Vinyl removal is often a part of the routine. Sometimes it's easily removed with a heat gun and if I get the temp dialed in the adhesive comes up with the plastic. Sometimes it's old and cracked from sun bake and the heat gun won't cut it. I've tried steam and it didn't work either. I've trued some stuff that's supposed to eat through the vinyl applied topically. I've tried one of those eraser wheels that chucks into a drill. I've seen ads for tools claiming to work that cost six hundred bucks. I don't ever intend to make that level investment for making something go away. What do you know?
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Well I had to remove some vinyl from a RV a few years back. What I wound up to is slicing 1 inch stripes on the vinyl and then using a single edge razor in a holder to scrape it off. Not a hard scrape but a scrape betwix the vinyl and the adhesive. You have to be a gentle as a Plastic Surgeon. I have since bought a MBX Vinyl Zapper.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Ken Henry told me a trick using a single edge razor. Drag it backward on a smooth steel surface like the bed of a table saw, and also tilting it left and right while dragging it. That takes the edge off the under side and ends and reduces the possibility of gouging a painted surface.
OR, you could use the method a trucker's wife used when he thought my charge of $60/hr was way too expensive. He sent his wife out to do it. She used a Brillo Pad!!!! It was not a happy result for him!!! Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Alicia, how do you like the MBX tool? Are they $600? I also wondered if I could make an adaptor to mount their wheel on a Makita grinder? What speed do they run at?
[ March 20, 2020, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: Rick Sacks ]
Posted by Bill Diaz (Member # 2549) on :
I also use the standard razor blade in the holder technique. I do a similar thing like Dave does. I round the corners of the blade with a sharpening stone to help prevent gouging.
I make sure the surface is cleaned prior to removal with razor blades so that I'm not dragging dirt across the surface and I also spray WD40 on the blade and on the surface.
I like using this technique for real small copy on trucks. I've never been a huge fan of the erasers. They leave a mess and punish your wrists.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
I paid about $474.oo from Fellers. I hate to say it but it works real good. It is a time saver. Of course you have to replace the wheels after so many hours of usuadge (Is that a word?) The wheels are about $50 bucks each. I'm gonna be using it this week as I will be changing the name on about 8 garbage trucks.I even tried just the wheel attached to a regular grinder (15.00 from a garage sale). It' didn't stay put. Kept on flying off. So I had to put up the money to buy the MBX Vinyl Zapper. I wouldn't use it on a fine finished high end car. It might leave "Hit Marks".
Posted by Gary Boros (Member # 8487) on :
Rick, I recently had to do a lot of vinyl removal from flat surfaces in very cold temperatures and what I found that was the most helpful tool was a Stanley Utility Blade Holder. Here is what seems to be a metal version of the plastic one I was using:
Also, I'm not sure what wheels you were using but those Zapper wheels are expensive and no better than other ones you can get for less. Here is the one that I use:
![[I Don t Know]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
![[Rolling On The Floor]](graemlins/rolf.gif)