cabin rebuild

[slocum2]

It's -2 degrees right now and I'm thinking of the work to come this spring. Over the years, through leaky ports etc., the interior woodwork (looks like 1/4 inch plywood) on my Offshore 33 has begun to warp and flake. Before the deep freeze I started to pull it off. As you would suspect, parts came right off and parts, those sections still in good shape, are solidly glued to the laminate. Scrapping and pulling gets most of it off but there's a lot that is well glued.

I imagine in the spring I will be grinding/sanding and scraping. Any thoughts on easy ways to get the glued plywood off?

Thanks

[Sailormann]

I would be tempted to try a 4 1/2" angle grinder with the guard removed.

[sailingdog]

I'd use a random orbital sander, as it is far to easy to remove too much with an angle grinder.

[Perithead]

Give us a photo, then we may be able to give better advice.

I would probably go with the grinder with a smoother rock disk on it. The smoother the disk the less "stuff" you will be taking off.

Depending on how much "stuff" you have to go through, I probably wouldn't use just an orbital sander. I might save that till after I got as much as I could of with the grinder then clean it up with the sander.

I just finished a bit of grinding on my project boat and I thought I did a pretty clean job with just the grinder. If you can brace your hand or arm against something when your grinding, you can keep it pretty steady and do a neat job.

Good luck!

[timebandit]

PersonallyI like a belt sander it's way faster and doesn't seem to throw the dust quite so far.

[kaluvic]

I think Sailorman's right..I'd go with the 4-1/2" angle grinder and one of those foam pads that take the velcro-d sanding discs, 40 or 60 grit does a lot of work fast.

With a fair hand working in a sweeping motion you can have lots of control.

A heat gum and a good sharp chisel also does wonders….but take care, you can delaminate the base ply.

[xort]

You might consider getting out there right now! In this cold weather, the glue will be as brittle as it ever will be. You might be able to get a chisel or small scraper in behind to pop off the material you want removed.
I had a suprisingly easy time removing a backing block from the hull that was on with 5200.
Take advantage of this wonderful weather!

[bljones]

how big are the areas that are still fully adhered? how close to the fiberglass? personally, if less than a couple of square feet, and away from the hull and/or liner, before i go to the big guns, and the attendant dust, mess and fear of oversanding, i'd get out my selection of putty knives and my heat gun and go at it two handed- one hand on the blower, heating up the adhered surface, and one hand gently prying and scraping. get the veneer off and down to the substrate, and then sand off the remaining residue after an acetone wipe.

[dsmylie]

That is on of the projects I'm doing on my Richards 32. More than likely you have teak veneer that is what most CLs have there. What are you going to do once it is off. I have some ideas if you want PM me and we can discuss it.
David

[SailKing1]

Slocum2,

I had the same problem with my Islander. Most of the Ply came of with ease but left a thin backing in areas. What I found that worked best was a metal blade paint scraper. I picked one up at Home Depot with a 2 1/2" beveled blade and it worked great. Put he bevel against the cabin side so not to dig into the glass and just tap it with a hammer. It is a little more time consuming but a lot less messy than sanding glass.

Once you sand glass in the cabin it seems to get into everywhere and you never quite get it all out. I rough did sand these areas after getting all the old ply off using a block and sand paper. More controllable than a sander and less mess. Be sure to cover the inside with plastic drop cloth and tape down around the edges unless you like itchy sleepless nights.