The PaintShaver Pro
By Chuck Cage
Nothing sucks more than stripping paint off a house. Nothing. That’s why we’re always writing about anything that might make the job easier. But this sucker, sent in by TM reader PutnamEco, looks like it might be the final solution. Its motor spins a set of carbide blades to rip the paint right off, and a paint collection attachment captures the paint in a shop vac.
Obviously this tool is intended for removing leaded paint, but even if your paint is safe, it’d still save a ton of time in cleanup. It runs off 110V power, and the motor spins at 10,000 rpm.
The downside: it’s expsinsive. We found it via eBay starting at around $600, though there’s currently one listing for $279. I’d probably pay $279 for it, but not more — at least not for my non-pro purposes.
Be sure to check out the video on the site — if only removing paint were always that easy.
The PaintShaver Pro [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
It looks suspiciously like a grinder
Take a look at a metabo LF 724 S… it’s priced about the same but it’s much better engineered in my opinion
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I own one of the first models of the Paint Shaver (BTW you have it updated to the current head if you contact the company). It is essentially a handheld milling device. And mill it does! It takes a finesse to operate it or you will gouge deep into the siding. Corners areas are best finished with a Fein Mulitool as the Paint Shaver only mills out circles, so corners are unreachable. The company’s owner has a bit of an attitude, as I initially tried to buy just the head and affix it to my own grinder tool, but that was a “noway, no-how” proposition, but I like his steadfastness. Once you have the hang of the Paint Shaver (it is like painting a car, you have to move the spray pattern tangent and consistent to the surface) you can strip paint so damn fast you will be astounded at the mess, and the removal. One downside is a siding that is textured will have its texture all be removed down to a level surface. Your first go with the Paint Shaver will likely follow with a sander afterwards until you get the hang of it regarding pressure, and the feedback the tool itself sends you. It is worth the money? Hell yes, as it will take a one-hundred years of layered paint and kick the crap out of it, fast!
Pros: Strips better, and faster, than a pole dancer.
Cons: Cheap bastards’ need not apply.
I have seen, but not used the Metabo LF724S, but I am sure it works well too.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I too have a Paint Shaver. Bought it to work on the oldest Queen Ann in Olympia, Washington. It was worth ever cent (and that’s a lot of cents). I have a siding sander, but, wherever possible, this is my stripper of choice. Just remember to hook it up to a good vacuum, or you will burn up the motor (it needs the air flow, and you want as little of the dust (probably lead based) floating around as possible). I added a squirrel cage dust collector using flex ducting for additional dust collection.
All that said, this thing does what they say it does
August 11th, 2007 at 9:58 am
[...] The PaintShaver Pro The Paintshaver looks a lot like an angle grinder. Though we were a bit on the skeptical side, readers jumped in to say this works great but you need to be careful. It’s more powerful than it looks. [...]