Refinishing Bright over Painted Mahogany

[Woodonwater]

My Crocker has beautiful 1 3/8" thick mahogany cabin sides (trunks) going the full length of the cabin and the coaming. Sadly, much of the coaming is rotted and will need scarfing. Originally the sides were painted, which of course means that the paint is deep into the grain and into any splits.

I have attached some pictures of the situation, as well as a shot of the stern framing in progress (not for the faint of heart). My question is, what is the best way to remove or obscure the remaining paint? I want to add a smidge of red stain to the varnish, but I need to either dig out the paint, carefully paint dark red over the paint (yea right), push the paint deeper in and fill over the depressions with mahogany filler, or sand down far enough to get to unadulterated wood, or what? Any thoughts?

http://pic30.picturetrail.com/VOL153.../292710485.jpg
http://pic30.picturetrail.com/VOL153.../292710483.jpg
http://pic30.picturetrail.com/VOL153.../292710484.jpg

[C. Ross]

If you really want to...

I've spent many an hour digging paint out of a carved balustrade with dental tools. You can buy 'em at surplus stores.

You may rinse and spit now.

[C. Ross]

Hi James-
I just checked out your other thread, with more pictures of your Crocker. A nice looking boat! Given that you have other priorities, I think the dental tool suggestion is really nuts.
Maybe a better idea is an aggressive stripper and bronze wool to work out most of the white paint (dental tools are great on stripper-softened paint if there is a spot or two that really bugs you) but if it were my project I'd stain, varnish, and then fiddle with digging paint out later when refreshing the varnish in a year or two.

[redbopeep]

One trick for getting paint out of wood grain after you've done your best to strip is to paint a thick coating of shellac over the wood, let it dry, then use a stripper like peel-away. As its removed, the shellac can literally pull the paint out of the wood grain when the peel-away removes the shellac. If its super deep, I suppose it won't work, but it works great for small flecks in normal wood grain and cracks in the wood.

Good luck!

[kalevala]

The Wife and I, have been working restoring a mahogany 25 foot cabin cruiser built in Finland . We are finishing it bright inside and out. ( of course it was finished bright before.) We have spent countless hours with, heat guns, scrapers, dental tools,strippers,wire brushes,utility knives,and lots of sand paper.
I started stripping the v berth and cabin last February. 99% of the inside is all most complete. Lapstrake on White oak frames. Stripping behind the frames had to be the worst. You really have to get creative in the tool department. We choose to use Tung oil on the mahogany before the varnish. The Tung oil really brings the wood to life, but it will darken the wood a little.
The weather started getting good about May, So we knocked -off Work on the cabin and started on the hull. And it started all over again. We now have all the sealer coats of varnish on the hull. Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now!!!!!!!!!

Don't be afraid to get creative with your tools. Take alot of pictures.

[Jay Greer]

Let me mention that I moonlight as an art conservator for wooden art objects and often have to strip some pretty delicate stuff. The above mentioned dental tools are exactly what most of us in the business use. But, there is a very powerful, industrial grade, stripper called "Star 10" that is hell on paint but kind to the skin. It is a two punch product. The first being a thick gel that is followed by a water clear rinse that will reach down and soften grain imbedded paint. Originally formulated for stripping paint from air craft, Star 10 is the most effective stripper I have found to date.
http://www.starten.com/
Jay

[Woodonwater]

And wouldn't you know it...IT'S BEEN DISCONTINUED...! They only have 3 quarts left of the stuff!



Ha Ha...a little forum humor for y'all

James

[Wild Wassa]

I do it like this.

Clean up as much of the surface paint as possible.

The paint left in the cracks, I put a chemical paint stripper on. Brushed in with a 1" brush.

Leave the paint stripper on for about 4-10 minutes depending on what stripper you use. I use 'Polystrippa'. 'Polystrippa' only takes about 2-4 minutes for this type of job.

After allowing time to soften the paint use a stiff bronze wire brush to remove the paint. Then wash the cracks with copious amounts of metho to neutralize the chemical residues (not that there willl be much left after wire brushing).

