Customer Reviews

Metabo LF724 6.4 Amp 3-1/7-Inch Paint Remover with Case

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This paint remover does the job; takes the paint off down to the wood and it never gums up with paint. I used it to strip paint from a fifty year old house with many layers of paint. It took me 4 days to strip the whole house. I estimate it would have taken twice as long to scrape the house by hand, and I would not have done nearly as good a job. I dulled four of the carbide blades to strip the whole house. The tool is light enough to operate with one hand. However, there are some tricks to using this tool:

- You have to wear goggles, (not just safety glasses) earplugs, a dust mask, gloves, and I'd recommend coveralls. This tool throws a lot of dust and small chips. I did not use a vacuum because I felt the hose would slow me down too much, but a vacuum should make the job much cleaner.

- Watch out for nails. You have to set the nails before you strip the paint. Just give the nails a wack before stripping. If you do snag a nail, it will either shave off the top or rip it out of the board. It's something you don't want to do too often.

The tool is well made except for the little doors covering the rabbet blades; I busted one off the first day. It has a nice long and flexible cord. Pet peeve: the switch turns off too easily.

It's not perfect, it's just better than any other tool for stripping paint. And, it'll pay for itself on the first job.

HERE IS AN UPDATE WRITTEN IN 2004:

I have used this stripper for a few more jobs over the years, and it is still going strong. I now always use a vacuum with it which makes for a much cleaner job. With a vacuum I have found I can wear safety glasses rather than goggles (glasses are much cooler and don't fog up) and don't need a dusk mask. You may still want to wear a dusk mask as it is a dusty job.

I replaced the door that busted off the front with a screwed on sheet of 1/16" Al. It works great. In fact, I never use the rabbet blades and have removed them. Just use a 1" carbide hand scraper to get the underside of the siding.

One edge of the carbide blades will last for about one side of a one story house. So for a small house (or a big garage) you can strip it with two blades. One thing to remember is the tool works diferently with sharp blades! That means when you rotate from a dull edge of the blade to a sharp edge, the tool will suddenly cut much faster. On soft woods the tool is easier to control with slightly dull blades. What I ended up doing is after a blade change I'd strip the trim (keeping the tool absolutely flat on the wood) until the blades dull a bit before I went back to stripping the soft Cedar siding.

You need to be careful out there. The blades on this thing are spinning at 11,000 RPM with no guard and they take a while to wind down after you turn the tool off. You may know where this is going; once I just brushed my index finger and cut it open. I didn't do any lasting damage, but it hurt like hell. Think!

And after all your hard work, don't use cheap paint.

One last tip then I'll shut up. The dust from this tool will quickly clog a vacuum's filter, so I wrap two layers of paper towels around the filter to act as a "pre-filter". After an hour or so, I throw out the clogged paper towels and put on new.

Painting a house is still a hellofa big job, but this tool will probably cut the time in half. Plus the paint will probably last longer and look better because you are getting down to the bare wood.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE, written in 2006:
When I bought this Metabo back in 2001, the Paint Shaver Pro did not exist, so this was the best tool available at the time. I agree the pastic doors are really cheap for a 400 dollar tool, and I wish Metabo would just get rid of the rabbet blades and doors. However, other than the rabbet blade issue, this tool does work well.

That being said, for the next house I strip, I probably buy a Paint Shaver Pro if for nothing else just to try it out. The Paint Shaver Pro costs 600 bucks, but that becomes nothing after you spend a couple of days up on a ladder stripping paint.

I received this tool from Amazon today and couldn't wait to start stripping the multiple layers of paint off the wood lap siding of my 1917 bungalow. The machine arrived promptly, as it always does from Amazon, and it looks and feels like a nice quality piece of equipment EXCEPT for the often mentioned plastic side blade covers--they look like trouble before you ever fire up the machine. I'm a carpenter and own machines from Bosch, Porter-Cable, Hitachi, Dewalt etc....I know rugged machine design when I see it.

