Bought a $40 heat gun for lifting old varnish and it's been a total game changer

Used it on a 1920s oak dresser last Tuesday and it came up in sheets, saved me hours of scraping. What other tools have saved you guys a ton of time on prep work?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan_cooper2mo ago

Heat guns are great, but careful on that old oak. Too much heat can scorch the wood or cook the old glue in the joints. A scraper with replaceable blades was my real time saver, lets you keep a sharp edge without stopping to sharpen. Found a decent one for about twenty bucks. What kind of scraper were you using before the heat gun?

brookep272mo ago

My old scraper was basically a butter knife with commitment issues.

lucas_johnson18d ago

Haha that description is perfect. My old one was basically a chisel that I'd given up on sharpening, I just kept applying more elbow grease.