Le Tonkinois

[FergusM]

Has anyone any experience of using this natural varnish? I want to treat the external wood - grab rails, washboards etc. on my Albin Vega, and also perhaps the interior woodwork.

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[TonyTitch]

I bought a tin last year and it appears to be fine. I've used it on my external woodwork, some of which had had endless layers of white gloss applied, (after stripping it off). It brought the underlying mahogany up very well. The main thing you have to sort out is storage once you've opened the tin. If its left exposed to air, it turns to a jelly after a bit. You should dispense it into flexible plastic screw top bottles of the type sometimes used for orange etc drinks, so that as you put the lid on, you squeeze the contents to the top, thereby eliminating an air gap. Its used by the French Navy and produced in a small workshop near Paris which I heard was under threat from developers. I got mine from Derek Murkin, 36, Romsey Rd., Tilehurst, Reading RG306UP, Phone/Fax 0118 671504.
Hope this helps
TT

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[theia]

Try Danish Oil. Easy to apply, cheap and excellent results. Takes my wife and I about 3 hours once a year to do the entire inside of the boat from front to back. Haven't got much wood on the outside of the boat but it is recommended for use on outdoor furniture so it should be allright. Can even be used on work tops and chopping boards - non poisonous as it's vegetable oil. If you don't like it you can still paint or varnish over the top of it.

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[polarity]

Owatrol Olje (always pronounced "decks olé" D1 stain, oil and preservative - Excellent stuff, to re coat just scrub off the salt and paint it on! If you want a glossy finish you can use D2 over the top. That way if the D2 gets damaged the wood underneath is still protected.

http://www.geedon.com/owatrol/owatrol.htm in english
http://www.owatrol.com/produkter/d1.htm not in english!

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<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.polarity2.com/Clipper.htm>http://www.polarity2.com/Clipper.htm</A>

 

[thalassa]

I'll second that, having used Owatrol products for years. I still use them, they are excellent, but le Tonkinois lasts much longer.
i.e., I have it on the teak grating in the cockpit. Owatrol lasted from March till August, each year. The two coats of Tonkinois go into their third year.
One drawback is the odour. The missus isn't too keen on it, and the tendency to a greenish tinge on some woods.

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[bigshineybike]

I'm using Le Tonk for the first time rightnow. its the drying time that has me feeling quite disappointed. at this rate its going to take a month to do my brightwork. protecting surfaces for a day while it slow drys feels pretty hopeless.
I have previously used ravilakk from Jotun which dries so much faster and can be applied more thickly.

 

[Concerto]

I have been using Le Tonkinois varnish for a number of years. It is very easy to apply and get a very good finish. The first coat on bare wood gets absorbed into the wood. Subsequent coats flow well with no brush marks. The more coats you apply, the better the finish. On the tiller I applied 8 coats on bare wood and 6 coats on the hand rails on the coachroof. The tiller is in good condition despite having a rope tied round it to stop it moving whilst moored. The hand rails have not survived as well on the top edge. It took a while to realise that walking on the coachroof, I continually stepped on the hand rails due to the cant of the coachroof. After a quick rub down and further coats, everything looked fine again.

Le Tonkinois is not a hard varnish like a modern polyurathane varnish. The big advantage is if the varnish is damaged in any way, water does not penetrate the wood and stain it black like a polyurathane varnish. It is also easy to patch any damage, modern varnishes do not feather out as well.

Would I go back to a polyurathane varnish? No.

 

[Arcady]

I used Le Tonkinois extensively in early 2017, on cap rails, cockpit seats, wheelhouse doors and other exterior locations. I used seven coats onto clean, well prepared timber. By the end of 2018 season, it was crazed and beginning to fail. Earlier this year I bit the bullet and went back to bare timber on some of the fittings, and sanded and patched the other areas with International Goldspar Original.

More specifically, I found that virtually all of the horizontal surfaces developed a crazing that eventually broke through all seven coats and led to discolouration of the wood below. The vertical surfaces still look fine. I assume this is due to poor UV resistance, despite the 'new' version of Le Tonkinois being supposedly better than the 'classic' version in this respect. (Both versions were available on their website when I last ordered). It's a shame, as it is lovely stuff to work with, but for me the results have been very disappointing. I treated our last boat with International Woodskin, which was fine for five years or so before needing maintenance, and I rather wish I'd done the same with the current boat.

 

[Sandy]

WOW this must get the prize for Phoenixof the year. 2003!

I moved over to Le Tonkinois last year after discovering that International Woodskin evaporates in air. It is brilliant.

 

[Aurai]

A general fan of Le Tonk

For ease of use and application, yes you only get one coat on a day, in the yard. I have so much boat wood to do, that is no hardship. Echo most of the comments above, it is glossy and it does not last into the second season. However, we now keep a repair kit on board, and work our way around the boat in the season and then a quick sand and coat at the end of the season and it seems to last much better.