strippimg paint from a carvel hull

[ossygobbin]

hi,
i would like some advice please on the best most effective/recommended method of stripping layers of paint and anti fouling from a carvel hulled yacht. i need to get down to the bare wood. the yacht has many, many layers of paint and i need to remove these to effectively assess the condition of the mahogany planks beneath, there are patches of questionable areas, and i am inexperienced at this work, this is my first restoration, so all advice will be gratefully received. thanks again.

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[Mirelle]

OK this question falls into two, very different, halves.

First, the topsides.

Burn the paint off with blowlamp and scraper. Dead easy; takes a weekend to do my 37 footer. Organise some scaffolding - it is miserable trying to do this from a ladder.

Blowlamp in left hand, sharp triangular scraper in right, start at the starboard bow and work round the boat, doing about six square inches at a time. Do this outdoors or have a helper standing by with a brush and a bucket of water, to sweep up the paint shavings and damp down any little fires that start in them. Rub down the bare wood and get a coat of primer on quickly if working outdoors.

Now, the bottom.

You "should not" use a blowlamp here. Many of us have done, and on a breezy day if you stay upwind you may get away with it, but you run a serious risk of poisoning yourself. Besides, most antifoulings are chlorinated rubber paints and don't burn off as nicely as alkyds do.

The options are chemical stripper, sand washing and dry scraping (wear as mask!)

Chemicals are expensive and really aimed at the GRP boat market. Sand washing is a professional job; you are putting your boat's survival in the hands of the man with the equipment, but it gets it done fast.

If dry scraping, I really do recommend investing in a large Sandvik scraper and a packet of spare blades (these are very pricey, be warned) and at the same time get yourself a DECENT MASK!

Allow a week or so to do this quite vile task.

Good luck...

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[Casey]

Try www.farrowsystems.co.uk. My clinker built boat was done below the water line using this system and I was very pleased with the results. It appears that the company I used has now gone out of business but the Farrow system is still advertising. A few months ago in Classic Boat there was an article on this very subject.

The best of luck!

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[Talbot]

the best system I have used (admitedly to remove anti-foul from GRP) was <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.paint-stripper.co.uk/removall_paint_stripper_marine.htm>Removall</A> You will need to discuss what sort of paint it is to remove, but this is a delight to work with. used it on a very large mobo (TCM's) and washed off, it left a small residue in some places, primarily because we did not get the coat thick enough . I have tried scraping, sanding, heat, normal paint stripper, and they are all horrid jobs with lots of yucky mess, and this is by far the easiest system.

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[trouville]

I agree with the second post. BUT not a blow lamp its a bit quicker but tends to set things alight! including the paint coming off . Ive always used an electric hot air gun and the triangulare scraper, once you get the paint lifting you just heat ahead of the gun. Takes the same time as given by the blow lamp.
The advantage of the hot air gun is that you can strip the antifouling(if you must) keep downwind !! Otherwise scrape and scrape !However you do it its a rotten job.

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[Whitlam]

Hi
How did you get on with the stripping?
What did you use in the end mussel and chemical or machine?
Would love to know the outcome!
Cheers

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[ossygobbin]

Re: stripping paint from a carvel hull

hi,
i haven't had the opportunity to strip the hull yet, the yacht is outside, and being in lancashire, its been raining for what seems like months on end, (the only fine days are when you are at work!), i intend to strip the hull using muscle power and chemical methods! i think this way, you get to 'feel' each plank etc and get to 'know' the hull well. does that make sense? i hope so. kind regards ian

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[LittleShip]

Re: stripping paint from a carvel hull

I removed all the antifoul with this "gismo"(Proscraper)
http://www.gelplane.co.uk/proscraper/marine.asp
This tool allows you to remove antifoul without the usual mess or worry about toxic chemicals. I have also used it for removing varnish, paint and cleaning gaskets from engine bits 10 out of 10 from me??

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[Gordonmc]

Re: stripping paint from a carvel hull

Sandvig do a good two handled tungsten scraper with a vacuum take-off. The missus didn't like the idea of me using the Hoover at the yard, so I bought a dinky little workshop vacuum cleaner from B&Q for about £30.
The advantage is the hose is about twice as long as a domestic cleaner's and there's a power for power tools.
I would still advise wearing a good mask... certainly not one of the paper type. I use a paint sprayer's visor with an air pump.
Good scraping!

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