I've been having parts of my truck plastic media blasted. It's somewhat expensive but has several advantages. Irregular shapes clean easily (door jambs, firewalls, radiator supports, etc), no warpage from the media like sand will do, leaves a very smooth surface (almost too smooth).
There are also a few negatives using plastic media. It won't remove rust (have to sand blast areas or use a sander or converter), it can be fairly costly (hood, front fenders, inner fenders, radiator support, gravel pan, valance was $750) and it's too smooth to prime (need to sand or scotchbrite everything before priming or there is no tooth for the paint to grip).
I've been playing with paint removal discs on my 4.5" grinder. So far I've tried 4 different brands. My observations are as follows:
Wagner Paint Eater - Got it at an Ace Hardware store, only place I've found them so far. They are purple and screw directly onto the threaded shaft of the grinder. I have not had a single one go more than 3 turns onto the threads or either of my grinders. Had one crack the plastic backing pad while trying to get more threads. $15 in the trash before using it at all. This is the best for removing paint I have found. None of the others are 1/2 as fast. This thing eats paint, just like the name. Even with the thread issues I highly recommend this product.
Lowes - Black and uses the backer and nut your grinder uses for a grinding disc/cutoff wheel. Very slow. It clogged with burned paint, threw a lot of grinding media off the wheel and just didn't perform well at all. These cost $10, save your money on this one. Would work in a pinch but wouldn't want to tackle a big project with it.
The other 2 I tried were one from Northern Tools and another from WalMart. Didn't have either one on for more than a couple minutes. Didn't remove much of anything, just clogged and smeared burnt paint. Both were less than $10 and a total waste of money.
Now, you must remember I am stripping at least a 20 year old paint job. Don't know anything about the brand of paint. It had some high build primer under it and the Paint Eater removed it all without slowing down. It also removed any putty I found under the paint. The Paint Eater also leaves a good "tooth" for primer or putty.
My point of all of this is that all 4 I tried act completely different. Maybe a different brand of paint, enamel vs lacquer, single stage vs base/clear you could get very different results. If one doesn't work great, don't be afraid to try a different brand.
It took about 2.5 discs and a little over 1 hour to strip both bed sides and end caps. That's $40 bucks and around an hours time vs hauling the truck $50 miles to the blasters and $300 for media blast then driving back up to get it when it's done. I will eventually have the inside of the bed, inside the cab and firewall media blasted but for now I can keep moving forward with outside work on the cheap!
My favorite the Paint Eater
Don't be afraid to try others. I also suggest long sleeves and safety glasses, these things throw a fair bit of media off them as they work and it stings!
SPark
