Stripping A Glassed Canoe

[Dave Osborn]

You may recall on a previous post that I was looking for a 34’ Old Town War Canoe. Well, I was able to find one a short 4 hours away.
It was glassed at the factory, and my intention is to leave it glassed. It needs to be stripped of old varnish. That is where my questions are….
It way too big for my professional stripper to deal with, so it’s up to me. Not having stripped a canoe in the last 18 years, thanks to V&L Stripping in Appleton, what product should I use? What is the most effective?
I may have access to some methyl chloride.
Would that compromise the 1971 era fiberglass if it leaked between the planks?
Your thoughts….
PS: I hate the citrus stuff, just so ya know.

 

[Todd F]

PS: I hate the citrus stuff, just so ya know.

So much for my recommendation....

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Hi Dave, I don't know, but you might try calling either Jamestown or one of the resin companies like west systems? I recently was at home depot and the wicked stuff was there but was over 50 bucks a gallon. Was doing a chair so went with citrus.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Beyond the sickeningly sweet odor of Citrus, I just had a problem with it being gummy and hard to remove. That’s my beef. That was a long time ago. Maybe it’s changed. Maybe I used it wrong….

 

[MGC]

Beyond the sickeningly sweet odor of Citrus, I just had a problem with it being gummy and hard to remove. That’s my beef. That was a long time ago. Maybe it’s changed. Maybe I used it wrong….

I don't think so. I found the stuff to be totally laughable. I have never been as annoyed with a product as citrus stripper. Having used the "good stuff" going back to the 60's, I was shocked that anyone would try to promote it as an alternative. It's slow, sticky, ineffective. I have nothing good to say about it except that it does not burn the skin off of your arms....oh, back to it doesn't do much.
I suppose if all you are removing is varnish, it might be OK.
I have heard that the Jamestown Distributors Total Strip works reasonably well. I have not personally tried it.
I'm not sure there is a good way to strip the inside of a boat that is glassed? I've sanded and redone the inside of canvased boats. If your hull is not too bad, can you get by with sanding?
Whatever happened to the person who posted about laser stripping? I wonder if that worked out?

 

[Dave Osborn]

I was wondering about laser stripping. Haven’t seen a recent post to update us. From the videos ive seen it looks very effective.