Removing old varnish

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absit_omen

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I had been dreading removing the multiple layers of varnish from my, rather broad, rubbing strake. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Before I did, I decided to slap some undercoat and a coat of gloss on to see what they looked like. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Not surprisingly, I didn't like them. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

This morning I had a slug of Isla malt /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif and set to with heat gun and scarsten.

I was amazed, as soon as bubbles appeared the whole lot fell away under the scraper /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Paint, varnish all removed with hardly any pressure and leaving glorious new teak underneath.

Have I just stumbled upon the DiY phenomena of the century? Can I patent it? or is it just old news? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Sadly not always that easy. I once started repairing a few patches of tatty varnish on a varnished hull dinghy (Firefly). First bit was easy, so I foolishly decided to strip the whole hull.

By the time I'd reached the point of no return I found that most of the dinghy seemed to have two different varnishes one on top of the other, and before one softened enough to come off the other had burnt. Ended up being a nightmare job, night after night (after work etc.) with a series of variously ineffectual hot air guns and sanders (ended up using belt sander, despite the pitfalls), and overstaying my welcome in the club workshop.

Despite a necessarily rushed varnish job the boat did look great when it came out of the workshop. Sadly, within two or three months the water had got in and the boat looked as bad, if not worse, than when I'd started.

I've always been very reluctant about any rubbing down or varnishing job since. Luckily I've since acquired a First Mate who loves anything like that, and regards what I think of as appalling drudgery as a soothing pastime!
 
Ooh that's worrying. I've just finished stripping and varnishing my wayfarer. I'm planning on keeping her under cover as much as possible. Where was your Firefly whilst the varnish was degrading?
 
The Firefly was out in the open in the sailing club dinghy while degrading, albeit with a canvas cover over the top. (That's canvas canvas, as in cotton, by the way, rather than 'plastic' canvas!)

Seemed to survive the ordeal, though, as I saw the boat several years after I sold it, still looking basically good and sailing in a Cornish river I'd arrived in by yacht.
 
Definitely old news ... people like me have been advocating this method for years ... but people still go out and buy Nitromors and other stuff ...

Only time this method doesn't work is when varnished has been thinned and wiped INTO the wood as old-timers did ... but then you wouldn't need to remove it - you'd lightly sand and then wipe a new thinned coat on to bring it up fresh again.
 
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