Interesting subject, Bones. I too have a stock varnished rudder for my M17 (though I mostly use a kickup from IdaSailor these days). I've used it all--chemical strippers (not ecologically friendly), and then heat guns and scrapers (not putty knives, though I think that would work...), and most recently just a scraper. I use a BAHCO 625 made in Sweden. Very sweet, effective tool if you don't have a huge job, and it gets into tight spots--I'm stripping drop boards with it now. Time consuming but peaceful... I'd certainly go the heat gun/scraper route before I'd go back to a chemical product. Another thought on this subject regards the wisdom of using varnish on a rudder to begin with. I did (several good coats, and removed the rudder after each use except for overnight trips) and the varnish held up well. Any other experiences? Tom On Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 11:45 AM, bownez@juno.com <bownez@juno.com> wrote:

Hi Gang,

Well, time has come to re-varnish the M23 rudder (again) and thought I'd ask the collective group about the best methods to strip the old crased varnish. I seem to recall Don Casey suggests a heat gun and a putty style knife. Has anyone had good luck with chemical liquid stripping compounds? Here come the winter boat projects.

Thank you.

Mr. Bones ____________________________________________________________ Do THIS before eating carbs (every time) 1 EASY tip to increase fat-burning, lower blood sugar & decrease fat storage http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/52867a0931e427a0809afst04vuc