Stripping paint from stringers and frames

Hi all

I've been looking for information in past threads regarding the removal of paint back to bare wood. There have been some posts in the past but they deal more with larger sheets of ply or planks.

My problem is that i would like to remove the paint from all the stringers and frames and varnish them instead, for a warmer looking interior, and incidently how it was originally.

Obviously sanding is the way to go, but given I have several dozen of these to sand, some in awkward areas, what methods are available to make the job easier and faster ?

Many thanks for any info.

Cheers

 

Heat Gun.

Buy a Heat gun. (a cheap one is ok- ie. Ozito or other cheap Bunnings brand.)
and some GOOD scrapers. (don't use cheap ones, they will catch, bend, scrape and gouge your wood and will cost you much more in time and sanding.)
get a variety.
(On my boat I had one painters multpurpurpose scraper, a funny shaped thing with a flat blade, a curve, a 90 degree angle, a point etc.. that must have at some point been used on just about every single peice of the boat. It was invaluable..)

It will save you sooooo much time.
as long as you are carfull not to burn the wood, or heat/melt where glue joins may have been used-
If you haven't heat gunned before then you have to get used to it. If you try to scrape too soon, then it makes it difficult, cracking and chipping the paint
if you scrape too late then it sort of melts and cooks the paint back into the wood,

if you do it just right, then the paint will bubble and begin to lift, and your scraper will choose this moment to get under it and remove it all in one intact peice.

If done right then after this simple process you can be left with pure good wood, which will only require enough sanding for grip, not to remove anything.

You could resort to some paint strippers (but on a boat I wouldn't want to) for hard to reach areas like corners that you have to be carefull of.

I paint houses, among other things, and without a heat gun, stripping and varnishing things like banisters would be near impossible, or just HEAPS more expensive.

One thing you may want to consider is epoxying as a primer under your varnish. (if you ar going to go to the trouble of getting back to raw wood, you might as well)
Use a CPES first, (ie International Evidure, or Epiglass wood preserving epoxy) then a normal clear layer of (thicker) epoxy, and then your marine varnish, one or two pack. The varnish protects the epoxy from UV, and the epoxy protects the varnish from damage, scratches etc, that let moisture in and under- ruining it.
You should get a lot more life out of your varnish, and when you do have to do it again, all you need is a light sand and recoat, rather than a strip back to wood.

Good luck.
Hans.

 

Hey Hans
Thanks heaps for the info. I was thinking of using a paint stripper but haven't had any experience and was wondering what a pro would do. Cheers

 

Thanks Boony,
When in your other thread I mentioned "the curious and the pro's"
I intended to make it clear that I was of the first group.
I am no pro.
After asking real pros at just about every single step, I have simply transferred some of my logic and skills learned from painting/renovating houses, and other things, to boat restoration. As I understand, this sort of transfer of skills is usually not a particlarly good thing. Boats, boatbuilding and boat restoration have completley different skill sets, requirements, and materials.
I am a virtual newbie to all this stuff too, probably just a few months ahead of where you are at, having learnt everything on the go. (and much of it here).
As far as the builders down at my yard have told me, heat gunning your boat is fine.

P.S. You say you have your boat on a hardstand, where at?
Is it a yacht club or something?
This has been my biggest headache.
Where my boat was out, they have a policy where the yard fees double every three weeks.
No problem we thought, we'll be done in two.
7 weeks later and two doubling of the fees I will be handing over about 1/4 the cash of what I originally paid for the boat, just to the yacht club. (and believe me, we were on a limited budget too- in fact the purchasing of the boat had already blown it!)
Nonetheless, this time I probably wouldn't have changed it for the amount of help and advice we got from the local boat builders and fellow boat owners -our yacht has been in the club its whole life, was built almost in the same spot we were working on it, and is known by, has been sailed by, raced on or against just about every single member of the club. Thus everyone had a word of advice, and a couple even a bag or two of old stainless parts, ropes, cleats and blocks for us.
This is certainly one benefit of owning a wooden boat. Though many of them like to walk past and say something like "whoa, BIG JOB" or something, a wooden boat attracts so much more help, advice and just people. We have made a lot of freinds already and haven't even gone sailing yet.
If we had taken her out on a trailer and put her in a paddock or something, then none of this would have happened.

p.p.s

Paint stripper is really quite a pain to use. Most of it is pretty toxic and burns your skin. It is messy, and it seeps into your wood, often staining it. Similar to using a heat gun, you have problems if you don't give it enough time, and problems if you give it too much.
The best and nicest stuff I have used is called Citristrip. It is natural and non-toxic using orange oil (i think) as the stripping agent. Works just as well as the toxic stuff.
The thing is, most paint stripper (except for the real cheap nasty stuff) is damn expensive- especially Citristrip. Depending on how much you are going to strip, the heat gun should pay for itself.
You say the wood was originally varnished. If this was so, and the paint just went over on top of this (like bits on my boat), then it will be even easier to get the paint off. Because of the different layers, when you heat gun it, the paint will slip right off. The varnish underneath is a bit more problematic, and will need a bit more of a sand.

Good luck.
Hans.

 

Hi Hans

My boat is in the yard of a shipwright. However they have a policy of not charging any hardstand fees, given they will be working on the boat. They are however quite happy for me to work on the boat as well, and are even encouraging me to do more of the work myself. They are always handy with advice.

Because of this I am actually doing more work than the basic repairs and overhaul originally intended. I am now planning to repaint the hull, deck and mast which I was going to do at a later date.

For the time being I am really enjoying it and am in no hurry, though I still have an October timeline.

Cheers

 

I've been stripping paint from stringers with a rotary tool - Dremel makes a good one. the different sized bits are great, good for getting into those hard to reach corners.

 

Thread continues at this link

http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12013

 

Does the heatgun work on varnish as well?

 

Yes it does,
it is a bit more tricky, it doesn't quite peel off in the nice big sheets like paint (unless it is on really really thick)- but the older the varnish, the worse condition it is in, the easier it is. Like I said previously, paint over varnish comes off a treat.

With any heat gunning, make sure you get some practice, either on something else entirely or on the least important bits first. Part of the learning process is making some burns, you start off hesitant, realise how easy it is, start plowing through it, burn, oops, and then back it off a little.
I never burn now, but at first…
There are a few bits on the woodwork of my boat that I would have HATED to have burned.
Especially with varnish, you need good scrapers. A real good sharp flat edge, but not sharp like a kitchen knife. How could I describe it,
sharp enough to cut an apple, but not sharp enough to cut a tomato (or to shave wood).

Last hint is that for bits with end grain, and cracks etc, you can use a heat gund with a wire brush. I did this to my samson post and got paint and old varnish completely out of cracks and grain over 2mm deep. Clean enough to epoxy then varnish.

Hans.