Le Tonkinois varnish

[vande9389]

Hi
I have read some positive posts for Le Tonk varnish. Does anyone know if there is a stockist locally to Southampton? I can buy online but the delivery costs almost double the cost of the varnish.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ray275]

Hi Ah Le Tonk If you ring B Murkin he will tell you where is demonstrating next. I picked mine up from the Boat Show and he was most helpful. I first saw him at a flower show and I think his brother had misbooked the show but he had a large collection of men at his stall (probably fed up with plants!) Have just finished five coats on a D Fir mast fabulous dont rub down between coats just take any nibs off.Try not to apply in hot weather cos the oil comes to the surface. Strongly recommend le tonk and THe Murkin bros.
Ps they are in Maidenhead.
Ray T

 

[vande9389]

Thanks Ray. Do you have a number for B Murkin?

 

[ray275]

Hi B E MURKIN phone and fax 01628 548840
When I picked up my tins of Le Tonk from Boat Show, he very kindly organised two (free)passes to the Show! What are you applying varnish to? Let me know how you get on.
Regards Ray

 

[dur]

I had trouble tracking down Mr Murkin last time so ordered fromTrad Boat Supplies: http://www.tradboats.com/paintvarnish.html.
Watch out for the carriage cost though.

It's good stuff and gives a fantastic finish but inclined to go off in the tin. Mr Murkin suggests decanting into an old plastic milk bottle or similar so you can squeeze all the air out each time you take some out and this certainly helps.

 

[vande9389]

Thanks to you both for the info. I would like to avoid the carriage charges of Trad Boat supplies. This what I meant in the first post.

With regards to the application target, I have a 13 ton Hillyard ketch. So the masts will get coated and so will the cockpit doghouse and the fore and aft coach roof coamings. Eventually also the cockpit itself. I need to do the exposed bits first.

Thanks for the tip about it going off in the tin. I have heard that putting a small amount of white spirit on the top of the contents helps, but not sure how much would build up over time and how to avoid it in the applied varnish. The other option I heard was to stow the tins upside down. I like the plastic milk bottle option and I will look into that one more.

So the plan would be to buy small tins rather than the large ones.

Thanks very much all.

Peter

 

[Peterduck]

An old dodge to combat liquids skinning in the container [this includes alkyd enamel and polyurethane glue] is to store the tin upside-down. The skin still forms, but now it forms a "false bottom" to the tin, and the varnish, paint, glue, etc is still fresh on top, where you want it. Obviously, you need to be sure about the seal on the tin lid.
Peter.

 

[huldah]

I like the idea of filling plastic milk bottles with varnish, as the air can be squeezed out before tightening the lid. However, I have seen water based wood glues harden next to the plastic bottle, whilst remaining liquid in the centre. This makes me wonder whether plastic is slightly porus. So the milk bottles may not be suitable for long term storage?

I have successfully stored varnish in jam jars. Punch two holes in the lid to pour out. To reseal, cover the holes with newspaper and tip jar to wet the paper.

When storing part used paint, I flip the tin upside down to seal the lid. The lower the paint level, the more paint covered tin is exposed to absorb oxygen. Another way to avoid skin is to wait 25 years! It's amazing to open old tins to find the paint has totally absorbed the skin.

I have also kept paint in a tall, fairly narrow tin. Just cut about four circles of newspaper, and place on top of the paint. This absorbs paint and hardens, holding back the oxygen. Keeps for years.

I have had problems with varnish going off after white spirit was added, so I keep thinned varnish separate.

Philip

 

[dur]

I agree with all the usual tricks but with Le Tonk the secret seems to be to keep the air out. It gets tricky when you are getting down to smaller amounts as the bottle distorts and the cap doesn't seal so well. Then I put cling film over the top before putting the cap on but its not great.
Now, if I could come up with an adjustable bottle... Got any 1 litre syringes anyone?

 

[huldah]

I forgot to mention the following in my last post.

Add clean pebbles to the varnish to keep the level high. It works well with Marine Owatrol. When the varnish drops below the pebbles, an increased surface area is exposed to obsorb oxygen.

The pebbles were roughly 1 1/2".

Philip

 

[neilw]

[ QUOTE ]
Now, if I could come up with an adjustable bottle... Got any 1 litre syringes anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]

We had three of us team up and we bought several larger tins (works out to about £10/l as oppose to £17/l if small tins are bought). We managed to get a good deal on the bulk buy.

A happy evening was then spent decanting it into 1/2 litre bottles. These can then be sqeezed to get rid of any air if partly used and the top screwed on.

I also used to keep the working bottle in hot water and decant enough to kep me going for 10 mins as I found it very thick to apply in the winter.

rgds

Neil