The re-purposed door for the potting shed (an article yet to be finished) had a really neat door bell – a manual rotary – the sort that by spinning the knob rotates a set of gears inside that in turn forces the ‘clackers’ out to hit the bell itself – basically works like a bicycle bell.
But after many years of ware and many coats of paint it was pretty ceased up.
I came across an idea that I needed to try – simply boil the parts in water with some dish soap.
![](https://i0.wp.com/sawdustandwoodchips.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMG_4689_resize.jpg?resize=640%2C480)
![](https://i0.wp.com/sawdustandwoodchips.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMG_4693_resize.jpg?resize=640%2C480)
Boil for 20 minutes, occasionally poking the paint off with a couple of forks.
![](https://i0.wp.com/sawdustandwoodchips.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMG_4694_resize.jpg?resize=640%2C480)
Once ‘cooked’ remove from the water and the paint will just peal off.
Because if the intricacies of the design this bell took a few scrubs with a brush.
NOTE – if the paint is lead based, you might want to do this in a well ventilated area.