Removing adhesive from planks?
- Thread starter bev200
- Start date
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chris pearson
Michigan Canoe Nut
Pour some acetone on a rag, wipe it off with that, it should cut it. Use gloves and a respirator and do it outside.
-Chris
-Chris
Andre Cloutier
Firestarter. Wicked Firestarter.
You could also soak the hull for a few days, then use a heat gun to loosen it - scrape it off and hopefully then the wood fibres will release the resin without too much fibre pull and tear - that is, if acetone wont do the trick. if you leave it on it will telegraph through the canvas, and sanding it is precarious since if you touch the cedar it will gouge and you can take the heads off the tacks in a blink of an eye, loosening the planking.
Todd Bradshaw
Sailmaker
Acetone will make old resin tacky on the surface, but it's not likely to wash it off without a very long battle. Sanding, as pointed out, is risky because any time you slide off of the hard resin and hit raw cedar, it dishes very quickly - usually before you can react. Heat gun and scraper is probably the best bet, though it's going to be a slow process. The other possible option might be chemical stripper. Some of the extra-nasty aircraft strippers work to some extent on resin.
Some folks believe that soaking the boat is a good way to remove fiberglass, but unless it's already delaminating, or prone to delaminating as the wood swells a bit, this isn't technically likely to happen. Water doesn't release well-bonded resin from wood. In this case, the residual resin that you're dealing with is pretty well bonded, which is why it didn't come off with the glass. The bond between the surface resin and the wood was stronger than the bond between the surface resin and the glass. Aside from taking your chances abrading it off, softening it with heat or pretty strong chemicals is probably going to be the most effective means of removing it.
Some folks believe that soaking the boat is a good way to remove fiberglass, but unless it's already delaminating, or prone to delaminating as the wood swells a bit, this isn't technically likely to happen. Water doesn't release well-bonded resin from wood. In this case, the residual resin that you're dealing with is pretty well bonded, which is why it didn't come off with the glass. The bond between the surface resin and the wood was stronger than the bond between the surface resin and the glass. Aside from taking your chances abrading it off, softening it with heat or pretty strong chemicals is probably going to be the most effective means of removing it.
Dave Osborn
LIFE MEMBER
I've had some luck with chemical paint strippers.
Also a heat gun with a putty knife or scraper works, too.
Also a heat gun with a putty knife or scraper works, too.
Craig Johnson
Lifetime member
heat
Yes it needs to come off. Do not sand, wood is softer than resin. never found a chemical that is easier than heat. Keep the heat gun the right distance so you don't scorch the wood, each gun is different. I like a pull type scraper. Keep the blade sharp with the file. work with the grain runout of the planking, and don't worry, yours looks like an easy one. Mine didn't have a single square inch of bare wood. Good music helps.
Craig
Yes it needs to come off. Do not sand, wood is softer than resin. never found a chemical that is easier than heat. Keep the heat gun the right distance so you don't scorch the wood, each gun is different. I like a pull type scraper. Keep the blade sharp with the file. work with the grain runout of the planking, and don't worry, yours looks like an easy one. Mine didn't have a single square inch of bare wood. Good music helps.
Craig
Attachments
Paul Miller
Canoe Nut
If you have a lot of time, the Sun is the best remover of any fiber glass resin left behind.
The same UV that breaks down our varnish does the same to just about anything that does not have UV protection and most adhesives don't.
I left a canoe out for a year and the stuff comes up like potato chips.
Get another canoe and work on IT while you're waiting.
Paul
The same UV that breaks down our varnish does the same to just about anything that does not have UV protection and most adhesives don't.
I left a canoe out for a year and the stuff comes up like potato chips.
Get another canoe and work on IT while you're waiting.
Paul
Sorry but heat seems to be the only reliable solution.
I recently restored a 1940ish 16' Peterborough Cedar strip rowboat which someone had covered, the entire outside, with resin. No fiberglass but lots of resin (as a substitute for varnish I suppose???)! I won't get into the details but it was an "interesting" experience getting that off.
I don't like putty knives or any scraper that you push. It's too easy to catch an edge of the grain and lift a chunk of wood out. I always use a pull scraper and as Craig points out, keep it sharp, work with the grain and I might add, go slow and use a light touch to avoid gouges.
I recently restored a 1940ish 16' Peterborough Cedar strip rowboat which someone had covered, the entire outside, with resin. No fiberglass but lots of resin (as a substitute for varnish I suppose???)! I won't get into the details but it was an "interesting" experience getting that off.
I don't like putty knives or any scraper that you push. It's too easy to catch an edge of the grain and lift a chunk of wood out. I always use a pull scraper and as Craig points out, keep it sharp, work with the grain and I might add, go slow and use a light touch to avoid gouges.
Gil Cramer
The wooden canoe Shop, Inc.
Methylene chloride stripper will remove most polyester resin from the exterior and even from between the planking. If I have a canoe that has lots of resin left on the exterior, I have the pro furniture stripper who does my canoes strip the exterior of the hull in addition to the interior. Doing both interior and exterior will even remove SOME of the resin between the planks and ribs- not all. The stripper is miserable stuff, but " there ain't no free lunch" Gil
Dave Osborn
LIFE MEMBER
Here's what I did with methyl chloride furniture stripper and heat gun w/pull type scraper... That stuff was really stuck on there! Did the heat gun/scrap first, followed by the stripper. The stripper softened it for removal. Needed a few applications.
