Removing Black Sealant

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In the life of the boat a previous owner decided that it would be a good idea to replace the wooden slatted cockpit seats with bits of marine ply bonded to the boat with some black sealant. I find the ply looks horrendous, is usually wet and needs frequent cleaning.

This winter I am returning the boat to the original design and wonder, apart from lots of sanding, is there anything that will chemically remove the black gunk of unknown origin?
 
It depends on the adhesive but if it is pliable then:

Make your self some acrylic chisels. Take some scrap acrylic and cut to a chisel shape. Grind the leading edge, the sharp part of a chisel, at 45 degrees and grind to a sharp edge.

The 'chisel' you have made will be sharp enough to remove sealants, like Sikaflex, but the acrylic is softer, less hard, than gel coat.

You will need lots of acrylic chisels, they lose their edge quite quickly. Make the handle comfortable - it all takes patience.

You should be able to remove most of the adhesive and if an answer materialises for chemicals - you can use the latter to get at the difficult to access portions.


The owner may have treated the seating like a teak deck - it maybe a common deck adhesive.

Jonathan
 
I have used stainless wire wool and petrol quite successfully on black sealant. I have also used plain steel wire wool. That was on GRP.
 
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