Varnish Project - Final Report
 

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.

Sounds like a lot of work, that paid off. Hope you took some pictures. Good tip about the foam
brushes too. They do the job, they're cheap, and they can be thrown out.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 6:59 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.

Sounds like a lot of work, that paid off. Hope you took some pictures. Good tip about the foam
brushes too. They do the job, they're cheap, and they can be thrown out.

It was a labor of love which only a REAL boater could understand. The
same kind of thing you enjoy with your bike.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.



:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.

Maybe but there's nothing that looks nicer and more classic than a Grand
Banks with nicely finished teak brightwork.

It seems like with modern chemistry however that a finish could be
developed that would last longer on oily woods like teak and be more UV
resistant than varnish. Some people use Sitkins Cetol but I think it
looks horrible and does not stand up as well as advertised. Our house
has two large wood panel areas on the front that were finished with
Sitkins along with the two garage doors. They have been refinished
twice in 14 years and they need to be done again. We are not in a
marine environment. I think well applied polyurethane might be better.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:29:04 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

HEY! Someone likes him enough to have taken him for a boat ride yesterday! Besides, where would the
group be without his negative comments soliciting responses?

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 8:29 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Hey, not everybody likes beautiful wood work on a gorgeous vessel, some
folks like square white plastic boxes with no lines and a low transom:)

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 8:53 AM, KC wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:29 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Hey, not everybody likes beautiful wood work on a gorgeous vessel, some
folks like square white plastic boxes with no lines and a low transom:)

Like a floating milk bottle? Oh please.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 9:32 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:53 AM, KC wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:29 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty
good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom.
That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat.
Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project.
We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you
re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at
near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the
end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of
spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Hey, not everybody likes beautiful wood work on a gorgeous vessel, some
folks like square white plastic boxes with no lines and a low transom:)

Like a floating milk bottle? Oh please.


I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 4/28/2014 9:32 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:53 AM, KC wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:29 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty
good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom.
That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat.
Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project.
We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should
help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak
which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown
color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish
Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you
re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max
before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at
near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the
end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I
left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably
quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You
need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather
gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of
spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Hey, not everybody likes beautiful wood work on a gorgeous vessel, some
folks like square white plastic boxes with no lines and a low transom:)

Like a floating milk bottle? Oh please.


I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/14, 11:30 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:26:24 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


It seems like with modern chemistry however that a finish could be
developed that would last longer on oily woods like teak and be more UV
resistant than varnish. Some people use Sitkins Cetol but I think it
looks horrible and does not stand up as well as advertised. Our house
has two large wood panel areas on the front that were finished with
Sitkins along with the two garage doors. They have been refinished
twice in 14 years and they need to be done again. We are not in a
marine environment. I think well applied polyurethane might be better.



I am not sure poly holds up that well in the sun and when it comes
time to strip it, you will appreciate the varnish.


It is, however, a good coating for oak floors. Ours are 11 years old
now, and the many coats of poly that were applied have held up
beautifully in terms of resisting wearing and cleaning.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 4/28/2014 9:32 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:53 AM, KC wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:29 AM, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:
On 4/28/2014 8:01 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty
good. It
was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe
rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom.
That's
over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat.
Hopfully
it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project.
We're
having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should
help to
protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the
dock here in the hot Florida sun.

Some lessons learned:

It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about
50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak
which
improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown
color of
the wood.

Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish
Gloss.
It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more
importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you
re-coat
within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a
really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max
before it
needs a sanding to smooth things down.

Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at
near
wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The
varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the
end of
the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and
mineral spitits.

For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I
left it
on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily
even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.

Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random
orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably
quiet,
and has excellent dust collection.

Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've
tried
just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You
need
a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight
line
surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered
handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather
gloves to
prevent burns.


I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly
urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact
if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%

I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking
pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.
My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance
nightmare.


:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of
spots
of exterior wood trim on a boat.


It is with great joy and pride that I am able to say that I
contributed
to your fear of ever again posting pictures of your crap on rec.boats.
Now, if we could only get you to shut up.

Hey, not everybody likes beautiful wood work on a gorgeous vessel, some
folks like square white plastic boxes with no lines and a low transom:)

Like a floating milk bottle? Oh please.


I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.

Jesus shoes on a boat? You should know better. I'm surprised the captain
allowed you on board dressed in that manner.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.


