Treating a new tiller

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lancelot

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Hi.
I am in the process of shaping my new tiller. It is European oak, which I bought as an offcut for about £15. What would be the best to seal it. Do I need to weather it first, since it will probably swell when wet. Would varnish be best or some other sealant?
How many coats?
Fair winds
Lancelot
 
You can do anything from leave it bare to lavish umpteen coats of varnish to get a furniture level finish. Whatever you use, the best thing you can do to keep it looking good is to make a canvas cover for it (like a condom) as all the deterioration happens inthe 90%+ of the time when it is not being used. If you want a good deep gloss finish then a conventional single pack yacht varnish - 8-10 coats, done at home in a nice warm garage takes a lot of beating.
 
Tiller treatment

Call me slack but I just give my jarah tiller a coat or 2 or oil. It seems to survive in the sun quite well. No not a cover, that is just another thing to fit when all I want to do after sailing is go home.
The wood local dark red hardwood is very old being felled about 100years ago and used by my grand father a carpenter for his house floor boards. It is still doing a great job olewill
 
lancelot said:
Hi.
I am in the process of shaping my new tiller. It is European oak, which I bought as an offcut for about £15. What would be the best to seal it. Do I need to weather it first, since it will probably swell when wet. Would varnish be best or some other sealant?
How many coats?
Fair winds
Lancelot
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Oak will go black from the salt if you don't treat it with something.

Epifanes or another good varnish is the way to go. Coats wise. I worked my way up to 4 coats on my last tiller, thinning the first couple.
 
northwind said:
Oak will go black from the salt if you don't treat it with something.

Epifanes or another good varnish is the way to go. Coats wise. I worked my way up to 4 coats on my last tiller, thinning the first couple.
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I agree. I made a boom crutch from English oak and left it untreated. The resultant blackening went deep into the grain and can't be sanded out now. Protect it when it's new.
 
my tiller was made from mahogany as replacement for the laminated tiller which started to split apart. on a swinging mooring we have to lash the tiller to port so a cover stops the rope chafing. we treated ours with deks oljes. (i think that's how its spelt!) much superior to varnish as it protects the wood, but to redo all it needs is a light rough up - not a strip and sand.
 
I am so looking forward to making a new tiller, and getting it to 'glow' the way that old man does with his trade samples/exhibits at the So'ton Boat Show. :)
 
Tranona said:
You can do anything from leave it bare to lavish umpteen coats of varnish to get a furniture level finish. Whatever you use, the best thing you can do to keep it looking good is to make a canvas cover for it (like a condom) as all the deterioration happens inthe 90%+ of the time when it is not being used. If you want a good deep gloss finish then a conventional single pack yacht varnish - 8-10 coats, done at home in a nice warm garage takes a lot of beating.
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Thanks everyone. Tranona, you are spot on. This is exactly what happened to mine. I always meant to make a cover, but never did.
Fair winds
Lancelot
 
I made a new laminated one some time in the early noughties and coated it with four coats of Sikkens Cetol. I've just brought it home to 'refresh' because the bit that goes through the rudder head is starting to look a bit tired. But I think one repaint in roughly nine years is pretty low maintenance.

later: I meant to make a canvas cover for it but never got round to it!
 
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Gunfleet said:
I made a new laminated one some time in the early noughties and coated it with four coats of Sikkens Cetol. I've just brought it home to 'refresh' because the bit that goes through the rudder head is starting to look a bit tired. But I think one repaint in roughly nine years is pretty low maintenance.
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This sounds good. Is it a varnish or oil?
Lancelot
 
If you are making one from scratch use an epoxy coating with 2 or 3 coats of varnish on top. It will look the bees-knees and even if the varnish flakes it's just a cosmetic re-do. The epoxy will protect the wood from damage.

This is new wood with epoxy/varnish.........

HeronVarnish06.jpg


HeronVarnish04.jpg
 
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Tranona said:
You can do anything from leave it bare to lavish umpteen coats of varnish to get a furniture level finish. Whatever you use, the best thing you can do to keep it looking good is to make a canvas cover for it (like a condom) as all the deterioration happens inthe 90%+ of the time when it is not being used. If you want a good deep gloss finish then a conventional single pack yacht varnish - 8-10 coats, done at home in a nice warm garage takes a lot of beating.
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I did exactly this using Epifanes (9 coats, first few thinned) then use an old cover from a camping table to protect it from the sun when not in use. Looks fab after 2 years on board
 
Gunfleet said:
Here it is. http://www.yachtpaint.com/literaturecentre/cetol-marine-guide.pdf

I used the non-gloss version, natural teak. It's got a lot of anti UV stuff in it, I think. To be honest I bought it because the chap in the boat next to me had used it on teak fittings and I noticed his was surviving well after a season or two.
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That is no longer available and has been replaced by International Woodskin - very recently, but should be available in chandleries now.
 
As I understand it the purpose is to strengthen the position in the market by branding marine products under International. Was a time when Sikkens did not have the same owners as International.
 
Lakesailor said:
If you are making one from scratch use an epoxy coating with 2 or 3 coats of varnish on top. It will look the bees-knees and even if the varnish flakes it's just a cosmetic re-do. The epoxy will protect the wood from damage.
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Each to his taste. I started off epoxy coating everything in sight on advice from the surveyor who did my initial survey. I found it a real battle to keep it coated with UV protecting varnish, and it is useless in terms of abrasion resistance. You must be a better man than me to keep it looking good. I have gradually eliminated all of it, much to my relief. I still like it for playthings which are mostly under cover and don't get kicked around.

If time were no object it'd be Epifanes for everything, but the time between coats makes it a labour of love.

If I want a fast solution I'd always go for Skippers 2 pack polyurethane applied following their "six coats a day" method. It looks great but sadly bleaches rather than mellows like a traditional varnish in sunlight. Their gloopy gel works marvelously as a varnish primer with high build.

Just made a new tiller from ash (tradional for strength but non-durable) which I have sealed with 10 coats of Skippers in two days - another couple of coats tomorrow probably.
 
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