Jimmer
Contributor
Luis, Soda blasting is a pretty cool process. I know one guy locally that does it. They blast dry baking soda instead of some sort of abrasive. It removes paint and rust without causing any damage to the underlying surface. They use it a lot in older cars, so they dont damage the already corroded metal. It's also used to clean brick without damaging the brick. Blasting Soda - Toronto, London, Hamilton - Sodablast
I have a lot of machining experience, and all I have to say about that is good luck. You'd remove a lot more than .005" just trying to get the cylinder square and round.
You could take the cylinders to a machine shop with a large old style lathe and you could use a 80 grit sand paper to remove the paint. of have the machinist remove .005 inches of material which should leave you with little or no paint and hopefully a machine surface.
I have a lot of machining experience, and all I have to say about that is good luck. You'd remove a lot more than .005" just trying to get the cylinder square and round.