It was on the Navigator for several years and never showed any
indication of fading. I don't think it can. the color is impregnated
though the material. Every couple of years I had it sanded ... just
like wood ... and it looked brand new again.
Nice thing though is no oiling or varnishing the gunnels.

I have some friends who just bought and commissioned a used 33' sailboat
with teak decks. They are brand new to boating and are spending hours
preparing for launch. They knew about the Grand Banks we had that also
had teak decks and asked what I used to clean them. I told them about
the powered dishwashing detergent called "Electasol" that I had heard
about and used on the decks. Stuff is fantastic. Wet the deck,
sprinkle some Electrasol on it and scrub with a scrub brush. It really
doesn't take a lot of effort. Electrasol has just the right amount of
bleach or something in it that makes the teak look brand spanking new
when it dries.

They went off looking for it and couldn't find it. I checked and it's
still available but is now called "Finish".

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:16:48 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.


It was on the Navigator for several years and never showed any
indication of fading. I don't think it can. the color is impregnated
though the material. Every couple of years I had it sanded ... just
like wood ... and it looked brand new again.
Nice thing though is no oiling or varnishing the gunnels.

I have some friends who just bought and commissioned a used 33' sailboat
with teak decks. They are brand new to boating and are spending hours
preparing for launch. They knew about the Grand Banks we had that also
had teak decks and asked what I used to clean them. I told them about
the powered dishwashing detergent called "Electasol" that I had heard
about and used on the decks. Stuff is fantastic. Wet the deck,
sprinkle some Electrasol on it and scrub with a scrub brush. It really
doesn't take a lot of effort. Electrasol has just the right amount of
bleach or something in it that makes the teak look brand spanking new
when it dries.

They went off looking for it and couldn't find it. I checked and it's
still available but is now called "Finish".



So what would be your recommendation for refinishing an oak front door. It must be done in a day, or
I'll have to sleep on the porch with a shotgun.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

Poquito Loco wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:16:48 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.


It was on the Navigator for several years and never showed any
indication of fading. I don't think it can. the color is impregnated
though the material. Every couple of years I had it sanded ... just
like wood ... and it looked brand new again.
Nice thing though is no oiling or varnishing the gunnels.

I have some friends who just bought and commissioned a used 33' sailboat
with teak decks. They are brand new to boating and are spending hours
preparing for launch. They knew about the Grand Banks we had that also
had teak decks and asked what I used to clean them. I told them about
the powered dishwashing detergent called "Electasol" that I had heard
about and used on the decks. Stuff is fantastic. Wet the deck,
sprinkle some Electrasol on it and scrub with a scrub brush. It really
doesn't take a lot of effort. Electrasol has just the right amount of
bleach or something in it that makes the teak look brand spanking new
when it dries.

They went off looking for it and couldn't find it. I checked and it's
still available but is now called "Finish".



So what would be your recommendation for refinishing an oak front door.
It must be done in a day, or
I'll have to sleep on the porch with a shotgun.

Polyurethane. Some have UV inhibitors.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On Monday, April 28, 2014 8:01:54 AM UTC-4, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/28/14, 1:29 AM, wrote:

On Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:18:50 -0400, Wayne.B

wrote:



The tenth coat went down two days ago and it's looking pretty good. It

was a big job however. About 230 linear feet of hand rails and toe

rails plus about 60 square feet of teak overlay on the transom. That's

over half a mile of sanding and varnishing by the tenth coat. Hopfully

it will be good to go for awhile because it is a PITA project. We're

having fitted covers made for the whole works so that should help to

protect the varnish from UV damage when the boat is sitting at the

dock here in the hot Florida sun.



Some lessons learned:



It is really important to heavily thin the first two coats (about

50%). That helps the varnish sink into the surface of the teak which

improves adhesion and also brings out the rich reddish brown color of

the wood.



Use the best possible varnish. We like Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.

It is expensive but it lays down well and looks good. Even more

importantly, you can put down new coats without sanding if you re-coat

within 72 hours and the varnish has not been rained on. That is a

really big labor saver even though 4 coats is about the max before it

needs a sanding to smooth things down.



Foam brushes rule. I was able to get a box of 48 from Amazon at near

wholesale prices. Get the good ones with the wooden handle. The

varnish brushed out fine with no lap or brush marks, and at the end of

the day you just throw it out which saves a lot of time, energy and

mineral spitits.



For masking tape I highly recommend the green "Frog Tape". I left it

on for the duration of the job, over 4 weeks, and it came up easily

even though it had been wet numerous times and baked in the sun.



