[Public-List] Removing bottom paint

[Anders Bro via Public-List]

All winter I have been looking out my window at my boat project. With sub freezing temperatures, I am not so excited about going out there and working on her. But despite the chill, I am lining up the projects that I need to do on her. One of these is the stripping and re painting her bottom. In small spots I have tried "green" paint strippers (with plastic wrap covering to let it "work"), and I even got a very fancy sander/vacuum with super coarse paper. Both of these approaches worked, but ... not really. 

So just the other day I read the Practical Sailor email about soda blasting as being the way to go... but I am cheap! When I read some of the comments below the article, one fellow suggested an approach that I have not heard before, entailing the use of a wide chisel (or a set of them depending on the toughness of paint adhesion). So I promptly got out my widest (1") chisel and gave it a try... OMG! It worked so well on the old ablative paint!!! And so now I have on order a 2" slick (a long handled chisel used in boat and timber framed house construction), and hope this will make the job go much more quickly.

Apparently what you do is use the flat side against the hull (not the bevel) and simply slide it along the hull. It simply rips off the soft ablative paint. In about 15 seconds, I removed what might take about a minute with the sander. All the chips (as noted in the PS Comments) flew off the surface and fell onto the ground without the huge cloud of poisonous dust.

Time will tell if this is my ultimate solution to this vexing task!

I just thought that some of you might be interested in giving it a try.

Anders

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 14, 2017, at 9:47 AM, Kurt R via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
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> Subject: Re: Public-List Digest, Vol 3434, Issue 1
> Hi David et al -
> 
> I have bought boatsstuffs from them several times in the past few years.
> They do seem to have some of the most competitive prices around. No issues,
> shipping was fast, happy customer here.
> 
> Kurt, onboard #429
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> Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 01:06:51 +0000
>> From: David Tessier via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
>> 
>> Has anyone had any dealings with an online marine supplier called Discount
>> Marine Supplies?
>> http://www.discountmarinesupplies.com/
>> <snip>
>> Thanks in advance for any comments on the above supplier, and for any
>> other suggestions.
>> Cheers,
>> David Tessier
>> A30# 319
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