots come spring rain. Well..theres always portable sandblasting.....lol. Durn messy and expensive though.... GunGuy That Avatar looks more like a flame thrower, not a sandblaster i had to remove some glue from a concrete slab where outdoor carpet had been glued down. i used an air hammer. i took one of the chisels and welded a 4 inch x 4 inch piece of 1/8 steel to the chisel. i beveled the end with a grinder and it worked quite well. wear ear protection because they are quite loud. diehard Is and air hammer real heavy to handle?? I don't know do welding, but there is a machine shop right here in town I could probably get to make something up for me. Does an air hammer have a reciprocating action, or is it a side to side scraping motion?? Sorry never used on I'm a cabinet maker so some of these tools are foreign to me. Your pneumatic scraper is a mini air hammer. Air hammers come in all sizes from the scraper to 40 pound rivet guns. I suspect that Diehard is referring to a common size often called an air chisel. They are commonly available for about $20 - $30. (image courtesy of Northern Tool) Google is your friend!
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