I have a couple of phenolic winches and blocks on the sailboat I am
refurbishing. They work just fine, but their surfaces are rough and
weathered. I am pretty sure they were originally smooth. Anyone know
anything about whether they can/should be refinished, and if so, with what?

Bob Swarts

Bob,
I'm not completely sure, but I would think that a coating of clear
polyurathane varnish, or even a tung based varnish might do the trick.
I would test a little piece with the clear poly first to be sure that
there is no reaction between the two materials. If it works, that
would be my choice, as it would give an extremely shiny, hard-wearing
surface. Good luck
-Eli
Robert or Karen Swarts wrote:
I have a couple of phenolic winches and blocks on the sailboat I am
refurbishing. They work just fine, but their surfaces are rough and
weathered. I am pretty sure they were originally smooth. Anyone know
anything about whether they can/should be refinished, and if so, with
what?

Bob Swarts

wrote:
Bob,
I'm not completely sure, but I would think that a coating of clear
polyurathane varnish, or even a tung based varnish might do the trick.
I would test a little piece with the clear poly first to be sure that
there is no reaction between the two materials. If it works, that
would be my choice, as it would give an extremely shiny, hard-wearing
surface. Good luck
-Eli
Robert or Karen Swarts wrote:

I have a couple of phenolic winches and blocks on the sailboat I am
refurbishing. They work just fine, but their surfaces are rough and
weathered. I am pretty sure they were originally smooth. Anyone know
anything about whether they can/should be refinished, and if so, with

what?

Bob Swarts


I presume by Phenolic, you mean Tufnol or the like.

Nope, that doesnt work. I varnished over some Tufnol fittings about 15
years ago. they looked like crap after a year or so.

It is *not* easy to machine Tufnol to a smooth finish and in the case of
your winches, would be undesirable round the drum so may be original,
you *need* that rough 'weathered' finish. As far as parts not in
contact with the line go, you could try lightly sanding then epoxy
coating them or even just apply a good wax polish and buff with a cloth
or felt wheel in a Dremel. Waxing wont last a whole season, but its so
easy to redo and looks great for a while. I would be concerned about
any significant weathering of the sides of any highly loaded blocks.

I've tried to keep Stingo's fittings all Tufnol, but a couple of plastic
ones have crept in over the years :-(

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.