Removing varnish

[stephenscriven]

I want to strip all the varnish off the decks but am worried about going through the veneer. Any advice on methods/products would be greatly appreciated.

[Chadders]

Hi
you  are right  to be concerned about going through the top veneer on deck ply and care is needed not to over scrape or over sand.  I have used Nitromorze  (not sure if that spelling is correct and its too cold to  go into  my garage and check) they  do a professional version in a yellow can which is the best one to use and a green can for the less potent one which cures with water.  Go for the professional  one, wear gloves and clean off after use thoroughly as per the instructions on the tin or your new varnish may be affected. 
I have also use a hot air gun with success but again care is needed not to scorch the wood as scorch marks do not come out easily.   Either way get a good quality  scraper (Skarston or  similar) keep it sharp and take care to keep it flat and not dig the corner in, scrape with the grain where possible.   Just a bit of care and its not that bad a job usually on decks if its just varnish.  Finish by sanding carefully with the grain of the  wood and thin the first couple of coats on the new varnish.  Happy scrapping   

[stephenscriven]

Many thanks Chadders.

[Mike Liggett]

Agree with everything Chadders has said.  I do like my hot air gun and prefer to Nitromors as easier to clean up afterwards but stripper is useful in those tight corners where there has been a build up varnish and you do not want to keep blasting away with the hot air gun.