Removing paint from carbon arrows

[Whip]

My used arrow box is filling up with carbons with feathers torn or worn off.  Most of them had been capped and crested with paint and I would like to recycle them to new condition.  What is the best way to take the paint off?  On aluminums I used to just use paint stripper, but will that damage the carbon?

[ranger 3]

I think you can use acetone, I have used it to take off the writing on GT'S

[jcar315]

Acetone would be the starting point for me. Mfg. specs call for wiping the shafts down with acetone prior to fletching.

[hockey7]

I'd scrape as much paint off as possible with a rather dull knife (in order not to cut into the carbon shaft). Then use a heat gun to warm up the rest of the paint, then wipe with a rag with acetone.

[leatherneck]

Goof Off will take off the paint without hurting the shaft. I use it all the time to remove manufacture paint labels on my shafts. Probably wouldn't hurt to follow hockey7's advice and scrape as much off as you can with a dull knife. This might make it easier with Goof Off.

Mike

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I've used Minwax Antique Wood Restorer for a long time and never had any problems. It's basically a very low strength liquid stripper.

[JC]

Never thought of goof-off, that does work pretty good for a lot of other things. I usually use acetone and it's worked fine so far. However, no matter how much I pre scraped, it was a lot of elbow grease for a clean shaft. If someone comes up with an easier way to do it without hurting the shaft, I'm all ears.

[Paul Mattson]

If they are dipped in Bohning paint, it is very difficult.  I dipped a rag in fletch lac thinner and wraped the shaft in it.  All it did was turn it into a googy mess.  I tried soaking some AD wood grains in it, the wood grain peeled off.  I found the best thing to do is scrape of the feathers, then sand the shaft with some lite sand paper.  You can redip or just fletch them up the way they are.

[WestTnMan]

I scrapped off the feathers and sanded to get as smooth as possible and put wraps on. I couldn't find anything to get the paint off with that I had around.

[Steertalker]

I just use a dull pocket knife, hold the blade perpendicular to the shaft and scape all the paint off.  Then go over it with fine steel wool.  Ready to paint all over again.

Brett

[Whip]

I just tried one using the back side of a knife as a scraper and it did a pretty good job all by itself.  A little clean up with acetone and it's good to go!
Thanks for the help.  

[wapiti]

Lacquer thiner is good, acetone is better, MEK is the best. It is also the strongest smell. Don't be going it in the back bedroom to use it or they'll find you passed out on the floor.Invest in a fletching removal tool and scrape as much off as safely possible. Or chuck in a drill and sand with 80 grit until you "bite" through the finish then remove with one of the above solvents.