Cockpit table - Varnish?

[Guest]

Bought a teak cockpit table at the Boat Show.We intend living aboard in the Med so use will be heavy as will UV.Any opinions as to whether to varnish or other or just leave would be appreciated.Have used Deks Olje in the past on deck fittings but not sure how it would cope with inevitable hot liquid/alcohol spillages.....When not in use it will be stowed in locker.

 

[PaulAG]

Have used Deks Olie inside and out on table etc., in UK, but not too sure re. UV protection in Med. Gloss D.O has lasted very well on washboards and tiller on previous and current boat (ca. 4 years without re-touching). Gloss seems to resist hot cofee, inevitable wine etc., OK. Oiled finish (No. 1 saturator) less tough but easily touched up.
Hope this helps.

PaulAG

 

[Spacewaist]

My view is that varnish is more trouble than it is worth in an hot climate. Teak is one of the few woods that need no protection, and I woudl be inclinde not to bother - just leave it natural. Just as teak decking, theres not much yuou pour on it that doesnt come out with weather.

FYI, When I bought my boat I opted for a lot of varnish, when the alternative was to leave it bare. On of the many mistakes I made.

 

[mica]

We bought our boat in Greece, she was an ex charter boat, so heavy use was the order of the day. She came with a varnished cockpit table, which I have since sanded it down, and reapplied gloss varnish and have been very pleased with the results.

The suggestion made by another reader to leave it bare ??? how does this cope with the spillage of red wine, not to mention the ring marks which are inevitable. If red wine soaks into anything, its the devils own job to get it out and I would question how to get the stains out of a porous surface such as bare teak.

Regards,
Mica

MICA

 

[Guest]

We have used a product called Junckers Rustic Oil on a beech table, indoors, and this has been really good. You can put hot pans on it, spill what you wish etc. without il effect: it just wipes clean. fraid I do not have the supplier's details: I bought the last can about 12 years ago and it still hasn't run out! Cannot either vouch for use on teak or externally but might be worth researching.

 

[Spacewaist]

Time (and salt water) is a great healer.

If you treat it like a polished surface (ie use mats) you dont get rings. Stains disappear of their own volition. For example, engine oil stains on teak take about 6 months to disappear in the UK - less in warmer climes.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Spacewaist on 21/10/2002 10:15 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[ccscott49]

Varnish it, six coats of epifanes "Hardhoutolie" (hard wood oil gloss) to bring out the grain, then one coat of matt, no problems and anyway it takes 1/2 hour to add another coat on a cockpit table, when it starts to go. You will no doubt have it under a bimini for most of the time and stowed the rest of the time, you wont be eating out of the shade under the midday meddy sun for long, believe me!

 

[richardandtracy]

I used Yacht Varnish on the table & worktop in my camper van (you know, a boat with wheels, leaky hull & no sails - needs mud moorings every night). That was not a good idea. In the heat of a British Summer (!) it went soft & marked like anything, occasionally sticking to the underside of plates better than the timber. Never again.

Regards

Richard

 

[ccscott49]

If the varnish went soft in the sun, it wasn't proper yacht varnish, mine never goes soft even in meddy sun, you probably used a B&Q (generic) "yacht" varnish which is ok for interior work in houses, thats about all and not very good for that either!

 

[Richard_Blake]

If you can find it, try Varnol. Norwegian stuff. I think the British distributor is called Black Dog Stores or similar. Have used it on teak and mahogany, matt or gloss (to get a good matt 'wood glow' you just wipe the last wet-on-wet layer with turpentine on your rag). Tough and anti grease (and fairly anti-slip) on companionway steps, good UV protection, easy to touch up. I've heard it's even tough enough for parquet floors! We're satisfied after two years weather. Anyone else used it?

LowTech

 

[ccscott49]

Good stuff! But washes out with rain and you don't get a really top class shine with it. Easy to apply and a lovely smell, but not a varnish substitute IMHO. A treatment in it's own right, good on pine and soft woods, you're quite right, you can get it from "Black dog stores".

 

[Richard_Blake]

Haven't noticed it washing out with rain (mahogany capping rail, etc. - takes a lot of punishment). Did you dilute the first coats very thoroughly - 70% turps or something? Maybe I touch it up too often to notice. I like the shine on the bits I've done full gloss - but then I prefer glow to amazing varnish sparkle with white peaked caps anyway! Come to think of it, my high-gloss bits haven't been exposed to rain, only the matt-finished bits, mahog and teak. We used Deks olie for some years, but are now converted to Varnol. Same idea, tougher, easier and generally better. Just find a good source of real turps in bulk for the mixing.

LowTech

 

[ccscott49]

I found turps in five litre cans, in Trago Mills, reasonable price aswell! I use it for thinning all my varnish, I use epifanes, the newer hardwood oil, which you dont need to flat between coats, if under 36 hours between, it gives a great shine and is easy to build up the coats, but I normally flat the last coat and use standard epifanes high gloss as my last coat. I dont have a white peaked cap either, but I like the high gloss. I tried the Varnol and still use it in certain areas, but now those areas have been taken over by coelans, but thats another story. You cannot get teak to absorb anything, it will take it on the surface, but try and get it to go into the wood, no way, they have tried pressure traeting it, to get oils in, all to no avail, the grain is just too tight, you have to get somethoing to stick to the surface, chemically bonding the coating, it's been tried for years. My boat being exclusively teak and iroko (painted), I just grin and bear the fact I have to varnish to keep her in pristine condition. I find it therapuetic, after the stress of the oilpatch.

 

[richardandtracy]

Yep, I bought it at B&Q, only it said "International" on the tin.

Regards

Richard

 

[ccscott49]

Was it cheap?? Anyway, this table of theres, will not be out in the sun mutch, as they will learn very quickly, that the sun is very hot and you need shade, so the table will be under cover for a good part of it's year, so varnish will be fine, I talk from experience here, most people I know in the med and other hot places, have cockpit tables and they are all (as far as I can remember) varnished, normally also have a big lump of "scoot guard" on them aswell. Mine is slightly doifferent, being a full size teak garden table on the after deck, which is varnished around the edges, but left teak in the centre panels to mirror the decks, nice but a pain in the arse to keep clean, due to wine stains, oil from salads etc. It will be varnished next year.

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Wine spills
that's terrible. I would not invite them aboard again.

Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'you're making a scene'.

 

[ccscott49]

Nice one, nice one!

 

[spark]

The UK importer is Pol Bergius - varnol@aol.com
He also supplies real turps for thinning.

 

[Guest]

I have tried Deks on my teak rubbing strip, grab rails, and wash boards. Looks great when fresh, but does
not stand up to the sun in Oz for long.

I agree with the comment on sitting in the shade - hot sun leads very quickly to looking for shade. Therefore,
UV should not be a problem for a cockpit table.

On a more general note, I have read a number of articles in PBO on treatment of teak, and no one seems to
hae found anything satisfactory - although there are various ideas and opinions.

Surely someone should have solved the problem by now.

It sems to me that the answer is to apply some treatment that is easy to apply and to do so reasonably
frequently. Clear finish just peels off and needs sanding.

Why not, for example, use the teak oil used for indoor furniture?

Has anyone really found an answer? Summer is almost here and I need to do something soon.

Ray








Ray

 

[ccscott49]

You could use coelans, but I find varnish, applied correctly does fine for me. Teak treatments for indoor furniture just don't cut the mustard I'm afraid. I've heard of this endeavour oil stuff in Oz does a great job aswell, but never tried it.