Get a really good sander. I like the Bosch 5 inch circular random

orbit model. It is almost totally vibration free, reasonably quiet,

and has excellent dust collection.



Use a heat gun and scraper for removing the old varnish. I've tried

just about everything, and on balance that is the best way. You need

a variety of scrapers to conform to odd shapes but for straight line

surfaces, the large carbide tipped scrapers with the rubber covered

handle seem to work the best. Think about wearing leather gloves to

prevent burns.





I never did much with varnish, I am not doing boats. I like poly

urethane for inside jobs and the thinning thing is the same. In fact

if you are shooting it, you want all of the coats thinned 50%



I shot about 15 coats on our counter tops and they are still looking

pretty good 10 years later in spite of all sorts of abuse.

My wife won that bet. I thought wood counters would be a maintenance

nightmare.





:) 230 linear feet of reasons *not* to have more than a couple of spots

of exterior wood trim on a boat.

NO ONE...I MEAN NO ONE GIVES A **** WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY, YOU LYING SACK OF DOG****^.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:56:06 -0500, Califbill wrote:

Poquito Loco wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:16:48 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.


It was on the Navigator for several years and never showed any
indication of fading. I don't think it can. the color is impregnated
though the material. Every couple of years I had it sanded ... just
like wood ... and it looked brand new again.
Nice thing though is no oiling or varnishing the gunnels.

I have some friends who just bought and commissioned a used 33' sailboat
with teak decks. They are brand new to boating and are spending hours
preparing for launch. They knew about the Grand Banks we had that also
had teak decks and asked what I used to clean them. I told them about
the powered dishwashing detergent called "Electasol" that I had heard
about and used on the decks. Stuff is fantastic. Wet the deck,
sprinkle some Electrasol on it and scrub with a scrub brush. It really
doesn't take a lot of effort. Electrasol has just the right amount of
bleach or something in it that makes the teak look brand spanking new
when it dries.

They went off looking for it and couldn't find it. I checked and it's
still available but is now called "Finish".



So what would be your recommendation for refinishing an oak front door.
It must be done in a day, or
I'll have to sleep on the porch with a shotgun.

Polyurethane. Some have UV inhibitors.

That's what I was thinking. Thanks.

Varnish Project - Final Report
 

On 4/29/2014 5:39 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:56:06 -0500, Califbill wrote:

Poquito Loco wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:16:48 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 4/28/2014 11:35 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 4/28/14, 9:55 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I liked the Navigator because it was low maintenance and wood-free on
the exterior. But, it was *too* white. I had the cockpit deck and
gunnels done in "Flexiteek". It looks great, easy to keep clean and is
durable and UV resistant. Only problem with it is unlike the white
decking, it tended to get hot to walk on in bare feet during the hottest
days of the summer.

http://www.flexiteek.com/




We had the upper and lower exterior decks done in that product. It
washes off nicely, and so far it hasn't faded, as far as I can tell.
They do get warm, but I usually am wearing boat sandals.

I see your 7th grade mentality Florida buddy is still trying and
failing, and he has adopted as his sidekick PsychoScotty. Perfect pairing.


It was on the Navigator for several years and never showed any
indication of fading. I don't think it can. the color is impregnated
though the material. Every couple of years I had it sanded ... just
like wood ... and it looked brand new again.
Nice thing though is no oiling or varnishing the gunnels.

I have some friends who just bought and commissioned a used 33' sailboat
with teak decks. They are brand new to boating and are spending hours
preparing for launch. They knew about the Grand Banks we had that also
had teak decks and asked what I used to clean them. I told them about
the powered dishwashing detergent called "Electasol" that I had heard
about and used on the decks. Stuff is fantastic. Wet the deck,
sprinkle some Electrasol on it and scrub with a scrub brush. It really
doesn't take a lot of effort. Electrasol has just the right amount of
bleach or something in it that makes the teak look brand spanking new
when it dries.

They went off looking for it and couldn't find it. I checked and it's
still available but is now called "Finish".



So what would be your recommendation for refinishing an oak front door.
It must be done in a day, or
I'll have to sleep on the porch with a shotgun.

Polyurethane. Some have UV inhibitors.

That's what I was thinking. Thanks.


I used BrightSides Poly available at the big boat supply stores. It has
a lot of UV protection and worked well over resin on clear coat boats.
Held up well.