Post 5 - Stripping Paint

I have been stripping paint for a while now, and I am learning what works best;

I started with a carbide scraper, and it worked well on the Hull, but not nearly as good on the deck and upper surfaces.

Next, I purchased a gallon of Franmar Soy Strip. It cost roughly $80.00 per gallon.  I decided to test it by putting it on a small area first, and letting it sit for an hour and a half.  I spread it over the paint and made sure it was at least 1/8" thick.  I could see the paint start to lift off even before the time was up.  I used my carbide scraper to remove the loose paint, once it was time.   The top two layers of paint came right off, but the bottom layer of paint didn't budge.

The next day, I decided to try it on a larger area, and leave it on for twice as long. I applied it to the cockpit area of the boat, and then I covered it all with waxed paper in order to keep it from drying out too soon.  After three hours I peeled the waxed paper back, and I could tell that the Soy Strip had penetrated much deeper this time. As I scraped the first spot, the scraper went all the way through the paint and even took off a bit of the gel-coat.  I looked closer and I could see that there were small areas where the soy strip was pitting the gel coat. I hurried and wiped off all the soy strip and loose paint, and then cleaned the whole area with water and vinegar.   In this second picture, you can see some of the pitting caused by the Soy Strip.   I probably won't be using it again on this boat...

For my next round, I purchased a Porter Cable model 7335 Random Orbital Sander, and a pack of 20 (40grit) disks of sandpaper.  This should have been my first move; these things work great. Dust is kept at a minimum, since it comes with a vacuum hose that I can attach to my shop vac. It removes paint quickly, and it's a pleasure to use.