Heat Gun - Varnish Removal

[jimp1234]

To prepare for redoing my teak coaming tops I picked up and started reading "Brightwork" by Rebecca Wittman. Good book, btw. She recommends a heat gun called an "Easy Gun" which as best as I determine is no longer available. I know there's lots of heat guns out there but if you have a favorite, one that a beginner can use without burning up his deck or cooking himself would be appreciated.

-Jim

[Knotical]

Just get any heat gun from the big box store. I direct heat on a small area taking care not to expose the surrounding area too much, as soon as the varnish starts bubbling take the heat off and scrape off the varnish, its pretty simple actually.

[evm1024]

Also, go slow with the scraping. Or rather when I get in a hurry scraping I lose precision and end up gouging rather than a clean scrape.

I have a cheap heat gun that gets used for many things (shrink wrap on electrical). Nothing fancy.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by navdi

Just get any heat gun from the big box store. I direct heat on a small area taking care not to expose the surrounding area too much, as soon as the varnish starts bubbling take the heat off and scrape off the varnish, its pretty simple actually.

Will one work on 2 part polyurethane? Our beautiful cabin sole has about 1mm of very glossy and nice polyurethane on it, but in several places yellowish wood is showing through instead of the dark mahogany. It needs to be refinished.

I tried sanding it, no luck. Next I might try a heat gun, but I'm not sure how to do it.

[slug]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Will one work on 2 part polyurethane? Our beautiful cabin sole has about 1mm of very glossy and nice polyurethane on it, but in several places yellowish wood is showing through instead of the dark mahogany. It needs to be refinished.

I tried sanding it, no luck. Next I might try a heat gun, but I'm not sure how to do it.

Heat also Works with poly



Requires more Patience

A cabin sole May be plywood... be alert

Chemical stripper may be better

With chemical stripper... first lightly sand the poly surface ... this give a chem stripper a better bite

When using a heat gun remember to have a heat shield ... thin ply or sheet metal To protect surfaces

[Flatswing]

Any heat gun will work. The Epiphanes expert says All work fine, so I dug out my 40 y.o. Black & Decker - slow but steady. I find using a draw scraper works better. Keep it sharp with a file and, on flat surfaces, it will save you a lot of sanding. Caveat: be ultra cautious on end grain where the rail curves with any scraper As it will dig/chatter and accentuate the ridges

[sailah]

I do a lot of varnish scraping. I use a Harbor Freight heat gun although there might be better ones out there. Just heat up a general 6" area and then focus the heat until you JUST start to see it bubble. Not vigorously bubbling like boiling water, that's too hot. just like a pot of water that's about to bubble starts to look different. Keep the heat gun working in front of the area you are scraping so by the time you are ready it's almost at temp and you can keep a good pace.

If you use the drag scrapers below you can keep the heat gun "behind" the scraper so you are always scraping (pulling) into hot varnish, makes it go faster.

Also recommend these 2 scrapers made by Bahco

https://www.amazon.com/Sandvik-625-C...831335&sr=8-30

https://www.amazon.com/Bahco-650-Pre...2831424&sr=8-5

[pilott]

This scraper is excellent, too
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Co...0111/309896472

[RickG]

We too 17 years of Epiphanes varnish off of our teak toe rails and Cetol off of our cockpit varnish with a cheap Black and Decker heat gun. It has two heat settings and the lowest setting worked better - the high setting left the varnish sticky and half melted. We heat a small area until it bubbles, then slide a putty knife/scraper under the varnish. Slow and easy works best. It's not hard, just requires some patience.

Cheers, RickG

[s/v michaela]

That book is a nice coffee table book,,,,, but varnishing is all about time. You will need to put a lot of time and effort in. Varnishing is definitely an art and requires a lot of practice to get right. You will know how varnish comes off with a heat gun on your first stroke with any heat gun and scraper. You WILL make black marks and burn your fingers. The best thing I can tell you is after the varnish is removed, use TEKA and brighten your wood to a homogenous color, then sand starting with 80, then 120, then 240 by hand. You don't need it any smoother. You need a little tooth for the varnish to stick. Once you get the wood ready then first thing in the morning wipe it down, and get it done. good varnishes like Epifanes will take the day to dry. You can use some flo ease if you need to help it flow on those days when you need it. A good stiff brush to move it around, and don't over brush it. Four coats will look nice but wont last. Put the time in to get 6 to 8 coats, block it down after the first 4 and use some non sanding varnish until you get to the last couple coats. Oh and make sure to wash down your decks to help with dust, and change your tape every couple coats .....