I hooked it up to my shop vac and did a test. Once I got the cutting depth dialed-in, it worked great. It performs like a powered carbide scraper, so you can can work it back and forth if you need to strip away multiple layers and it'll take off a fairly uniform layer with each pass and leave a nice workable surface. The side blades, however, seem mostly useless in that you can't adjust their cutting depth and they don't take much at all off in a pass. Maybe there's a trick to it, but I'll never find out because I'm sending this thing back.

Anyway, since the test went so well, I decided to jump right into the first part of the project. It went great for about 10 minutes until I noticed paint chips suddenly flying all over the place. Was the dust collection port clogged? No...one of the *&##$%# side blade covers had already broken off! Another reviewer noted that this would not affect cutting, which is true, but it defeats the dust collection almost completely. Yet another reviewer stated that he fixed the problem with a piece of metal flashing. I'm sure that works, but I'm not going to pay $300+ for a tool and then rig it up to keep it running. Not to mention not being able to use half the blades the machine is designed to provide.

I commend Metabo for improving the technology of paint removal machines as compared to the older Porter-Cable machine. The ideas of dust collection and using carbide blades rather than an abrasive are great, but this machine is not quite there. The side blades need to be made more useable and the covers are downright dangerous. I figured I'd give the Metabo a try since it's roughly half the price of a Paint Shaver, but there seems to be a reason. My hunch is that Paint Shaver has taken the good things about the Metabo and made them better. Plus it is said to work much faster. I'll find out soon enough, since I'm returning the Metabo and ordering a Paint Shaver Pro tomorrow.

UPDATE AS OF JUNE 30,2005
I now have a Paint Shaver Pro, and it is a FAR superior machine to the Metabo. Another reviewer noted that the Metabo gets closer into corners than the Paint Shaver, but that has been resolved with the Pro model. Not only does the Paint Shaver remove paint faster than the Metabo, but the blades for removing paint from the edges of lap siding are actually adjustable in depth and they work. I paid almost twice as much for the Paint Shaver Pro as the Metabo, but if you look at the used market for them on Ebay, you can't go wrong because you'll get most of your money back out of it if you sell it.

Sorry Amazon, I love ya, but I cannot recommend the Metabo when a better tool is available elsewhere.

I am in the process of stripping all the paint off my 1886 Colonial Revival home. I have purchased many tools to do the trick but the Metabo is far the superior of any of them. Old paint will gum up any carbide discs such as that of the Porter Cable paint stripper, I know cause I also bought this tool. I used it once and now I am trying to find another use for it. The Metabo is awesome I can remove all of the paint right down to the original wood. It is a serious tool and could do some serious damage if used improperly. But once you get a handle on it you will love it as I do. combine it with your shop vac to make clean up unheard of and a safe way to remove lead paint.

this is the tool i've been looking for to remove paint from a house that has over a century of paint build up. with a proper breathing appratus to filter out the lead dust and a vacuun adapter attachment to catch the waste material this tool did the trick.

I have recently purchased 2 Metabo paint removers and rented a Paint
Shaver. I have used each tool for over one week each in the removal of multiple layers of lead-based paint from an old house. I have no ties whatsoever to either Metabo or Paint Shaver. My comments are based only my experience on removing thick layers of paint on bevel fir siding.

METABO: As many reviewers have mentioned, the side access cutter windows are very flimsy and within hours of use fall off. This creates a dangerous cutter edge near your fingers and even premptive taping them in place did not prevent window from breaking off.

Reliability. My first Metabo burned up with in one week of use. While under warranty, but out of the 30 replacement period, it was sent to an authorized repair facility. Parts were back ordered and it has been over a month and still no parts. A virtually worthless warranty. In order to this tool to finish my work I was forced to buy a second one. The housing on the second one cracked and again warranty repair is excruciatingly slow and I have now rented a Paint Shaver.

Paint Removal Speed. The Metabo is much slower than the Paint Shaver. They work in slightly different ways. The Metabo has an approx 1 cm thin carbide knife edge that cuts into the paint, while the Paint Shaver has a rounded triangular carbide point than scrapes the paint. The Metabo blade tends to chip and dull quickly especially when hitting the inevitable hidden nail. The Paint Shaver blade is thicker and due to the angle of attack holds up well to multiple nail hits. If your time is worth more than about $10/hr then the speed of the Paint Shaver is reason alone to buy it.

