How to remove silkspan

[Cody bishop]

I am trying to remove silk spam from some wings and it is adhered to the LE TE and center sheeting pretty well is there a good way to get it off without damaging the wood underneath

[Frank Imbriaco]

Acetone

[bill bischoff]

I've had fair success using a heat gun to soften the bond.

[Bill Ervin]

I’m with Frank brush on acetone liberally then cover the area with a piece of Saran wrap.

[Dave_Trible]

I've stripped and refinished quite a few with an acetone bath.  Get some rubber gloves, two rolls of paper towels and about a gallon and a half of acetone.  Also a large paper grocery sack for the trash.  I pour a few ounces of acetone at a time into a pie pan.  Wipe an area down with saturated paper towels and move along to let the acetone soften the dope. Go back over again and the dope will start wiping off.  Repeat until most of the outer coats are gone.  You will reach a point where the silkspan is loose and you can pick it up and start peeling it away in large sections.  The wood is usually unscathed below.  Once all is off let it set over night to dry before sanding and re-finishing.  You may have to do repairs or replace spindly things like built up open bay flaps and canopies if you didn't cover them well with a couple layers of tape.  Take that bag of trash acetone/dope paper towels outside in a safe place to dry up.  It will be a firebomb waiting to happen.

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

Oh yes.  I usually have a window open-maybe a fan on.  Just had a lung cancer scan-so far so good.........35 (former) years of smoking and 55 years of dope and acetone......nothing but air in there.

Dave

[wwwarbird]

 Do a Google search for "Dad's Easy Spray" paint and varnish remover. I've yet to try it but some here on the forum say it works really well.

 

 

[Randy Powell]

I've used paint stripper. Wipe it on, wait a few minutes and peel off the silkspan. Works pretty well.

[Serge_Krauss]

I've found that "Dad's" paint stripper, as recommended by Randy Ryan several years ago, works better for me than straight acetone. Brush it on, letting the treated area stand for 5-10 minutes and then wipe and/or lift the silkspan off. For very old dope I sometimes need a couple applications, but the silkspan will most often peal back on the first try. Repeat until all is pealed off. It's messy work, but has saved a couple wings so far.

SK