[Rhodes22-list] Varnishing Virgin
Bill Effros
bill at effros.com
Thu Jan 19 17:49:16 EST 2006
Mark,
I've posted this so often I'm bored with it. If you look, the dates go
back a few years. But, of course, it keeps coming up. I still hold
these views, enjoy the varnishing, look forward to doing it each year,
find it protects the tiller very well in my climate, and remain proud of
my ability to produce this product. I don't stain, and I don't use
"Cetol" or like products that have superior UV protection but impart a
yellow cast.
All varnish seems to work. More expensive varnish is easier to apply.
Lots of very thin coats seems to work best. A can of varnish could last
me a lifetime.
Bill Effros
Old post follows -- Subject changed to original subject line.
This topic seems to always come up at this time of year for understandable
reasons.
Never having varnished anything in my life, I filed everything in "Does Not
Apply To Me" (read "Delete") the first year I was on the list.
Last year Rummy brought it up again, and after a dozen replies went to West
Marine and bought whatever the pretty sales girl told him to buy. I thought
it was just another example of that song "When The Little Head Does The
Thinking", but Rummy reported he was very happy with the outcome.
The only exterior wooden brightwork on my boat is the tiller which, by that
time, was so ratty-looking I had ordered another from Stan. Figuring I had
nothing to lose, I decided to follow the advice on the list, and attempt to
strip down and varnish my tiller. I was astonished at the results.
If Raz's work rates a 10, and Rummy's is a 9, then mine would be a 7. When
the tiller arrived from General Boats its varnish rated a 2.
I loved my tiller every time I looked at it or touched it. It was simply
magnificent in my humble opinion. The project was perhaps the most
satisfying thing I did all year. It still looks and feels great. I can't
wait to put on a fresh coat of varnish as soon as it gets a little warmer.
I'm looking for other things to varnish around my house.
The single most useful posting came from Raz. I followed his directions,
and wound up feeling enormously relaxed. Following is his post from last
year:
"I highly recommend thinning oil based varnish with marine Penetrol, which
is
a polymerized boiled linseed oil. The mix that works well for me is about a
tablespoon of Penetrol to 1/4 cup of varnish. That's about the right amount
to do a real good coat on a tiller and it brushes out like a dream. Unlike
solvent thinners this will not degrade the varnish coat. Pettit recommends
thinning their varnishes no more than 10% with solvent and that only for the
first bonding coat on bare wood. I use straight Penetrol for the first coat.
The instructions on the Penetrol can outline the whole process. I have never
had a varnish finish lift from moisture penetration using their process. The
trick to a good varnish coat is to use a premium chinese boar bristle brush
well loaded with varnish and thoroughly brush out each coat. Any slight
brush marks will level out and disappear as the varnish cures. It takes at
least 3 coats of undiluted varnish to build a thick enough finish to last
through a couple of years of marine exposure. If I am starting with bare
wood I do at least 6 coats, allowing each coat to completely dry for at
least 24 hours, sometimes several days if the air is humid.The penetrol
does lengthen the drying time between coats. I lightly wet sand with 220
grit wet or dry paper between coats using water with a few drops of dish
washing detergent or Murphy's oil soap added. Wet sanding is faster and
keeps the varnish from getting soft from over heating due to the sanding
friction. The object is to just remove the gloss without taking off any more
varnish than you absolutely have to to get rid of rough spots and
imperfections. A few minutes before you are ready to recoat, wipe the wood
down with a rag wet with thinner and allow that to completely dry off.
Before the very last coat, I wet sand with 400 grit. It took 3 weeks last
year to do 6 coats on my Compac tiller, but its only a couple of leisurely
hours per coat including the sanding and cleanup. The end results were
spectacular. I'll have to start over this year with a new tiller for the
Gloucester, sigh. Actually I really enjoy this process, its sort of like Zen
meditation to me."
Thanks, Raz. I'll follow the maintenance instructions to the letter. I
really did enjoy the process as much as the outcome, and it was a lot like
Zen meditation. I've been looking forward to the maintenance all year.
Bill Effros
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Rasberry" <cinetics at acsinc.net>
To: <rhodes-list at sailnet.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 11:31 PM
Subject: RE: [rhodes-list] Exterior Wooden Brightwork
Personally, I find the aesthetic appeal of wood to be worth the upkeep. All
it takes to maintain a good premium varnish job is lightly wet sand with 400
grit sand paper and put on a single fresh coat once a year. To my mind it is
a less onerous task than buffing out and waxing dull fiberglass.
