Help ! Spear gun restoration

[Sam Miller III]

I need professional advice and assistance in a spear gun restoration !

I have a sixty plus year old tube gun which I have applied copious amount of masking tape on the barrel to use as a gauge for measuring the length of a fish.

Question-- what is the best way to remove the tape ?

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Ancillary reading if interested in the gun or spearfishing

The gun
For all you Spear fishermen and SCUBA shoot'em ups...

It began life as a deluxe US Divers Arbalete in 1957-8
part # 4000 $27.50 ( I went to USD purchased the parts for about $20.00)

Installed a Sturgil Muzzle for $2.50 (most current muzzles are base on a Sturgil)

About 1958 Bud Brown sold his company "Spearfisherman" which manufactured the famous Duck Feet fins , the Wide View mask and a variety of other diving products to Ken Norris of Pacific Molded Products aka PMP.

PMP hired Harry Vetter, LA Co UW instructor and NAUI # 4 as product manager and charged Harry with developing a new spear gun to round out the line. Harry contacted the Bottom Scratchers of San Diego who created a commercial version of their famed gun, which was introduced in 1958-9 as the "Spearfisherman gun." Originally introduced with out a balance bar in two models the 52 inch Tournament -$27.50- and the 29 inch Custom - $19.95-

Charlie Sturgil was a well known vintage diver - began diving in 1929 -won the 1951 "International Spear fishing meet "with one of his pole spears but was also a master tool and die maker. The molds had some "problems" so Charlie was hired to clean up and modify the molds as he deemed necessary.

A number of the SoCal Dive club often met on Saturday morning at Charlies to dive the Torrance area for Halibut- I was on one of these Saturdays that Charlie offered me a prototype Swimaster handle compete with sear and line release - The answer was a definite Yes !

He could have modified my Arbalete spear shaft for the Swimaster sear mechanism but I chose to have him make a 3/8s SS Sturgil spear with a 5.16s NF thread, ($4.00) which I attached and Bill Barada ( LA CO UW instructor) but Sturgil made SS Pile driver point aka pull out point (2.50)

We used heavy duty work leather gloves which were not compatible with the small trigger hole so I cut the trigger guard off

The gun would not win a prise for esthetic beauty but it was very functinal and "Form follows function"

It proved its value about 1965 when the GLACD had a year long Halibut contest-- Me and my gun set the halibut record at 38 pounds

The story of a man and a gun which I am writing for my children but I am also sharing with @The Chairman & SCUBA Board

Sam Miller, 111.

CC
@Scuba Lawyer

@Marie13 CE

 

[rhwestfall]

What is the base material the tape is on? I have used mayonnaise to loosen adhesive with success.....

 

[Wookie]

WD-40 is magic at removing masking tape.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Thank you both for prompt and informative reply..
FYI
The masking tape is wrapped tightly around a anodized aluminum tube-- the barrel if the spear gun

 

[rhwestfall]

We use the mayonnaise to remove stickers from automobiles where paint preservation is critical. WD has varnish in it....

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Anodizing is pretty tough, it’s a chemically etched microscopic layer that has a molecular bond to the aluminum and prevents corrosion and also adds a surface harness. Try mineral spirits soaked in a rag and hold it onto the tape/glue area to soften it up. Then maybe scrape it off with your finger nail. Don’t use scraper tools unless they are hard plastic. Get some charcoal lighter fluid which is nothing more that clean mineral spirits. California has banned regular mineral spirits so that is your option. I’m guessing the tape is totally hardened and the adhesive turned into a crystallized varnish like material. If mineral spirits doesn't work then try turpentine which is a step stronger. Lowe’s in San Luis Obispo has Crown brand which is the least obnoxious to smell, it’s actually quite pleasant. If that doesn’t work then you'll have to step up the solvent to something stronger like lacquer thinner, but California lacquer thinner nowdays is mostly acetone because acetone isn’t a VOC, so CA cleared it to be legal. CA lacquer thinner has some evaporation slowing agents in it to mimic the old lacquer thinner but it’s pretty lame. I just buy acetone.
Try all this stuff in an inconspicuous spot to make sure it doesn’t F up the anodizing or possibly paint layer first though. I don’t wan’t you to come after me all Sea Hunt with that shootin’ iron!

 

[CuzzA]

Goo Gone. Acetone. Some sort of citrus based stripper.

If it helps, Sam. I spent the day fighting an adhesive issue myself. Unfortunately mine was a much bigger job as I'm building a dive boat from a 1965 Bertram 25 and the cabin interior had copious amounts of left over upholstery glue from the interior carpet.

After trying various products, I said screw it and had to bust out the grinder.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll make quicker work of it than me, without the itch.

 

[Fibonacci]

I've used citrus based solvents to good effect on softening hard masking tape residue... saturate the area and then wrap in cling film so it doesn't evaporate too quickly, leave for a few hours or even overnight.
Won't damage anodising... and the residue wipes off cleanly.
May need a second application on really tough areas.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I also forgot to mention Goof Off.
It’s a xylene based solvent and works pretty good to take adhesives off.

 

[Sam Miller III]

What a great and certainly unexpected detailed response !

I so far have attempted the Mayo rub and set aside to soak and then wash - nothing positive occurred .

Next stop is local hardware for Goof Off and a soak-- as I did with the Mayo
I supper soak and wrap with clear plastic which I secure with modern painters tape. Then I will unwrap and wash-- In my shower , certainly not my wife's .

I am astonished at the durability of the masking tape. After all the years it has been in storage as stated by @Eric Sedletzky the tape has crystalized and had become extremely hard - "Rock solid" is probably the correct term.

Stay tuned for the further adventure in "Spear gun restoration.."

SDM