Woodwork - Paint Stripper Question?

Question

I have a 60+-year-old kids size wooden sailboat my grandfather made and it's been handed down.

The paint work is all cracked and looking its age. I bought some paint stripper today but never used it before - ANY HINTS?

I want to strip it back and maybe varnish it with wood stain or something. Would that be ok in the water?

Also the sail needs replacing - what type of material would be best?

Answer 1

The stripper will remove the varnish and a little of the stain, but will not remove all of the stain because of the age of the wood, the stain has penetrated the grains of the wood. The best thing to do is just follow the directions on the can of stripper and after you have completely stripped the boat use steel wool and rub the boat down real good then apply a liberal coat of liquid wood sealer to the surface and let it set for 72 hours then you can apply a stain and let that set for another 72 hours then apply 3 coats of marine lacquer and allow 24 hours between coats.Also lightly steel wool between coats. On the third coat of marine laquer, be liberal and apply a heavy final coat,this will make the wood ''seaworthy'' and as far as the sail, you should use a water resistant material that you will be able to find at any fabric store. Good Luck and Happy sailing.

Answer 2

DO NOT TOUCH IT UNTIL YOU SPEAK TO AN ANTIQUE DEALER. The cracking and original finish is VERY valuable to an appraisal.

On some things changing the finish ruins it. Been there and done that with an antique table.

Keep the original sail. But you can get sail cloth at a fabric store.

Should you decide to do it anyway, there is a gel stripper, that is thick, you paint it on and lay plastic over it to keep it wet, then after whatever time they say it will peal up numerous layers of paint.

Answer 3

If it has any value, leave it as it is and don't strip anything off of it. The cracked paint adds character and tells the age.