Andrei, Having stripped all the varnish off a NS27 I found the best way was to use a heat gun and scraper. I found it was the only thing that would get into all the nooks and crannies. And God knows, the NS has plenty of them. Hold the heat gun at a 45degree angle with your left hand and just as it starts pin size bubbles scrape it off with the scraper in your right hand. As you scrape, heat up the next area. Once you get the hang of it you will get into a rythym. Concentrate on where the hot end of the heat gun is pointed while you scrape. It can be very easy to be melting something with your left hand while the right hand is scraping. Use a scraper no more than 1 1/2" to 2" wide. That sounds small but the heat gun won't make a wider path to scrape and you need to scrape just at the moment it begins to bubble. Don't worry, you won't burn the wood. Just pick a time when you have some good concentration. Sand it with 180 grit and finish off with 220 grit. To give you an idea of how much time it should take, I had a lazarette cover that was about the same size as the M17 rudder. It had multiple aging coatsof orangy thick Cetol. It took me less than two hours from start to finish. What you use for the varnish is subject to lots of discussion. Perhaps others on the group will offer some good advice especially for the rudder. I used Bristol Finish for all the teak on my previous NS27. It wears like iron but I don't know how it would do on the rudder especially with dings on the leading edge. Have fun. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrei Caldararu" <andreic@math.wisc.edu> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 10:35 AM Subject: M_Boats: Revarnish rudder?
Hello,
The varnish on my M-17 rudder is starting to peel off, especially at the leading edge. Did anyone here revarnish theirs? Do I need to remove the old varnish first and then recoat it? What materials have people used? How many coats are needed? The rudder will spend its time out of the water when boat is not sailed.
Thanks,
Andrei.
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