Has anyone tried using a heat gun to remove multiple coats of hard bottom paint? Or are heat guns taboo on fiberglass hulls?
Heat gun to remove bottom paint?
- Thread starter Stephen OBrien
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Have used
a heat gun to help a friend strip the bottom paint and barrier coat off a CS 30. The barrier coat was Interlux 2000 I believe andthe anti fouling was for sure VC 17. It worked very well, we used 1.5-2" putty knives with the corners rounded slightly. You do indeed have to be carefull but starting from far away and working slowly closer until just the coatings soften then movingthe knife and the gun ahead in unison slowly worked very well. The job didnt take that long- probably about 10 man hours or less as I remember, and wasnt bad for being messy. That said, I tried the same method when I redid my rudder a couple of years ago- the barrier coat was VC tar under vc 17- it didnt work well and I ended up grinding it off I believe I heard 3M has a new coarse but very sharp and non loading sanding disk that works very well for stripping like this. Messy tho.
a heat gun to help a friend strip the bottom paint and barrier coat off a CS 30. The barrier coat was Interlux 2000 I believe andthe anti fouling was for sure VC 17. It worked very well, we used 1.5-2" putty knives with the corners rounded slightly. You do indeed have to be carefull but starting from far away and working slowly closer until just the coatings soften then movingthe knife and the gun ahead in unison slowly worked very well. The job didnt take that long- probably about 10 man hours or less as I remember, and wasnt bad for being messy. That said, I tried the same method when I redid my rudder a couple of years ago- the barrier coat was VC tar under vc 17- it didnt work well and I ended up grinding it off I believe I heard 3M has a new coarse but very sharp and non loading sanding disk that works very well for stripping like this. Messy tho.
Not a heat gun but...
I have used a Black and Decker orbital buffer with a 6" sanding disk stuck on the foam pad. Normally this is used to buff out wax etc. but the combination of the coarse pads and the orbital buffer works like a charm. Lots of dust and crud but it works. I removed VC17 and VC tar barrier coat from my rudder and it took about 15 minutes to get down to the gel coat. Once at the gel coat you have to mind your P's & Q's but it shows through brilliant white so you know when you are there. Good luck, Mike S/B PitterPat
I have used a Black and Decker orbital buffer with a 6" sanding disk stuck on the foam pad. Normally this is used to buff out wax etc. but the combination of the coarse pads and the orbital buffer works like a charm. Lots of dust and crud but it works. I removed VC17 and VC tar barrier coat from my rudder and it took about 15 minutes to get down to the gel coat. Once at the gel coat you have to mind your P's & Q's but it shows through brilliant white so you know when you are there. Good luck, Mike S/B PitterPat
No Guns....No Dust
I took approx 10 layers of bottom paint plus several layers of VC17 off with a paste stripper. Worked great...I'll never sand or grind again! Try www.starten.com to find out more.
I took approx 10 layers of bottom paint plus several layers of VC17 off with a paste stripper. Worked great...I'll never sand or grind again! Try www.starten.com to find out more.
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