gpascoe
Member
Hope someone can help me.
I am going home in a fortnight to work on my boat and would like some advice on how to proceed with my spars. They have been painted, though one of the three has snapped in half and I'm pretty sure they are made of Douglas Fir, known as Oregon in NZ and Australia. Long straight grain, with a reddish colour (not Kauri - boat was built in 1958 and that was saved for hulls I think by then).
They are solid timber (ie not hollow) but feel very light to handle and brittle through dryness, which is evident in the broken spar. I would like to rehydrate them if possible and fix them up for use with a varnish finish to show off the lovely grain.
They are around six feet long, and 3 1/2 inches diameter
I've got three options that I can think of, so any feedback or advice very much appreciated:
Strip the paint off and:
1. Soak in the sea for a few days, let the surface dry and go to with oil or varnish.
2. Rub in a lot of boiled linseed oil and leave it at that
3. Wrap some glass cloth around them and fill the weave with clear epoxy (I don't like epoxy though)
Wellington blows hard, and can shock your rig at times with big gusts or in falling off swells in a chop, so strength with a bit of flex is helpful. Epoxy I think would lift from the timber after a while. Though I guess varnish does too at that.
I suspect the mast and boom, also painted, may suffer the same problem, but I have to take out the whole shebang and re rig anyway so that is a job for another time. This time I'm working on the hull, floors and frames. The spars will give me something simple to do in the evenings over a beer or three.
No photos as yet - looking for a few suggestions to ponder before I begin.
thanks for any help.
I am going home in a fortnight to work on my boat and would like some advice on how to proceed with my spars. They have been painted, though one of the three has snapped in half and I'm pretty sure they are made of Douglas Fir, known as Oregon in NZ and Australia. Long straight grain, with a reddish colour (not Kauri - boat was built in 1958 and that was saved for hulls I think by then).
They are solid timber (ie not hollow) but feel very light to handle and brittle through dryness, which is evident in the broken spar. I would like to rehydrate them if possible and fix them up for use with a varnish finish to show off the lovely grain.
They are around six feet long, and 3 1/2 inches diameter
I've got three options that I can think of, so any feedback or advice very much appreciated:
Strip the paint off and:
1. Soak in the sea for a few days, let the surface dry and go to with oil or varnish.
2. Rub in a lot of boiled linseed oil and leave it at that
3. Wrap some glass cloth around them and fill the weave with clear epoxy (I don't like epoxy though)
Wellington blows hard, and can shock your rig at times with big gusts or in falling off swells in a chop, so strength with a bit of flex is helpful. Epoxy I think would lift from the timber after a while. Though I guess varnish does too at that.
I suspect the mast and boom, also painted, may suffer the same problem, but I have to take out the whole shebang and re rig anyway so that is a job for another time. This time I'm working on the hull, floors and frames. The spars will give me something simple to do in the evenings over a beer or three.
No photos as yet - looking for a few suggestions to ponder before I begin.
thanks for any help.
