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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on December 29, 2010 at 5:58am

Russ:  You must have a lot of time on your hands.  I don't want to throw cold water on your plans but lets think about what you are getting into.  If the boat is 1960's vintage it probably has  5-? coats of paint on DF plywood- that checks when exposed to the weather.  Those checks will be full of paint.  It will almost be impossible to get the paint out of all the checks.  Even if you get the flat surfaces clear of paint I think you will see "colored lines " on the hull..  If you get the job done to your satisfaction and  epoxy coat the outside of the boat you still have to protect the epoxy because ultraviolet light from the sun breaks down epoxy  and it gets a "cloudy or milky" look to it.  The epoxy can be protected with varnish (atleast 2 or more coats) or paint.-  So we are back where we started.  The inside will be even more work getting the paint out of all the nooks and crannies around the frames.

 

I find the bestway to get paint off is with a heatgun and DULL paint scraper- not a putty knife.  This allso works on epoxy.  Work in a well ventilated area- this old boat probably has lead paint and the fumes might not be good for you.  After doing all you can with the heat gun finish off with a  paint stripper-citrus stripper is good- and a brass brush.(the kind you use to clean the barbie gril;l 

If it were me I would refinish with paint but thats on mans idea.

Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on December 29, 2010 at 12:19pm

I second that.  You might be able to build a new woodie in the time it takes to remove the paint on the old one.  

 

But if you've got the time it is possible. Get a good respirator.

 

Congrats on your Mackenzie!

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Permalink Reply by Russell Stevens on December 29, 2010 at 7:44pm

lawrence: thank-you for your reply on my boat seal project.It's nice to here from people who knows whats going on.I forgot to mention was the boat was stripped of all paint (8 layers) by previous owner but he never sealed the boat before putting new paint (oil base household paint) on.I know this because I was doing some work on transom and had to sand some paint off and when doing so I noticed no apoxy sealer so I started to investigate more and talked to old owner and he confirmed he just slapped some paint on it .How ever boat was restored to perfection,don't know why this short cut was taken so now I'm trying to correct.couple coats of paint is all thats on boat.

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on December 30, 2010 at 6:23am

Russ:  The additional geneology on the boat helps.  The previous owner did most of the grunt work but if you insist on a " bright " finish(varnished)  have at it.  I will get some heat on this from the forum, but around here (Maine coast)  when we see a small boat that is homemade and fully varnished its usually the first boat the guy built.  Varnish is nice but a real PITA to keep looking good.  A little varnish trim is all I want to keep up on my Peapod.  Everything else is painted.  This boat sits on its mooring  from mid May to mid Sept in salt water.  It has no epoxy sealer coat over Merrantti  ply. After 4 years(summers)  I will give the topsides a refresher coat of Kirby's this spring.  A year from now  the inside  will get a coat.

 

I think oiling the inside is fine-AJ and the pro's usually do this, but if it was mine I would sand down the paint to make sure there were no loose chips etc .  If it is oil base on it now Kirby's, Interlux,Pettit  should be compatable- Some guys use waterbased latex house paint.  I don't use primer- thin the first coat quite a bit, the next thinned somewhat and the two finish coats of unthinned paint right out of the can.   Very light sanding between coats with325 grit gives the surface a little" tooth' to accept the next coat.  

 

Just one man's opinion-Good luck

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Permalink Reply by David West on December 29, 2010 at 6:04pm

I have used Franmar soy gel to strip paint off fir moldings. It's actually quite good when used with a wire brush, some poly to keep it from drying out too fast and a lot of water to clean up the resultant goop.   For multiple layers I score the paint to give stripper accesss to lower layers. After that I sand everything and....repaint.  The soy stripper will get all the paint, it floats it right off the wood's surface no matter where it is and is safer to use where lead paints may exist.

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