Stripping Rat Fur

[xJasonSmithx]

I used an old iron and a towel to steam it off.

 

[Axtman]

After you get the rat fur (Ozite) off I recommend painting the cabinet with truck bed liner. I have done this to a few cabs and they are bullet proof.

 

[packhowitzer]

just remove the parts that are easy and leave the rest. The result will work pretty well as long your band name is The Hobos or The Vagrants or something like that.

 

[JoeWPgh]

WD-40 can be very effective with some adhesives. Yank off anything and everything you can, then try WD-40 and a scraper. If that doesn't work, you'll have to climb the toxicity ladder of chemicals.

 

[MynameisMe]

I would suggest a bonfire.

 

[Mingo Sanders]

Why do they use rat fur? I hate the stuff. Tolex is my preference.

High volume (volume of business, not volume of sound) rental companies used it to reduce the need for repainting surface damage. The spray booth is a nasty place.

 

[gregmon79]

Since no one else has offered up anything, I guess I'll chime in with my 2 cents worth.

It's too late for the first advice I would have offered, which is don't do it. It's way too dang much work to be worth while. Plus, you have to presume that the surface of the plywood underneath it is of the minimum quality...there's no reason to use a good-surfaced plywood if it's going to be covered with rat fur.

But since you're in it now... it all depends on what mastic that the manufacturer used for the carpet. It's not uncommon for a builder to spray an even coat of contact cement for that purpose, in which case, you may really be in for a tussle. I have also seen evidence of builders just putting a few beads of whatever adhesive they are using around the edges and a few more in the middle of larger, uninterrupted panels. But at any rate, I can't offer you much more advice than just scraping away at it with a paint scraper or maybe lifting up a corner and grabbing it with a pair of pliers and ripping away. There doesn't seem to be anything like a magic solvent that will dissolve that old adhesive. At some point, you want to have removed enough of the old covering that you can attack it with something like a belt sander or a large rotary rasp chucked into a drill. You'll need something pretty coarse, like 100 grit sandpaper to remove the remnants of the glue and carpet...BUT, you have to use some finesse, because you can go through the surface veneer really quickly. It would probably be smarter to do this with hand sanding, but I'm too lazy and impatient to do that my own self...it kind of depends on how much surface area you have to do. And of course, once you get all the glue off, you'll have sanding marks from the coarse paper that will require further sanding to smooth them out. And to be honest, what you'll have left won't really be what one would call stain-grade. At that point, I would recommend you look into painting it with Duratex.

Sorry if this sounds discouraging, but I do wish you luck in your endeavor. Keep us posted as to how it goes.

Haha well, I’m def in it to win it at this point. I’ve spent the better part of the day at it. It’s def a lot of work and elbow grease. I used vice grips to peel it back a section at a time. Some areas were a straight PITA. But overall I got most of it without much struggle. I have the time and I like it. It’ll be rewarding for me in the end. I did indeed get a paint scraper. That helped a lot getting the old glue and fur remnants off. I still have a lot to go yet. More prepping and more scraping. But it’s getting there. I had no illusions this would be a one day thing. I think it’ll take me a few weeks actually. I’m taking my time.

This is the best I could offer >
HELP ME!!! Rat Fur Removal Advice Needed

I have to keep my cab at home covered cuz the cats love to use it as a scratcher. Get a cat or 2 they're so helpful

Haha I do have a cat. He’s seemed pretty indifferent so far.



All in a all, all the naysayers are not discouraging to me. I knew what I was getting into. And I’m game. I actually plan on sanding it down really nice and smooth then stain it a darker stain. Then I’m going to build a grill frame, and wrap it in a dark red or maroon grill cloth. I think it’s gonna look awesome when it’s done.

I did have a couple problem areas. Wood came up. I’m gonna try and repair the one spot where it clearly came up. But it came up on one piece. So I’m gonna glue it back on and sand it in. But so far......

This was after the first round of stripping and scraping:

I’m not going to bother with the baffle since it’s going to be covered anyway. I would’ve taken the scratch plates off but I couldn’t. The very bottom screws were so scratched up there was nowhere to grip it with a screwdriver. The heads were clean flat. In the end, I’m not aiming for perfection. I think it’s going to look awesome regardless.

