Advice on sanding rubbing streak

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Thallac

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i am running my boat a ground next weekend (fin keels) and plan to do recondition the rubbing streak. i have never done this before, and i am looking for the easiest way to keep the rubbing streak in good condition, the steps i am going to take are:
-Power wash off surface varnish
-Sand down with electric sander; What type of paper do i need
-Paint with burgess woodsealer
-Finish with burgess hydroclear

i am not in to a shiny finish, just want to keep the rubbing streak in good condition

the boat is a 28ft Mitchell seawarrior

thanks for the advice, specifically would like to know;
what type of paper
what type of brushes
different approaches

thanks
tim
 
Rubbing streak ???

It depends on the type of wood but:
Power washing woodwork could case a lot of surface damage id be inclined to scrape and/or use a chemical varnish remover.
Have several grades of paper available. You might need some coarse stuff initially, especially to recover from the damage caused by a high pressure wash followed by a medium and then a fine grade.

Care will be needed to avoid scratching the adjacent surfaces

If its teak or teak type of wood consider leaving it uncoated

Personally found Cetol Marine the best of all the coatings I've tried for exterior wood work. Now replaced of course with International Woodskin.
 
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If there is varnish on the rubbing strake then I am not sure that a pressure washer is the best method to remove it (or even if it will be very effective?)

Chemical strippers, a scraper or sanding will remove the varnish.

What sort of 'electric sander' were you planning to use? A palm sander might be best as you would have to be VERY careful with a belt sander and a random orbital would be inappropriate on a rubbing strake. Hand sanding the rubbing strake wouldn't be too bad.

And finally: I assume that you mean 'bilge keels' and not 'fin keel' as if its a boat with a single fin beached and dried out, you will be lying at an uncomfortable angle to work on…!
 
Mitchell Sea Warrior 28


28seawarrior.jpg
 
Personally I would:
remove existing coating by mechanical means
Sand if you have not done it already
Put 3 coats of Woodskin on.

The trouble with prescribing exactly how to take off the coating is that it depends on what the wood is; what the condition and type of coating, and how easily it comes off. I would not use pressure washer. Sand paper may well be sufficient - random orbital sander with say 120 grit (edit - actually John has a good point about type of sander - depends a bit on profile/size of the wood)- change the paper regularly. If it is something like two part varnish then try heat and a scraper, or just keep sanding.
 
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john_morris_uk said:
What sort of 'electric sander' were you planning to use? A palm sander might be best as you would have to be VERY careful with a belt sander and a random orbital would be inappropriate on a rubbing strake. Hand sanding the rubbing strake wouldn't be too bad.
Click to expand...

A Fein Multimaster sander (or the Bosch equivalent) would be good for sanding the bare wood (after scraping the varnish off). They are very controllable and good for working up to edges without damaging adjacent sufaces.

Once all traces of the old varnish have been removed I would only use hand sanding from then on, as you suggest.

The OP might find also this varnishing advice from the Epifanes website useful: http://www.epifanes.com/qanda.htm
 
I took the varnish off the teak rubbing strake (not streak!) on our 24' boat using a scraper like this:

299x299px-LL-1f2f4c5d_scraper.jpeg


As long as you change the blade often, and don't try to keep going with a blunt one, it peels off the varnish very well and much faster than sandpaper. I then went over it with 80-grit and then 120-grit, to remove the last bits of varnish hiding in the grain.

Given the purpose of a rubbing strake (clue's in the name), revarnishing it seemed stupid. The slightest knock or scrape would let water underneath and lift it off, which was what had happened to the old stuff. Teak doesn't need additional protection.

Pete
 
Just wanted to chip join in with the 'Scrape it' gang. get a tungsten blade scraper from screw fix. http://www.screwfix.com/p/harris-heavy-duty-tungsten-carbide-wood-scraper/45940?_requestid=145740 Scrape off old varnish and uv damaged wood, then personally I would hand sand (it won't be a hard job post scraper) treat with your prefered method oil/stain/varnish.

But what ever you do, don't hammer it with a pressure washer!!.. its like using a hammer to wire a plug.

Note: The scrapers are super sharp so tape to protect the points on the hull where they meet strake.

Sanders are also a bit of blunt implement. Seriously if you scrape it flat all you need to sand out is the odd line and to prep the surface, I was shown this technique by a professional shipwright after hours spent pressure washing and orbital sanders resulting in a pretty average result.
 
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Thallac said:
i am running my boat a ground next weekend (fin keels) and plan to do recondition the rubbing streak. i have never done this before, and i am looking for the easiest way to keep the rubbing streak in good condition, the steps i am going to take are:
-Power wash off surface varnish
-Sand down with electric sander; What type of paper do i need
-Paint with burgess woodsealer
-Finish with burgess hydroclear

i am not in to a shiny finish, just want to keep the rubbing streak in good condition

the boat is a 28ft Mitchell seawarrior

thanks for the advice, specifically would like to know;
what type of paper
what type of brushes
different approaches

thanks
tim
Click to expand...

There's me thinking that yor "rubbing streak", was something to do with a 'skid mark'!

Seriously though, I always do the initial coarser sandings, when the wood is wet, then down the sandings until I get to a smoother paper. Try not to sand against the grain.
 
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Lakesailor said:
A few years ago someone on here suggested grinding off the end tips of the blades so that they don't dig in as you scrape. That was a really good tip.
Click to expand...

Yep, every time I use it I think I really ought to do that. Doesn't need much, just a tiny radius of each end.

Pete
 
Lakesailor said:
You'll have to enlighten me. What is the difference?
Click to expand...

I was told that a strake is the wooden strip on the topsides, used sacrificially to stop damage to them in lieu of fenders. The rubbing strip is the strip where the topsides meet the deck, covering the hull/deck join.

It's probably nonsense, but at least I have the excuse that it was someone on the forum that told me that! Either way, everyone knows what the OP meant so it doesn't really matter, the Internets just bring out the pedant in me...
 
I would imagine that the difference, if you want to define one, is that strakes are part of the construction of wooden boats. On a grp boat there aren't actually any strakes so adding a bit of wood is not actually adding another sacrificial strake.
But for all practical purposes, that's the purpose it serves and I think that it is generally accepted to be a rubbing strake.
 
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