Pocket rocket for removing paint .

So I just got two nice barrels, complete with lid and clamp.
I wasn't looking for them, but when they came up for free and I had some time and a vehicle,  I went for them.
At least one of them will be used in a burning capacity.
The other is slated to hold my "waste fats" and soiled paper products.


Uncle Mud has a great set up for burning paint off of 55 gallon barrels, its a 60 or 80 gallon barrel made into a pocket rocket,  with the 55 gallon barrel inside of it.
I haven't been able to find barrels bigger than 55 gallons where I live so I'm thinking of other ways to make a pocket rockets.

Stacked cement blocks or bricks might work,but also are liable to fail due to the high temperatures.
They are also heavy, so it would probably be a permanent situation.
Permanent plus liable to fail is not attractive to me.

A sheet metal enclosure is a strong contender.
The thing is I have lots of scrap sheet metal, but its mostly painted, and not big enough...
So I'm planning to aquire a roll of sheet metal and fashion a ring.
As long as the lid doesn't have to be very air tight, it should work fine.
Even if it won't work as a pocket rocket,  it might be enough that it holds hot fuel against the sides of the barrel.
To hold it together I'm thinking chain and S hooks.

Sheet metal at the big box store is rather expensive, so I'll be shopping at my local scrap yard.
I happen to have a very wide stump that I've been trying to burn out , another reason to aquire a big fire ring.
It might even work as a flame cap biochar kiln.
These extra possible uses help me justify an item that might otherwise only rarely be used.

Hi William, sorry I am not going to help convince you of building a pocket rocket 🚀 but  rather just share my experience of removing paint from a barrel.  I have tried using a cheap sandblaster which worked OK but was very slow and tedious. Another way was using a blow torch but used up a lot of propane and was still rather slow.  The best, fastest and most simplest way I found was to just light a good-sized fire inside the barrel and let her rip. Once the barrel glows light red, the  paint is gone.  A light scrubbing with a wire brush or steel wool completes the job.  By removing the lid and supporting the barrel up on three bricks will increase the draft dramatically.
Good luck which ever method you go with.

Hey,

You think like me, I love it!

Goal is to remove pain from barrels,
Or to turn barrels to a heat gun?


But Sometimes you might want to think its $20 dollars to go buy a heat gun from the local hardware store!

Or to use a paint etcher to apply a primer over then another layer of paint,

I went through a similar idea phase when I was creating a solar oven for removing pant from wood. the idea was to focus the sun light and then slowly move the lens along in a Z movement pattern over the wood, this was to all be done using a gears, and a bit of glass, the cost and labour to make the machine was not going to be worth it, this was after 20 hours of designing the blue prints and running the calculations, cost,

I then figured out all I need is a hand file and it does the same things, and one can even use attachments on a drill, 99 cents worth of sand paper will also work.

Now here is my crazy idea for you, the barrels on a post in the ground, through a rug over the post, and tie it to the post, add more if required,
So its astable and can spin,
now grab a star picket to form a sanding arm, you will be adding a sanding block to this star picket, and then making 2 more star pickets as braces. lean it forward or back if need be.

I would make the sanding block out of an old piece of wood drill a hole though it and thread wire, through it, as the join,
the two braces can just be lashed to the sanding arm.

now you just spin the barrel round and round and sand it, and then lower the sanding block as needed.

Now all this is for how many barrels.
I could have done the whole job in a couple hours with a power sander or a drill, or heat gun,

That sure sounds like a crazy-assed idea Alex  that I can’t quite picture in my head but I can see the spirit of invention living in you strongly and either needs to be built or get to the point where you just say “screw it I’m grabbing my sandpaper and calling it even.” Good luck !

After 3 stoves and 5 barrels, I've done away with trying to burn away the paint. I've used the pocket rocket method, sanding, blowtorching and I'm always left with an unsatisfactory level of paint and/or sooty residue that takes way too much time to remove. The last two barrels I did, I just took into a car detailing shop and had them sandblast. Costs 35 bucks per barrel, but saves me an entire day of cleaning and burning.

Best method I have used is a wire brush attachment on a 4” grinder, still takes time and effort but do get a clean shiny finish.

Well I learned that my scrap yard doesn't hold into rolls of steel sheet.
Plenty of aluminum, no steel.
I was our with the kid, so we hit like 5 places today, which was fun but fruitless.

By the end I was ready to re-think my strategy.
I will be emailing some sheet metal shops, but I think my better bet is the outer shell from a couple of water heaters.
I'll have to check to see if they are steel,  and the metal is painted,  on one side at least.
I figure I could stitch two of them together with pop rivets, and turn them inside out, thus burning the paint off.

Maybe I'll just light a hot fire,in the barrel  , followed by the side grinder with a wie brush.
Gerry, you mention removing the lid and elevating the barrel in order to increase draft.
Does this  mean taking both ends off the barrel?

William Bronson wrote:

Maybe I'll just light a hot fire,in the barrel  , followed by the side grinder with a wie brush.
Gerry, you mention removing the lid and elevating the barrel in order to increase draft.
Does this  mean taking both ends off the barrel?

Some random facts thoughts,

when I used a wire brush attachment on a drill doing tool restoration,
I got the wire hairs thrown into my arm,
From the mistakes I learnt doing that I recommend hearing protection, eye protection, long sleeves and gloves.

For removing burn marks to steel, I found gumption works well, I imagine using a mud paste would work as well,

other ideas, may be to look around for local pick ups, or even looking at local ads online, in Australia we have gumtree where someone would post old heater free pick up!

I believe what Jerry was saying was if the fire is above the ground air can be pulled up easier,
No this does not mean you have to remove both sides,

You may also think about old washing machines drums,
kegs, etc.

another idea is to insulate the drums, keeping the fires hotter and cleaner.

This video shows the same wire brush attachment that I used.

William Bronson wrote:
Gerry, you mention removing the lid and elevating the barrel in order to increase draft.
Does this  mean taking both ends off the barrel?

Yes, the one and would be cut off and the clamped lid removed for firing. You  could put the lid partway on the top while firing it and turning it every so often to burn the paint off the lid as well.

Alex Moffitt wrote:
I believe what Jerry was saying was if the fire is above the ground air can be pulled up easier,
No this does not mean you have to remove both sides

Partially correct Alex, but unless both ends are open, the airflow would still be blocked by one of the ends if not cut off.  Of course this technique can only be done with the barrel that has a removable lid and clamp or in my case,  having a double stacked barrel and using this technique for the bottom barrel with both ends removed.

This thread isn't about pocket rockets per say, more about them as a means ton end.
Still, I am fascinated by their simplicity,  and I think I finally understand why they don't back draft and climb up long pieces of fuel the way a j tube rocket can.

The J tube feed is hot, sometimes insulated and surrounded by stuff that is much cooler than it is.
The pocket rockets feed tube is hot,but not insulated, and its surrounded by exhaust gasses that are much hotter than it is.
If a J rocket  had an uninsulated feed tube running through the same barrel/bell it exhausted into might be equally resistant to back drafting up the length of extra long fuel.
Being able to burn a 4' plus chunk of fuel has obvious advantages.

Just some crazy speculation, my stock in trade.
I plan on building a pocket rocket with a shaker grate and a water reservoir, for making biochar.
Maybe I'll build a "pocket j" as well, just to see if it will work.