 

[gregmon79]

And thanks to all who’ve added their pointers. I appreciate it always.

 

[xJasonSmithx]

I first started just pulling mine with brute force and it was splintering some of the wood. Once I started steaming it off with the iron the glue was melting and the wood was left in better shape.

 

[2tonic]

Your particular cabinet may be different, but most that are plywood (underneath fur or Tolex) have a very thin surface veneer. It is easy to sand through it if you're too aggressive trying to remove glue goo. This will be very noticeable if you stain the cab. I'm assuming you're trying for the Bag End look, or similar.
Woodworking supply houses like Rocklers or Woodcraft have a sanding sealer with microballoons in it (some secret formula of cellulose and lignin and black magic) that will let you fill up the grain, so you can sand smooth without golng too deep, and it will take stain just like the surrounding wood.

Use a heat gun and scraper to get the goo off, lightly sand the cab to open up the grain and smooth the really rough parts, then fill and sand, fill and sand.
Wash, rinse, repeat............... .you get it, til you're satisfied the surface is ready for stain.
Best of luck!

 

[Ostie]

Why do they use rat fur? I hate the stuff. Tolex is my preference.

Either one looks better than plywood with old contact cement scraped off.

Tolex tears and gouges easily. Rat fur absorbs cigarette smoke and cat piss. Which is worse? It’s a toss up.

 

[gregmon79]

Your particular cabinet may be different, but most that are plywood (underneath fur or Tolex) have a very thin surface veneer. It is easy to sand through it if you're too aggressive trying to remove glue goo. This will be very noticeable if you stain the cab. I'm assuming you're trying for the Bag End look, or similar.
Woodworking supply houses like Rocklers or Woodcraft have a sanding sealer with microballoons in it (some secret formula of cellulose and lignin and black magic) that will let you fill up the grain, so you can sand smooth without golng too deep, and it will take stain just like the surrounding wood.

Use a heat gun and scraper to get the goo off, lightly sand the cab to open up the grain and smooth the really rough parts, then fill and sand, fill and sand.
Wash, rinse, repeat............... .you get it, til you're satisfied the surface is ready for stain.
Best of luck!

Oh cool! Thanks so much! I may end up looking into this. I’m almost positive I have veneers on this cab. I could tell where that one big piece came up. I started sanding the top earlier just to see how it went. It went pretty good. I took it slow, didn’t lean into to hard. It took forever to do a small section. But that was before I scraped the glue and remnant fur off. I went and got different grits of sandpaper too so I can have the options of playing it safe in spots if I need to. But it’s good to know about the stuff you’re talking about too. Could or may not be a saving grace at points. We’ll see.

 

[Downunderwonder]

WD-40 can be very effective with some adhesives. Yank off anything and everything you can, then try WD-40 and a scraper. If that doesn't work, you'll have to climb the toxicity ladder of chemicals.

Good luck trying to get anything to stick to WD40 impregnated play.

 

[JoeWPgh]

Good luck trying to get anything to stick to WD40 impregnated play.

Naptha cleans it up pretty effectively

 

[byacey]

I did an Epifani PS115 cab and just pulled off the carpet and then used my belt sander . It would have been easier to build the cabinet from scratch . It now has Duratex on it and looks good but it was too much work . I had the same results as the guy in the thread offered above , there are some good pointers in it . I wish I would have read that before I did mine .

That's my experience too. Considering the time, exposure to solvents and winding up with just a crappy looking wood surface at the end of the day, it's cheaper and more expedient to just built a new box from Baltic Birch ply.

 

[byacey]

Why do they use rat fur? I hate the stuff. Tolex is my preference.

Rat fur is tougher than tolex, and covers surface imperfections better, but collects all kinds of splinters, dust and crap, and looks ratty.

 

[byacey]

Naptha cleans it up pretty effectively

WD40 is essentially kerosene in a can. Once it soaks into the wood, it takes a long time to evaporate. Naptha will remove it temporarily from the surface, but it'll still be there in the wood, and will seep to the surface again.

Besides, kerosene soaked wood is enough of a fire hazard, without adding naptha to the mix, too.

 

[gregmon79]

Going pretty good so far imo.

 

[Downunderwonder]

and looks ratty

ya don't say!?

 

[xJasonSmithx]

That looks great so far! Almost ready to stain!