Webley Mark II Target Box Restoration

[Scott.]

Could you (very) carefully scrub the surface of the tape with sandpaper to break though any surface layer and allow the chemicals to penetrate deeper?

[ccdjg]

You could also try letting the methylene chloride soak through the cardboard from the other side so that it can get straight to the adhesive layer. It has no effect on cardboard so should not do any harm, and probably would not attack the original adhesives used on the box as pre-war they would not be synthetic polymer based, and methylene chloride specifically goes for the synthetics.

[45flint]

Could you (very) carefully scrub the surface of the tape with sandpaper to break though any surface layer and allow the chemicals to penetrate deeper?

Good thought. I also thought of soaking a felt pad with chemical leaving it on the tape covering it with non porus material and letting it soak for a while. Got time will try various things on a little bit and see what does best. Bottom line it does work eventually and no damage to box. Just the transformation of the pellet box is pretty amazing.

[Troubledshooter]

Lighter fuel is often very effective in removing tape and residue, but does sometimes require several applications.

[RichardH]

Just a word of caution, Methyl Chloride is nasty stuff and known to cause cancer.

Be sensible with it people

[ccdjg]

Just a word of caution, Methyl Chloride is nasty stuff and known to cause cancer.
n
Be sensible with it people

Yes, be sensible with it, but at the same time don't worry about the cancer risk - it is not a proven carcinogen in humans despite many investigations of industrial workers who have been exposed to large amounts over many years. The most important advice is to keep methylene chloride off your skin and avoid breathing in a lot of the vapour, as it is toxic like all solvents. It is solvents like carbon tetrachoride and benzene, which are the proven carcinogens, and these used to be commonplace in the home and workshop.

On the plus side it is not flammable.

[45flint]

Took some advice here and sanded the surface of the masking tape. Other issue I saw was the fluid evaporated so quickly. Made a pad from a cleaning patch, saturate it, and cut a aluminum shield to put over it to hold the fluid on the tape. Clipped it for 5 minutes? Then another application. Then the tape pealed off slowly not damaging the label beneath, so cool. Label probably hasn’t been seen in years!

Here is the method pic by pic:
https://imgur.com/gallery/kw6tIpg


Not finished but this is so cool to see:



Just a little difference!!

[aris]

Lovely - how about some pics with the gun in situ