Removing Awl-grip from teak.

[Chris Patterson]

Here's an odd one. I end up with some unusual projects from time to time, and most of it is just creative engineering, but I need to throw this one out there. I am about through re-varnishing the brightworks on a 54' Alden ketch, and the owner wants me to fix the rubrail. Some junky evidently thought it was a good idea to put Awlgrip on the teak, and the current owner wants it off and varnished. Obviously. This is a VERY expensive boat, that is soon to go to a movie set, where the actors will actually be on the boat, so it needs to be right needless to say.
BTW, the varnish is Interlux Schooner, and it looks fabulous, which is probably the reason he wants it on the rest of it.

So, any good advice on fixing this "problem"? I'm going to tackle it, but I'd like to hear some input from somebody that has maybe dealt with this before. Or just simply knows a little more about it than I do..

 

[Cool Beans]

I would use liberal amounts of chemical stripper. . .the good stuff, not that citrus based crap, but the chemical gel that will pock-mark your skin if you get it on you. A good stripper should lift the paint off the surface and out of the pores. I would do that before sanding it off. . .

If you can remove the trim and do it on a table would be best, but it is possible to strip vertical surfaces. Keeping it off the rest of the boat is the real trick

Just my 2 cents. . .

 

[petersea]

Did you try the manufacture ?? Often they can be a great resource.

 

[RichH]

If you want 'good' looking teak ... a set of good high quality cabinet-scrapers is probably the best way to go for 'color consistency', etc.

The problem with chemical strippers is their chemical permeability into the wood cells; and then, a long dwell time for 'equilibrium' to affect vaporization back into the atmosphere .... if you coat the teak while the stripper in micro concentration levels + 'vapor' is still present "in" the wood, I feel, you risk premature lifting of the coating. My experience is from using the mega-expensive urethane-acrylic teak coatings (similar to Awlgrip but looks exactly like amber hued 'varnish') and 'earlier' lifting and coating failure when the teak was previously 'stripped' by chemical means. If this is an expensive boat with a super-quality varnish job, you certainly dont want to do this 'twice'.

If you want the teak to be consistent vs. HUE (quantity and quality of the 'red' overtones), I think, that eliminates hard power-sanding which generates HEAT, especially when using the finer grits. Again in my experience, with the expensive wild Burmese teaks you can power sand with 40 to 60 grit (again not letting the teak become HOT) but will still or can have apparent heat problems that 'shifts' the color HUE when you later coat it. I think power sanding, that generates heat, turns or can turn the teak 'dark' ... probably enhances oxidation or other chemical changes of the natural teak oils within the wood, etc.

I power sand (lightly and quickly - to prevent excess heat generation) with progressively finer and finer grits, do a careful 'scraping', then cover with loose Saran Wrap , etc. for several WEEKS to allow the teak to 'develop' its natural hue in sunlight; If I dont do this 'color development' and immediately apply any coating the 'color shift' takes sometimes months to equilibrate back to the hue of the surrounding/adjacent teak. For small 'loose' pieces I simply put out in the sun and bring in at the end of the day to prevent being wetted, then lightly hand-sand and use a sharp 'cabinet-scraper' (simple sharp thin 'plate') the surface to remove any surface UV damage before any coating application.

If you want 'good' looking teak ... a set of good high quality cabinet-scrapers is probably the best way to go for 'color consistency' and 'flatness' or non-'wavyness' of the wood surface, etc.

 

[KD3PC]

If you want 'good' looking teak ... a set of good high quality cabinet-scrapers is probably the best way to go for 'color consistency', etc.

In my experience AWLgrip is a lot like Imron, and very difficult to remove with chemical peel, unless you can get the item away from all the good stuff....

However, if you can afford to "crack" it and not dent the teak, or can start at a spot where the dent will not be noticed, the cabinet scraper is the absolute best. The kind that pull are even better....slow gentle and graceful. Even if you snag the wood here and there it is easier to sand or repair than the chemicals.

you will need some shapes, and some stones to sharpen the scrapers.

this will leave the underlying wood virtually sound, and as desired. No residues or chemicals left over to deal with.

 

[tommays]

There is NO chemical that will soften Awlgrip and NOT destroy anything else it touches including most types of protective tape

We have some UMHW tape that would hold up BUT the chemical would most likely bleed under the edge and kill what you need to protect

 

[Cool Beans]

There is NO chemical that will soften Awlgrip and NOT destroy anything else it touches including most types of protective tape

We have some UMHW tape that would hold up BUT the chemical would most likely bleed under the edge and kill what you need to protect

Well there you go. . .that's why my 2 cents if free I've stripped everything from furniture to automobiles and even some teak on my own boat and never had any issues. . .I figured Awlgrip wouldn't be any different

You're going to post before and after pictures, right Chris?

 

[tommays]

Cool

Get back to me on your plan to spread stripper on 110 + feet of rub-rail thats unlikely to be coming OFF the boat it might make my next project better

 

[Cool Beans]

. . .I wasn't trying to be a smart arse, I was just illustrating my thought process. . .

One section at a time is how I would approach anything of size. . .

Nice job on the boat and spar btw

 

[Chris Patterson]

Well, as usual, I didn't have the foresight to take a picture of the specific issue at hand. I did have a few from the boat, before and after varnish. I've got one more coat to do on it by the way. And, the owner stated his wishes to me about removing the awlgrip while on the phone, so I haven't photo'd it yet. I usually take pictures of all my jobs, before and after for several reasons. So, the first picture you see has just a touch of the awlgrip on the very bottom, which coincidentally happens to be a before pic. I think the rest are afters. The guy must like the work, he keeps throwing more at me..

By the way, thanks so much so far guys, I will definitely keep this thread posted. I so dislike threads where someone asks advice, and then doesn't follow up with the results. Sort of like a decent book with the last ten pages missing..

And oh yes, in answer to another question. The boat is very nice, and very expensive. I think about 1.5

 

[Chris Patterson]

Oh yeah, now that I look at it on the big screen, you can barely make out the rubrail in the second picture. The first pic is sideways, I'll never figure out how to manipulate photos..