That's the article I saw, too. We are trying to get our house painted and luckily this morning a very promising contractor who only likes to work on old houses came by. I liked his attitude and philosophy so hopefully I'll like his estimate, too!

It was used on several houses in my old neighborhood and we are looking into using one on our house. I have not seen any bad results with it but you do have to keep the blades sharp and not go too deep. And be sure to hook it to a shop vac --- I did see a dog get lead posioning from eating paint chips -- the owner wouldn't listen to anyone. He ended up with a huge vet bill!

Look on ebay --- prices seem to run about $200 cheaper.

I have to admit that after reading this post I went back to their site and watched the video, and... wow. I'm just imagining the time I'd safe using that (with a HEPA-filter shop vac) instead of gallon after gallon of stripper...

So now I'm seriously reconsidering it as an option for the big task I'm going to be facing. I'm wondering if maybe the one he used was an older model (the handle looks different from the one on the current website) that didn't offer a variable depth.

(or at least that may be how I rationalize things to myself if I get this house that needs major work, that this tool would make SO much easier to complete...)

I know this is an old post, but it popped up on a search so I thought I'd reply.
We spent several weeks working a few hours at a time scraping down to wood using a heat gun. We tried the infrared heater system, but it was not working well. The surface just cooled too fast to get it all scraped cleanly, and then almost a minute to reheat the area each time. We averaged maybe 3 square feet an hour.
I bought a paint shaver off ebay. It arrived last week. Oh my God! 3 square feet in about a minute. It is not perfect and can gouge the wood a bit, if you are not careful. The shop vac (with an internal bag and hepa filter) picks up about 98% of the debris. It can't get close to window frames, mounted power boxes, etc. and it makes the wood slightly rough, needing sanding. But it makes the job a reasonable project for the homeowner. Well worth the $.

I bought a shaver for full retail (around $700)for a job I did. It paid for itself on the first job. When I found a second one in a pawn shop for $150,00, I jumped on it. They are what they say they are in terms of paint removal.
When running mine I always run off a vacuum (otherwise the motor will burn up). I hook my vacuum to a Dust Deputy cyclone, which removes about ninety percent of the debris before it gets to my vac filters. For $70.00/$200.00, it's an investment you'll use over and again. Team this with a HEPA filter and you have a winning combo.
When I'm done with the shaver, if I don't like the rough surface. I blow over the siding with my Porter Cable siding sander and as fine a disk as I can get. I can fine sand the entire side of an average house in one day. Another option I've used for find detail is my Porter Cable variable speed, random orbit sander with hook and loop disks. This may make more sense for most, since you can use it in your shop to polish and sand other things. I've even used it for edge work on hard wood floors. It only takes a bit longer than the very expensive edge sanders.

I asked the guy in my local paint shop about these. He said:
- Be sure to set all nails before using it.
- It's tough on the arm. Better to limit to an hour at a time.
- You should probably sand afterward.
- It will work on shingles.

I have now had a Paint Shaver for a little over two months and have found the machine to be excellent. The tool is well balanced and easy to use, just takes a little getting used to and must be used with an industrial vacuum.
The surface of the boards must be sanded after the Paint Shaver has removed the paint before you are ready to paint.
Good paint work is all in the preparation! I should know! as I do it for a living and I specalise in repaints, mainly on older homes some being seventy or eighty years old with many layers of paint to be removed. The more traditional methods of paint removal are very time consuming and not cost effective, this machine will do in one day what used to take three to four days to complete. Always remember painting is all about preparation and this tool is one step to make this process much more efficient.

Has anyone tried this on concrete block walls? curious if it would work on both wood and concrete?

Tina .. It WILL not work on concrete block. The first bit of concrete you hit will ruin the blade. If you are lucky, the blade will not shatter and fly all over the room.

They have the 9 and 12 amp ones for concrete and heavy lead paints

Funny how sixteen year old links tend not to work any longer.