wood refinishing

[DAQ]

I am refinishing the wood on an older Whaler and I am looking for some suggestions or information. I plan on stripping and sanding down to bare wood and refinishing with 6-8 coats of varnish.

First, what is the best / easiest way to strip the old varnish off of the wood?

Second, I am thinking about using Bristol Finish to re-varnish the wood. Does anyone have any experience with this product?

Thank's for any help.

D

[BFThunter]

Heat and a good scraper tool are the best way to get the varnish off.

As for what varnish to use, I use Z-Spar on one of the launches at work, and the other two get Sikkens Cetol- stands up a million times better than cetol, but doesnt look nearly the same.

So its a trade off, with the super high use and traffic in yacht club launches, they get the cetol, but the one with the most mahogany gets the Z-spar because of its beauty, and at least two extra coats and touch-ups per year.

[fatkenny]

Another option is the epoxy-based varnishes. I have not worked with them, but the idea is that they go on thick so you only do one coat instead of 5 or 10.

I am planing to use some version for my tolman doghouse.

Try wooden boat forum or call jamestown distributors for more info.