Razz
-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Bell [mailto:alexbell at coastalnet.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 10:08 PM
To: rhodes-list at sailnet.net
Subject: Re: [rhodes-list] Exterior Wooden Brightwork
Roger,
Boat improvement labor and time is not the same as work, so your
upgrades would be seen by many of us as the thing to do if we could do
it. Right now, Blew DAze has teak on the cockpit seat edges, the
companionway hatch holding edges (what is that called) but the hatch is
the good stuff. The rails for the sliding hatch are also teak. That's
too much, along with the rudder components. Need to make a few changes.
How much snow in your back yard? Man am I happy we did not do the move
to Traverse City about now.
Alex
"Roger K. Pihlaja" wrote:
>>
>> Alex,
>>
>> As I sit here thinking about it, there are only 2 exterior wooden
>
>
components
>> l
>
>
mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
>Bill,
>
>This makes a lot of sense ... I'm curious about seeing a photo of Bob's tiller cover if he can find it, but I can see your point. Once you strip down to bare wood, did you have to re-stain it before varnishing?
>
>-Mark
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Bill Effros <bill at effros.com>
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Sent: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 09:21:00 -0500
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing
>
>
>Mark,
>
>I enjoy the varnishing, and look forward to renewing it each year. Once you strip down to bare wood, and build up the initial coats of varnish, you only have to replace 1 or 2 coats each year to maintain a better than new appearance, and excellent protection for the wood.
>
>Since this is the only exterior wood on my boat, it really enhances the look of the boat. The curve of the tiller is both graceful and useful. My varnishing handiwork is often complimented by people who would never imagine that I could make that object look so good. I would never dream of covering it.
>
>Also, I now lash down my tiller whenever I'm away from the boat, and last summer while I was in Italy for 3 weeks, I would have lost my tiller had I not tied it to my boat in a serious manner. If there had been a tiller cover over my tiller I think that's all I would now have--the tiller would have slipped out of the cover.
>
>The farther south you go, the more problems you have with the sun on varnish. Where I live, a tiller cover is not really needed, and it's less trouble to add 2 coats of varnish every year than to deploy a tiller cover each time I leave the boat.
>
>Bill Effros
>
>mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
>
>
>
>>I've seen a few of you refer in this string to getting a tiller cover ... is this an easy thing to find at West Marine? Having never shopped for one, I don't know if these come in all sorts of sizes ... and what might be best for the R22 ...
>>
>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>-Mark > >-----Original Message-----
>>>
>>>
>>From: Robert Quinn <rjquinn at bellsouth.net>
>>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>>Sent: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:56:46 -0500
>>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing
>>
>>
>>I used ACE Hardware Spar Varnish, about 4 coats. The key is to get a tiller cover and shield the tiller from the sun when not in use. Saves tons of time and effort. > >Bob on the "NoKaOi" > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Hank" <hnw555 at gmail.com> >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:28 AM >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing > >15 coats of Varnish! Of course it would be beauiful with that many coats, >but who's got the time or patience to do that? My hat's off to anyone that >works that hard. > >Hank > >On 1/18/06, Bob Weber <ruba1811 at hotmail.com> wrote: > >
>>
>>
>>>Jim, that was last years project on Ruba. A carpenter friend of mine who >>ownes a Shannon 27 (lots and lots of wood - toe rail, rub rail, bow >>pulput, >>hand rails, and that is just the exterior. Great boat would never wish on >>my enemy) He recommended ephenies. Not sure of the spelling but >>pronounced >>F-N-ees. He recommended diluting the first two coats with thinner. Then >>just a little thinner on 3 - 5. Then straight for the next 10 >>coats. Sand >>with super light grit paper or steel wool between coats, clean and recoat. >>This product claims to dry enough to recoat in 24 hours but I found it to >>be >>more like 2 days, probably since I was doing this job in my >>basement. Good >>luck, take your time and you will be happy with your results. You may >>also >>want to invest in a tiller cover for next year. Don't know what they cost >>but after coat 10 you wont care about the cost. Bob weber >>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>From: "Jim Connolly" <jbconnolly at comcast.net> >>>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >>>To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >>>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing >>>Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:57:01 -0500 >>>
>>>>My tiller is looking a bit whitish and chalky after 3 seasons in the sun >>>following Stan's refurb. Does anyone know what product Stan uses on the >>>tiller? If not, does anyone have suggestions? >>>
>>>>Jim Connolly >>>Looking for excuses to think about Spring >>>
>>>>__________________________________________________ >>>Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list >>> >>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>__________________________________________________ >>Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list >>
>>>
>>>
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