teak capping rail high gloss varnish?

[mikecontessa26]

Hi I'm hoping to achieve that high gloss classic boat look with my teak capping rail. I've considered epoxy then varnish as a easier faster solution as you can do 3 coats in one day then add varnish. Trouble is I don't want to remove it from the boat so wouldn't be able to epoxy the bottom. Would it just rot? It's solid teak with no signs of rot at the moment?

Any advice apreciated, ivecsearched the archives and the replies seemed to be against epoxy, is this the same to teak?

Thanks Mike

 

[reginaldon]

Used Sadolin Clearcoat this year - good so far.

 

[Conrad]

As long as you stop water getting to the underside you won't get rot. Depending on how you want your finish depends on how you solve that and I'm sure there are many ways to skin that rabbit.

Key thing is there should be no cracks betewwn the capping and the hull that water can seep into and settle.

 

[mikecontessa26]

So air-born moisture isn't so much of a problem then? we are taling hardwood afterall. I was thinking of putting a bead of epoxy between the capping and the fiberglass hull, would apply this over the recently painted hull finish though but as long as i give it a key it should provide a waterproof barrier. I could then fill any cracks/joins in the capping rail with thickened epoxy.

Does anyone know what masking tape is best to use with epoxy and a good online supplier of West Systems epoxy?

Thanks for all the help so far.

Mike

Anyone h

 

[Tranona]

Suggest you consider using Sikkens Novatec products. These are porous coatings and if you use a light pigment in the top coat you will get a gloss finish that still shows off the underlying teak.

Epoxy on teak on a horizontal surface is not a good idea because epoxy does not like the oil in teak and is not UV resistant, so you need a UV varnish. Toe rails are also subject to wear and damage and once your surface is broken water will get in and lift the coating. Novatec is very durable - my mast was up for 5 years and only needed rubbing down and a new top coat. All the external brightwork on my wooden boat is now finished with this, and it is definitely the best of all that I have used over the last 30 years. It also came out top in the long term tests in Classic Boat.

Unless you want to become a varnish slave, leave the teak bare, use teak oil, or consider a porous finish like Novatec if you want it gloss.

 

[jon]

To my eye there is definitetly nothing that looks better than a varnished capping rail. That said you will have to be a varnish slave to keep it looking good.Sikkens Novatec is a great finish and easy to maintain but it does not look like varnish close up.
My advice would be 4 coats of Epifanes PP Varnish extra, after thorough sanding and degreasing, followed by 3 coats 2 pack polyurethane.

 

[NOHOH]

The only thing to use is Coelan....It looks spectacular....it lasts up to 10 years, and whats more........you will never need to do any sanding EVER again.


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