The colour of varnish

[Chris Pink]

I always reach for the yacht varnish, easy to apply and use.

But it does change the colour of the underlying wood substantially. I need to get a lighter, more transparent effect on some scumbling I am doing.

Does anyone have any suggestions for which gloss varnish won't darken the underlying layer?

thanks

 

[SAMYL]

Anything that is going to 'wet' the wood will make it look darker, even water.
Your wood looks lighter because it has dried out so the surface appears chalky and desiccated. Any coating will restore the woods' natural colour, and yes some varnishes are darker than others.
You can use beaching agents like oxalic acid to lighten the wood prior to varnishing which might help a bit.

 

[JollyRodgers]

I re-did my companionway steps because they were really scuffed and the non-slip pad had worn down so much that it was completely flat. I dont think they had been looked at all since the boat was made tbh. Lots of deep scratches,dents and dings on it and it had started changing different colours due to wear and tear.

Got them looking like this by sanding the whole thing down with an orbital sander and several different graded papers (60,120, 180, 320). I made a bit of a mess underneath the non-stick pads because I had to chisel it out with a screw driver and a hammer (the glue mustve been about 30 years old?) , but I filled it in with car filler and then repainted over the top and stuck treadmaster on top.

After it was sanded to natural wood colour, I applied Liberon Finishing Oil (cheap as hell and made a huge difference) and then Ronseal Yacht Varnish (gloss). I didnt go for satin because a lot of people said it came out quite matte looking. If I wasn't a tightarse, then I would have bought 1L of satin and 1L of gloss and applied 1 layer of gloss and 1 layer of satin to dull it down a bit. However, I figured that as it aged and also lack of lighting in there would dull it down.

Attached a couple more photographs if anyone is interested;

Top step before;

Top step after removing non-slip (It was all plywood underneath on this part, so I got some would that kind of matched the teak on the outside and cut that to size and glued it down on top)

Top step with the wood on top and glued into place

Top Step after Liberon Finishing oil (x3 or 4 coats)

Main steps before, but after removing non-slip and sanding down the steps;

Main Steps after applying Car filler to cracks/holes that I made with the screw driver whilst chiseling them out

Main Steps after applying Liberon Finishing Oil x3 coats (not on steps though)

Main steps finished after Ronseal yacht varnish gloss and the finishing oil

Sorry if I took your thread a little off-top. Just thought all the pictures show what it was like before hand, after sanding and afterwards.

Hope this helps.

 

[lw395]

Two pack international is almost water clear.
I think you can get colourless acrylic too?

 

[petehitch]

Thanks for posting those pictures, looks like a really lovely job you made of it. Well done.