Ohlin Karcher
N/A
I am replacing all the trad varnish on my boat with Sikkens Filter 7, ('Dark Oak' tint) instead of trad varnish. I hope this of interest, I am describing a product which is working very well for me. A reccomendation in fact.
The advantages are that, after the usual sanding, it's easy to just paint it on without thinning each coat, or rubbing down between coats. You can use as many coats as you wish, and invisible touching-up, eg rope burns on the capping rail, is straightforward, you just brush it on.
A couple of years in Norway stripped most of the trad varnish, but after 1 year, a new capping rail was installed and coated with Filter 7.
After a winter covered in piles of snow and ice, the Filter 7 looked like new, but the old varnish had just peeled off. So it stands up to bad conditions very well indeed.
Sikkens say it is waterproof, but microporous to let the wood breathe, it seems to work anyway.
It is definitely not as glossy as varnish, you don't get that mirror shine, but more of an 'eggshell' level of reflectiveness. I would say sanding down to 400 grit is as far as it's worth going.
The boat is used all year round, so I don't have the downtime for trad varnish.
I am very pleased with it anyway.
( The boat is 'Marihøna' a Norwegian-built gaff cutter by John Atkins, lots of pics etc online)
The advantages are that, after the usual sanding, it's easy to just paint it on without thinning each coat, or rubbing down between coats. You can use as many coats as you wish, and invisible touching-up, eg rope burns on the capping rail, is straightforward, you just brush it on.
A couple of years in Norway stripped most of the trad varnish, but after 1 year, a new capping rail was installed and coated with Filter 7.
After a winter covered in piles of snow and ice, the Filter 7 looked like new, but the old varnish had just peeled off. So it stands up to bad conditions very well indeed.
Sikkens say it is waterproof, but microporous to let the wood breathe, it seems to work anyway.
It is definitely not as glossy as varnish, you don't get that mirror shine, but more of an 'eggshell' level of reflectiveness. I would say sanding down to 400 grit is as far as it's worth going.
The boat is used all year round, so I don't have the downtime for trad varnish.
I am very pleased with it anyway.
( The boat is 'Marihøna' a Norwegian-built gaff cutter by John Atkins, lots of pics etc online)
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