Repeat the process if needed (but I doubt that you will need to) ... and if you can also hose the cracks out after the metho, then you will know the job is perfect. Normally don't need to hose, I use lots of metho. If I take a panel or timber like a hand rail off a boat, then I willl put the hose on to it.

Warren.

PS, In most cases I put the wire brush on my drill. I don't muck around ... it doesn't take much old paint left in a crack to make bright look very ordinary. The wire brush in a drill knows it. Any erosion (if any) caused by the wire brush is easy to fill and is colour matched, ... you have to fill the cracks, anyway. Don't waste your time picking paint out of cracks with delicate tools.

[Jay Greer]

And wouldn't you know it...IT'S BEEN DISCONTINUED...! They only have 3 quarts left of the stuff!



Ha Ha...a little forum humor for y'all

James

It is also available under the Pettit Label, Interstrip 299-E.
Jay

[MiddleAgesMan]

The suggestions from Redbopeep and WildWassa should take care of your problem very well, IMO.

I would add the next step would be an application of grain filler-stain to even things up and fill the grain. If there are any remnants of the paint they will likely be very deeply embedded and the filler will bury them and even the surface up for a proper bright finish.

Me? I would just prime and paint!

[C. Ross]

Jay-
About Star Ten...given that you are a wooden art objects conservator as well as wooden boat professional...
Would you use Star Ten on something figured? Any issues or concerns about raising grain, esp. water rinse?

Warren -- I agree dental tools are for the obsessive, or the spots that draw the eye.

Cris

[Jay Greer]

Jay-
About Star Ten...given that you are a wooden art objects conservator as well as wooden boat professional...
Would you use Star Ten on something figured? Any issues or concerns about raising grain, esp. water rinse?

Warren -- I agree dental tools are for the obsessive, or the spots that draw the eye.

Cris

It all depends on the kind of wood and the kind of finish. Each situation is unique. Lets say, for example, that the object is an ornate fruitwood picture frame that is carved and gold leafed. But, somewhere down the line, someone coated the frame with oil based bronze paint that has turned dark. Actually the paint can be stripped using Star Ten by working very carefully. The gold, in most cases, will not react to the stripper solvent unless water is introduced. Here moisture is a deterrent as the water size, gesso or rabbit skin fill in the wood can be attacked by it as well. I always work by testing an obscure area, of a piece before making a decision as to how to best approach restoration.
But for stripping a boat, there is no reason not to blast off the softened finish using bronze wool and a hose. That is, unless you might blow residue where it doesn't belong.
A foot note: If paint remains in the grain and can not be covered by filler stain, one shot sign lettering paint and a very fine brush can hide light spots. I usually mix the colors a bit darker than the sorrounding area. False graining can hide a world of imperfections. Shellack burn in sticks can also be an aid. On a boat, the trick of removing paint or varnish most effectively is to really let the remover do it's job by thoroughly dissolving the finish down to the most imbeded material. This often takes four or five coats of remover and over an hour of soak time.
Jay

[Seagull]

Its hard to tell from your photos just how textured, depth of the grain is in the mahogany. Its all very well to suggest "digging out" paint traces mechanically or with paint remover but if the surface of the cabin sides are very rough they will require lots of sanding to the point that the wood is even throughout the length of the sides. If the mahogany is not fair and even it will show up after varnish is applied. I have restored may Lymans all decked out in varnished mahogany and found the the only way to really do the badly weathered seats, windshields, any removable flat wood, was to aggressively sand with a beltsander. It gets tricky when some veneered boards are but prefer using caution over a real sharp wood scraper which can also work well. You have much solid wood to work with so this would not be an issue. Dynamite Payson is a good source for information on beltsander usage. You might be able to remove much paint with paint remover and controlled water pressure but again if the wood if badly weathered it will require leveling.

Your cockpit photo seems to indicate that your going for gold, doing and in depth and up personal job so just as a thought, might you consider removing the cabin from the hull. It could simplify repairing and restoring the cabin. The cabin could be completely refinished, possibly inside a controlled environment prior to reinstalling. Bright work is beautiful but unforgiving. On the other hand flat paint can be magic when applied to a not so perfect surface.