[dlane1181]

I’m no pro, and have stripped varnish a half dozen times using a standard Wagner heat gun on the low setting.

However, I hired a pro to help once, and he cursed those types of heat guns preferring infrared instead, similar to this one. https://eco-strip.com/
When I say, pro, I mean a pro. He has done the brightwork on several Frank Lloyd Wright homes and more than a few classic yachts on the east coast. I like Marc a lot, and learned a lot from him. Here’s his website. https://stylewithabrush.com/#

[slug]

Originally Posted by dlane1181

I’m no pro, and have stripped varnish a half dozen times using a standard Wagner heat gun on the low setting.

However, I hired a pro to help once, and he cursed those types of heat guns preferring infrared instead, similar to this one. https://eco-strip.com/
When I say, pro, I mean a pro. He has done the brightwork on several Frank Lloyd Wright homes and more than a few classic yachts on the east coast. I like Marc a lot, and learned a lot from him. Here’s his website. https://stylewithabrush.com/#

Those tools work very well

The problem is that they are not versatile

A hot air gun is versatile and can be used for many non paint removal tasks

[dlane1181]

Slug, you’re right about versatility. However, the OP didn’t ask for the most versatile he gun. He inquired about the favorite heat guns of others, and added that he has been reading about how to do his varnish job right. He also asked specifically about a heat guns “that a beginner can use” to safely get optimum results. The infrared sources meet those criteria, and perhaps do so better than the standard heat guns you and I are more familiar with.

[Flatswing]

A hotter gun is not necessarily an advantage -very hard to sand out scorch marks. Gardening gloves help cause surface and tools get hot - it is slow methodical work. Before I started, I hired a pro who does the local Hinckleys, Back Coves etc. for an hour of advice. His advice plus the details in the Jamestown Distributing-Epiphanes FAQ link were invaluable and facilitated a long but satisfying complete redo of all my brightwork.
His pearls: low to medium heat and sharp scrapers - pull scraper whenever possible. Super careful with end grain. Remove adjacent caulk, and cut out any butt/ scarf joints with a very sharp chisel. Lightly round any sharp edges at the joints so the varnish can flow over the edges. (The enlarged joints will be caulked after varnishing complete
Hand block sand with 40 grit- 120 - 220 always with the grain or you will see sand marks. No orbital sander they don’t have the leveling that the block provides. Rapidly build coats initial 50/50 dilution of Epiphanes Decreasing to minimal dilution to keep edge wet. Between coats wet sand with 400 and a hose. This is a huge time saver cause you can start as early as 6 am, don’t need the boat dry, no dust, just hose everything down as you go. By 7-8am, boat dries while you have your coffee, wipe down with clean mineral spirits and clean white cotton rags. Here in the South, need to varnish early -preferably before 8:30-9 unless cloudy day and preferably not in the sun unless you thin a lot and are really fast. Otherwise the solvent flashes off & it won’t level.
Interlux 333 is a good flow additive (10-20%) down here. Every 4-5 coats, knock it flat with block & 220, even 150 if a lot of runs.
One post suggests retaping every 4-5 coats, I have left tape on for 2-3 weeks no problem with 3m tape - no place to save money there. The tape line will be covered by caulk later, so running a razor blade or utility knife along the edge of the tape plus quality tape makes it easy to remove even after 10-12 coats)
The final coat is the one you can live with! Then the fun starts -gotta tape both sides of all those seams you now have to caulk. A careful (straight lines) tape job is critical at this stage. Tape everything first but caulk & peel in manageable sections, gun the caulk in quickly smooth firmly with gloved finger the less mil thickness of caulk on the tape, the better the finished edge (dish soap helps smooth surface at the joints)and peel the tape immediately or it leaves a rough edge. The sharp lines and smooth caulk really makes the varnish pop. Stand back & admire.

[boat driver]

Originally Posted by slug

Heat also Works with poly



Requires more Patience

A cabin sole May be plywood... be alert

Chemical stripper may be better

With chemical stripper... first lightly sand the poly surface ... this give a chem stripper a better bite

When using a heat gun remember to have a heat shield ... thin ply or sheet metal To protect surfaces

a variable speed/temp heat gun works better as sometimes less heat is needed. Patience is key and once in motion should be simple and not strenuous. I prefer a sharp triangular scraper with three types of corner shapes (round, squarer, and sharper).
to hot burns the wood- to cold requires elbow grease (not good)
sore back suggests take a break.
Be cautious with chemical removers falling onto other surfaces when being scraped off.

..