Bevel Siding. There is no depth control for the side cutter on the Metabo. It is hard to take off the paint on the bevel edge with the Metabo. The Paint Shaver has infinite side cutter depth control but it can gouge the edge when set aggressively.

Dust control. Both machines do a good job of controlling most dust. Both tend to send out paint chips, especially when doing the bevel edge of siding. If you are removing lead based paint, you need a strong vacuum with a internal bag to prevent the filter from plugging quickly. Both machines do not send out plumes of dust like the Porter-Cable Abrasive grinder.

Ease of use. The Metabo has a better depth control but tends to work best when set aggressively for the initial pass and then set for a shallow cut on a finish pass. Paint Shaver has a poor depth of cut control but once set you can leave it and not gouge the siding. The Paint Shaver left our fir siding in much better shape with very few swirl marks or gouges.

Price vs. Value. The Paint Shaver is well worth the extra money due to speed and quality. It should cost no more than the Metabo as it is a very simple design but they can get a premium because it works so much better. I highly recommend the Paint Shaver over the Metabo, it is worth the extra money.

I purchased the Metabo paint reomover about 2 months ago. I used it to remove about 6 layers of paint from the fascia boards on my house. This tool works amazingly well and is very easy to use. When all of the paint was removed, i gave the fascia boards a quick once over with a random orbit sander. When finished, the fascia boards looked brand new. One coat of primer and two top coats of paint and presto, my home looks great. Doing a thorough job in the first place prevents you from having to return and "fix" it in a couple of years.
Initially I was very skeptical of how this tool would work as well as the seemingly steep cost. I wondered how a hand held power tool the size of an angle grinder could cost sooo much. In the end, I feel this tool easily saved me money because a paint contractor would probably charge me a small fortune to take all of my homes fascia boards down to bare wood before repainting.
My home was built after paint containing lead was banned so I opted not to use the dust collection built into this tool. One gripe is that I broke one of the small tabs on one of the plastic blade covers within 2-3 hours of use. The plastic covers should be made more durable considering the cost of this tool.
If you are removing paint on a significant amount of wood or on a home with very much wood siding, I would suggest you purchase the extra 10 piece blade set ).
Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase of this tool. The tool was delivered in about 4-5 working days (as stated).

I have owned this tool for about a year and have used it to strip 108 years worth, or approximately 15 layers, of paint off my home. The siding we have is 2 1/2" lap and is made of poplar wood (hardwood). Most of the paint is lead based oil.

This tool does a fantastic job of stripping paint. In protected areas, the old paint is stubborn, but this tool has done a great job, and the best job of anything we've tried, of removing these layers. It will easily strip layers of paint off, and gouge the wood if you're not careful. It does leave some old paint on the "lap" edge - the blades on the edge can't be adjusted to take off more of this material. So, you end up removing what is left by hand, if you choose to. You can adjust the depth of the main cutting surface to control the tool better. Depending on the cutting depth that you set and the species of wood, you may have swirl marks that need to be sanded for a perfectly smooth surface.

In my opinion, safety goggles, a full face shield and respirator (approved for lead-based paint removal) are mandatory, not optional.

All the reviews griping about the rabbet covers are accurate. Even if you're careful, they eventually break off and the side blades become exposed. Doesn't impeed the stripping ability, but watch your fingers!

This thing gets heavy fast when you have to hold it out in front of you and maintain control of it. I'm not a body builder, but no couch potatoe either. I rigged up a pulley system with an eye hook in the overhang of the roof, a rope, and a bungie cord on the end, which hooks to the side of the stripper - picture an upside down "U". Since I was working on scaffolding, I tie off the end of the rope at the level of scaffolding I'm working at. The bungie cord gives you a few feet of elasticicity to work with. So, you have to adjust the rope every few feet, but its the only way I've found to work with this thing for 6-10 hours in a day without your arms, neck and back feeling like jello at the end of the day.

