I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

[Watermann]

Becoming one with the paint stripper is a right of passage! PPE is a must though, get the boy some eye wear, a dab on the skin is one thing.

 

[BWR1953]

Yes, I greatly increased the Prednisone dosage after talking with the doc the day before yesterday. My medical markers were elevated, indicating a relapse in progress. So we upped the amount and I may do so again, if needed. We'll see. But at least I'm able to function more now.

The GCA and PMR are intertwined and are sometimes considered to be the same condition, manifesting itself in different ways. The GCA is dangerous, leading to blindness and/or stroke.

I got the boy to "volunteer" to show what it's like for me. He reluctantly did a good job. :lol:

This is what GCA symptoms feel like. Plus extreme fatigue, malaise, vision changes and others. Just imagine those clamps cranked down nice and tight. :blue:

 

[BWR1953]

Becoming one with the paint stripper is a right of passage! PPE is a must though, get the boy some eye wear, a dab on the skin is one thing.

Good point! We had it out but forgot to put it on.

 

[Decker83]

Happy New Year!!:drum:

I used a brass brush on mine too. I forgot I used one.:blue:
Hope the meds help you.. Your description of the symptoms doesn't look to good..

Didn't get any work on mine done this weekend. The temps in 30 and some ice and sleet today.

 

[BWR1953]

Happy New Year!!:drum:

I used a brass brush on mine too. I forgot I used one.:blue:
Hope the meds help you.. Your description of the symptoms doesn't look to good..

Didn't get any work on mine done this weekend. The temps in 30 and some ice and sleet today.

Yes, the steroid really helps but has horrendous side effects. And I've been suffering from those effects for 4 years now. And I've been experimented on with other drugs to combat the side effects and those drugs have serious side effects of their own. Ugh. :blue:

The weather here would be PERFECT if I was installing the deck or putting things together and whatnot. Just not good for paint removal and repainting.

So it's a good time to just relax and watch the Twilight Zone marathon!

 

[BWR1953]

A little experimenting today. While waiting for other stuff, the boy and I did a little testing today with the stripper and whatnot.

The boy has been off from school for over 2 weeks but the temperatures here have been truly winter-like. Too cold to do paint removal and repainting, etc. But today it got up to 63 degrees and we were outside doing other stuff and I wanted to see what could happen.

We opened the can of stripper/flour slurry mix leftover from a couple weeks ago. Surprisingly, it hadn't gelled into a Jasco stripper cake! :lol:

So I laid into it with my HF heat gun! Blew the hot air into the can while stirring in an effort to warm it up. I figured it was warm enough when smoke started wisping from the can!

After the slurry was warm, I then warmed the aluminum hull of the KF and applied the slurry. We let it sit for nearly and hour, then the boy took a new brass bristle brush to it and the paint came off easily. That was nice to see.

Temps are supposed to rise back into the 70s this week but the boy will be back at school so I don't know how much more will get done.

Oh yeah, the HF heat gun tried to give up the ghost. But, I "tapped" on it with my claw hammer and it mostly came back to life. Cheap stuff though.


Stripper/flour mix glopped on.



The boy with brass bristle brush removing that 40 y.o. original Starcraft baked on paint.


Better!

 

[BWR1953]

FINALLY!

It got up to 75 this afternoon and after the boy came home from school we got something done.

The starboard hull bottom is as stripped as it's going to be!

Temps are supposed to be in the lower 70s tomorrow so we'll try to get the port side hull bottom stripped the rest of the way too. Then temperatures are going to drop down to the 50s for the highs and 30s for the lows over the next week or so. We'll start sanding the hull sides in the cooler weather.


We glopped on the stripper slurry, let it sit for 35 minutes then used brass bristle brushes to remove the paint. Worked just fine! :thumb:

 

[BWR1953]

Oh yeah, yesterday afternoon I tried to get something done for the boat. A fella had advertised a 50 lb. thrust trolling motor for $85 so the boy and I headed over there to check it out.

