paint prepping inside house

[doug]

I have a section of decorative wood baseboard I want to prep for repainting but it has a irregular contour (surface). What is the best way to scrape it for a new coat of paint?

[Aardvark]

It's possible to acquire a moulding scraper (possibly from your nearest DIY centre or hardware outlet.

Moulding scrapers consist of a normal qwooden rounded-end cylindrical handle (as one would find on a gouge or chisel) holding a metal shaft about 6mm (1/4 inch) in diameter and 100mm (4 inches) long which is soldered to the centre of an almost heart-shaped metal plate with sharpened edges.

This plate will be probably 50mm (2 inches) at it's widest points. The 'point' of the heart is around 60 degrees with two profiles at the wide end, one a curve of about 10mm diameter (7/16''?) and the other a right angle consisting of two 10mm edges converging.

These tools are great for stripping paint from mouldings around the panels on panel doors, architreve on door frames and moulded skirting (base) boards. Don't forget to use a heat source to soften the paint. When I first used one, many years ago, I used a paraffin (kerosene) blowtorch, although these days an electric hot air gun does the job just as well.

HTH

Aardvark