UHMW Adhesive Removal Solution
 

I posted in an old thread a few days ago about my difficulty removing the residue left behind by 10 year old UHMW tape. Solvents, scraping, lots of gnashing of teeth, and no good solution was in sight.

Then I went by my local auto body supply shop and explained what I was trying to do. They handed me one of these and sent me on my way:

http://www.amazon.com/Eraser-Pad-Pin...4142476&sr=1-2

It is a 4" diameter rubber eraser for removing pin stripes, stickers, etc from cars. You chuck it in an electric drill and the heat and shearing action from the spinning disk take adhesive and tape residue right off. Works like a dream and doesn't hurt the paint. In 30 minutes I cleaned up one flap to a point that it is ready for new protective tape.

One hint - do the hard to reach ends of the (still mounted) flap first - before you wear down the sharp edges of the disk. Those sharp edges allow you to get into fairly tight corners. And then they abrade away...

VERY COOL
 

Thanks for posting this!

Saw this at Oshkosh
 

Somebody was selling these at Oshkosh. I saw them but threw them into the category of the Miracle wire strippers, safety wire clamps and lots of window cleaners. Maybe this product deserves another look!!!

I'll second Kyle's recommendation. The eraser wheels work as claimed and do a great job. I am always amazed at just how well they work, not even harming the paint.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the post had old tape on my flaps pulled the tape off and all the glue stayed. Tried MEK no joy. The wheel worked great.
Chris

Flap tape removal
 

Today I removed the flap tape from my RV10 because it had yellowed badly. I bought 2 eraser pad wheels and for an RV10, it took both. This is a picture 20 min into the process. I did get both flaps done today and they look much better.



Thanks to those who posted this info.

Great pic. Thanks for the motivation to do mine. I already bought the eraser wheel, so now I just need to do it.

Did you use any chemicals along with the eraser (to soften the left-behind adhesive) or did you attack it dry? Also, does the adhesive roll into little balls, stick to the wheel, or fling across the hangar? :D

Thanks for the tips.

It just flies off as dust. No chemicals required, but you should peel off the outer layer of the UHMW before you start with the eraser.

Note to self: Take dust masks to hangar. :D

pirep
 

My prep is to do an inch or two at both ends of the flap, because as the wheel gets smaller it is harder to do the ends. And strip right to left because the clockwise rotation will peal the tape up better. It took about 3 hours to do an RV10. I did not use any chemicals.