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Removing Dried Varnish?

Sean Engle

Your Friendly Administrator
Administrator
Founder
The PO on my boat did a sloppy job of varnishing the woodwork in the head. When I took the mirror and other wood down in anticipation of overhauling it, I found outlines on the bulkhead.

I'm wondering if anyone has a silver bullet solution that will cut dried varnish from that surface. I know I can use lacquer thinner, etc - but I'm a little cautious about the fumes, etc. and wanted to know if anyone had anything better....

Thanks,
 

Bob Ells

Member I
Hi Sean. If you are refering to a buildup of varnish around the edges of the mirror, or drips/sagging varnish behind the mirror etc. you can literally cut the buildup off with a single edge razor blade used very carefully. You must be careful however not to allow the corners of the blade to cut into the veneer. If you have a lot of this sort of work to do you might think of investing in a tool that is used to scrape walls used by wallpaper hangers. It uses a replaceable blade that when installed in the device forms a slight curve so that the ends of the blade do not actually touch the surface. I hate it when PO's take short cuts that one does not discover until you get into a project. Good Luck. Bob Ells
 

Billk

Junior Member
Sean,
If you want to get rid of a varnish build up you can either sand with a sanding block or you can use a cabinet scraper (not a paint scraper.) Cabinet scrapers are available at hardware and wood working stores that have a good stock of hand tools. Scrapers are neat, but if you are not familiar with them sand paper and a block is safer. If the PO was sloppy with the varnish you will want to sand the whole bulkhead. Really bad start with 100 grit, not so bad 150. Hand sand with the grain. Change the paper often. Work up to 220 grit. Dust and wipe it with Naptha (refined paint thinner,) then a tack rag, and then brush on a new coat of varnish. If you only had to do light sanding, one to two coats of varnish will do. If you had to sand to bare wood you will need three to four coats. My ericson seems to have been origionally varnished with a satin finnish, but you can use gloss if you want more shine. One of my varnish tips is to thin the varnish a bit. It will take an extra coat, but you will get much better flow and fewer runs and flaws. For the final touch wait a month and give the bulkhead a good coat of furniture paste wax.
 
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