Varnish for interior woodwork

Thanks for all the suggestions. Given that there doesn't seem to be a product that matches my requirement for mould resistance, I decided to give Wilkinson's Satin Yacht varnish a try (I did say B&Q, not RYS!). The trial piece is a locker door that had got pretty bad, being in an out-of the way place. Whatever happens it will look better after than it did before, and if it doesn't work too well, it is still in a less visible location!

First coast went on this afternoon (in my garage at home).

If I remember, I'll let people know how it went in a year or so!
 
sailorman said:
is rubbish
we used it when it first became available in the early 80s, it failed to stay on Teak then & does the same now
Click to expand...

Well, that's that then.......except I did below 14 yrs ago and haven't had to touch it since. And no sanding. When I sold the boat last winter, the comment most heard was how well she looked below...........
 
First of all, thanks to all who contributed. So far, so good! I've found the following process is getting good results:

  1. Sand and/or scrape all existing varnish off and that means ALL of it; bits that are left look horrible; I had to re-do one floorboard where I hadn't got every scrap of varnish off.
  2. wipe with a concentrated solution of oxalic acid; leave for 24 hours
  3. Rinse with fresh water and allow to dry
  4. Varnish (Wilkinson satin yacht varnish) with 2-3 coats (I'm not after a glass-like finish).

This process has been done on most of the removeable woodwork, and a lot of what's left doesn't need treating; it is in good condition. It has also been very successful on floorboards; the usual mahogany and holly veneer finish.

The next bit, though, is to tackle the fixed woodwork - some of it does need treating. And the snag here is going to be stripping the existing varnish off; the sanding method, while effective and fairly quick on wood I can clamp in my Workmate in the garden, would be much harder and messier in-situ.

So, any ideas for a means of removing varnish that:
  • Won't stain the wood
  • Can be used in a confined space
  • Won't get dust all over the boat
  • Doesn't require pushing a vibrating sander on to a vertical surface!

It strikes me that I won't be able to get all of these - the first two imply chemical strippers, which I'm not keen on and haven't had a lot of luck with. My existing sander is a Black and Decker Delta shaped one - it's supposed to have a dust capturing system, but it isn't wildly effective! But it does get into corners and so on.

Any thoughts?
 
Depending upon the complexity of the areas to be stripped and re-varnished I suggest you might consider using cabinet scrapers, particularly for the moulded portions with ogee and other shaped areas.
I bought a set of 5 off Ebay that cover most shapes including flat areas about 3" wide blades; cost me about 7 pounds but the burnisher was not so cheap, but can be done by other methods to get the slight burred edge needed on the blade.
The scraper doesn't make any dusty surface used on bare wood, but perhaps works better with a softening stripping gel on varnished panels.


ianat182
 
I've found Deks wossname to be OK as well - above decks but I leave teak grey. Twas on the recommendation of chap with an unpainted iroko hull who encouraged me to keep using it for a couple of years as he's found protection cumulative. Anyway....
For stripping off varnish and similar, I've got cabinet scrapers- which need a bit of a trick to sharpen. I use the back of a gouge to ticket them up. Almost as good is window glass. Use in the same way by tilting it away then pushing. When it gets blunt, break it and get new sharp edgs. Gloves of course!!!!
 
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