Removing paint from thin plywood

[Andrew Pritchard]

I recently came by some wooden bed ends by the side of the road. Having cleaned the paint of the solid pieces I discovered some nice pieces of cherry. There were also some panels of plywood which had also been painted.

 

This plywood is less than 2mm thick. What's the best way to clean the paint off?*

 

Will chemicals damage the glue between the veneers?

Will a heat gun damage the glue and possibly the outer veneer?

 

Or am I completely wasting my time and just use it for scraps and templates for things?

 

 

* I'm assuming it was painted at the same time as the rest of the body parts, in which case it's lead free paint.

[wtnhighlander]

< 2mm plywood??? Might be easier to scrape the plywood off of the paint.

[jHop]

I've scored some roadside plywood that was painted, and I just used it for templates.  The painted side gave a great surface for pencil lines, so I could erase them and change the layout a bit.  My worry is that I didn't know how long it had been on the side of the road, and I didn't know the quality of the plywood beneath it.  Rather than risk it for something that might suffer bugs or water or sudden deterioration, I'd use it as a durable and reusable jig until it gave out.  At that point, I wouldn't feel any shame about getting rid of it.  (It didn't make the move, so I don't know how long it would have lasted.  I know it did last 5 months until then.)

[DaveT]

I have a couple of sheets of similar ply that came from an old wardrobe. It is useful for bottoms of small drawers and for making templates from. The nice thing about it is that it is so thin I can just cut it with a knife.

[TerryMcK]

Burn pile

[Tom Crawford]

Burn pile

 

Not if there is any chance the paint is lead based.