Stripping for Pleasure

[Neil C.]

After a bit of a hiatus over the summer, I've taken to spending my evenings in the garage again, entertaining myself with the unparalleled pleasure of stripping bare.
Unfortunately there's rather a lot of deck to strip. Here's the problem:
http://www.sailingsource.com/cherub/test/lib/exe/detail.php/boats/2631-20080425b.jpg?id=image_archive_2000s
About 60% of the varnish is sound, about 30% is bubbling (i.e. has air under the surface, but the surface is intact), and about 10% is broken / flaked down to bare veneer. It's bloody hard work trying to sand it all back by hand. 60 grit Aluminium Oxide is quickest, but I'm worried about damaging the surface of the veneer with this stuff. I've tried using some liquid paint stripper on a test area, but it doesn't seem to be very good. My boat maintenance handbook says not to use an orbital sander on varnish (although it doesn't say why), and clearly the good old belt sander is a no-no for this job. Anybody know any quick / effective ways of sorting out that bubbled varnish, or do I just have to resign myself to a few more nights of manual sanding?

[daryl_wilkinson]

hot air gun and scraper has always work very well for me.

[roland_trim]

A 1 1/2 foot long piece of 4by1 with the paper glued to the bottom of it speeds up life.

[JimC]

Hot air gun is good for me too. You need a very good scraper if on veneer though - very easy to take out wood. The argument against orbitals is from the "better than grand piano" finish brigade, who deplore the possibility of little crescent shapes sanding scratches.  I use a random orbital and put up with them!

[phil_kirk]

hot air gun works well but beware that you can scorch the wood if you get over zealous.  paint stripper on ply wood can go wrong if it affects the glue between the plys.

Hand sanding keeps you fit and is cheaper than a gym!