The blades can be turned and have four usable sides. So, you have to remember how many times you've turned the blades.

Nail heads must be countersunk prior to stripping. When you hit one, and you will, it just dulls the blades faster. Contrary to other reviewers, I have not had any nail heads sheared off or entire nails pulled out, but I could see where that is easily possible.

Of all the tools available to strip paint, this is the best I've used. I doubt there is a tool that outperforms this one. Because of the faulty doors and the paint left on the lap edge though, I rate this as 4 stars intead of 5.

First of all, this tool works. It does what it was brought to the party to do which is remove paint. Anyone who is familiar with power tools (especially those in the grinder/planer family) knows that you have to exercise some caution when removing anything from wood. If you're not careful, you WILL remove more than just paint - but the same is true for grinders, scrapers, brushes, chisels, etc.

I can't imagine the Porter Cable paint remover doing a better job than this tool and the Metabo being about 3.5 lbs. lighter is a GREAT advantage (arguably, worth the increased price alone).

The quality of this tool is first rate. It is built really well - with the very notable and much discussed exception of the rabbet covers. These have to change, As an earlier reviewer said - they WILL pop off - it's only a matter of time. And when they do, you're staring right at the exposed edge of the spinning disc with two very sharp carbide blades - something you will have to watch out for as you complete your paint-removal task. Eye and even face protection is absolutely mandatory, and I would recommend goggles and/or faceshield over simply safety glasses. This tool does what it's supposed to do, and generates a lot of dust and debris in doing so.

One thing that should be clarified. The carbide blades that are used with this tool are semi-pyrimidal shaped in that they have a bevel (edge) on each of the 4 sides. When you want a fresh cutting edge, you really only have to spin them 90 dgrees (not 180). The corners may be a little dinged up, but the bulk of the cutting edge is still intact and useful. Also, add this user to the list of those that are telling you to countersink those nailheads. First of all, it will help prolong the blade life. Secondly, and more important IT'S SAFER. This tool will send nailheads flying and often times right at your face (hence face protection). Also, hitting those nailheads may cause the tool to kick back, and if those rabbet covers are gone, you want TOTAL control over the tool.

Overall, I highly recommend this tool. Time saver and worth the price. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the rabbet cover issue and the fact that the on/off switch can be turned off a little too easily when really gripping the tool up far on the housing.

I purchased this unit through Amazon for use on stripping a large wooden boat with 10+ coats of paint. It definately does the job. It requires some practice to use without taking off too much wood as it essentially is a orbital action planer. It does not like a curved surface but I recommend it with caution. You will still have to use stripper, heat guns, etc. to get details, but for a big job it works well. It should be used with a vacuum (I use a FEIN system) as it creates a huge mess without one. Buy the extra blades.

I purchased a Matabo 00724 paint remover. I was waiting for deliver as I had a major house paint job planned. Unfortunately, the shipping took several days longer than advertised. When the product did arrive, I anxiously opened the box and soon found that I was shipped a used product. It was covered in paint dust and enclosed in a cracked carrying case. To say the least, I was not happy. I emailed Amazon.com and with in two hours I was assured that a new produced would be shipped within two days.

This time the paint remover arrived on time and in new conditions. I spent yesterday using the remover with good success. As one reviewer has already written the "side panel" did break off after a few hours of use and I had to construct a makeshift door.

The home I was using the paint remover on was built in 1884 and had many coats of paint. The wood siding was not perfectly flat and that make it a bit more difficult as the paint removed is made for a flat surface. I found that I had to go over most of the surfaces several times. This was due to the depth of the paint layer. On some layers one had to be careful not to cut too deeply. An of course all the surfaces had to be smooth with sandpaper. And I still used a heat gun and orbital sander for some surfaces.

The tool is a bit heavy than most traditional sanders.

Over all the tool worked well and was defiantly better than traditional orbital sanders. The blades remained sharp after several hours of sanding. After some time getting use to what and what not the sander will do, I found it to work more quickly. It is no miracle worker but when used on the right surfaces it was great. Is it worth the money? I guess that is up to each user.