When I arrived, the guy showed me the motor and it was dinky. I looked it up online with my phone and it was only 26 lb. thrust!

He said that he was selling it for his brother, who had advised him that it was 50 lb. Arrgghhh... :facepalm:

 

[Decker83]

Looking good!! Nice warm temps makes a difference.. We got a little snow here.. Went to work and it was 59 degrees,
by the afternoon it was in the 30's.. Just like Texas weather..

 

[Watermann]

Hey you guys are getting there, it always looks easy when you see someone else doing it. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Hey you guys are getting there, it always looks easy when you see someone else doing it. :lol:

Yeahhh... you can bet yer bippy that when it comes time to do the Chieftain that I'll just pay to have it soda blasted! :laugh:

 

[BWR1953]

With the assistance of our new recruits plus my wife and the boy, I did a little bit of work late this afternoon when the temp finally got up to 58 degrees.

We picked up these new helpers-boat-and-fishing-buddies a week ago. Eight week old brother-sister pair. The gray is the girl.



And I also corrected a mistake I made back in 2015 when we first got the boat. While initially working on the boat I'd found "holes" in the chines and keel so filled them with JB Weld, thinking that some PO had put them there. Uh, no. I was a Big Dummy and had filled in the weep holes! :facepalm:

So this evening I used a rotary tool and ground the JB Weld off, then redrilled the drain holes. Silly me. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Okay, what grit sandpaper should I be using on my palm sanders for this step? I've read a bunch of threads and the replies show anywhere from 50 to 150 grit. Makes it kinda tough to get it straight.

I did a little test spot with 100 grit last night and it smoothed the paint but I don't know if it's good enough to do the job correctly.

 

[Watermann]

I used 220 on my DA sander and let the sander do the work, slow and even.

 

[BWR1953]

I used 220 on my DA sander and let the sander do the work, slow and even.

Did you use the 220 on bare aluminum or on the existing factory paint?

Remember, I'm leaving the remainder of the existing paint on and just "scuffing" it to prep for repainting. Only the very bottom of the hull will be bare.

I did a test a short while ago and 100 grit feathered nicely and left a good, smooth surface but didn't really remove much paint, making it take a long time to do.

Then I tested with 60 grit and it really did a good job removing the paint but left the surface rougher than I'd like. I'd probably have to go back over it with 100 or 150 in order to smooth it out for the new paint.

Am thinking that I might have to go buy some 80 grit?

 

[Watermann]

Only thing I sand with 80g is wood and JB weld with my belt sander to get it down where I can finish sand. Use what you think is best I guess but 180 would be as low as I would go if you don't want scratches to show through.

 

[BWR1953]

Only thing I sand with 80g is wood and JB weld with my belt sander to get it down where I can finish sand. Use what you think is best I guess but 180 would be as low as I would go if you don't want scratches to show through.

Got it. Okay, thanks! :joyous:

 

[BWR1953]

WM, I heard ya loud and clear. :nod:

USE THE DAD-BLAMED STRIPPER! ound:

Unless I want to spend the entire rest of the winter sanding. :lol:

The weather warmed up to about 65 today so after the boy came home from school we went out and worked a couple hours. Got the stern completely stripped. Finally! But another cold front is moving in so we'll have to hold off again for a few days. The upcoming weekend is looking pretty good though.

I will say that the brass bristle brushes really help a lot. They made all the difference in making good progress. They cut through the paint without damaging the aluminum. And we're using them up fast. I need to get some more before the next session.

Applied the stripper/flour slurry. That flour really helps the stripper stick to the vertical surfaces.


In spite of the cooler weather, the stripper bubbled up well enough.

 

[Watermann]

Oh hey looking good, I always found the transom paint to be the toughest to get off for some reason it took as much effort as an entire side.

 

[BWR1953]

Yeah, I'm glad to be making progress. :joyous:

And I've changed my mind yet again.

We'll go ahead and strip the rest of the paint from the boat instead of sanding. If I run out of the Jasco, I'll buy aircraft stripper the next time. I've heard good stuff.