varnish or woodstain

[banana]

any opinions or any products. got the coachroof back to bare wood and wondering what to do next. varnish is such a pain. wood is mahogony by the way and i'm not that bothered by gloss, i quite like satin/dull!
i saw an ad for le tonknois, french varnish, but not sure.
thanks for any help.

 

[Mirelle]

See reports in magazine!

CB magazine is running just about the ultimate test of varnishes, woodstains, seals and other clear finishes for wood. Recommend you get a copy of this months (on bookstalls now) as it contains far more info than any of us could give you here.

 

[bluedragon]

I've recently bought a 35 year old Halcyon 27 with lots of wood on deck (hatches, locker lids, coamings, washboards). The previous owner had stripped most back to bare wood, treated with West epoxy, and then top-coated with varnish (2-part PU) to give UV protection. The results are impressive. He didn't do the washboards or locker tops. I'm planning to use the same system for the washboards (SP Systems 320 clear epoxy coating + conventional yacht varnish with UV absorbers), but for the locker tops that will be walked on, I've tried Deks Olje D1 as a saturant. The key here is to only apply wet-on-wet over say 6-8 hours, until it won't absorb any more. Then stop. Don't overcoat. The finish is a beautiful silky sheen (not gloss, not matt). Looks really good. But how long will it last? Don't yet know, but it's real easy to do. Hope this helps.

 

[piscosour]

"i saw an ad for le tonknois, french varnish, but not sure."

I used this product in the med, five coats hopefully properly applied, and it looked fabulous. After a year of med sun the wood looked decidedly second hand. I think if you don't mind touching up and recoating anything should work, but I can't find a paint on and forget it product even locally.

 

[Plum]

I can recommend Sikkens

I now use "Sikkens Cetol Filter 7" over a base coat of "Sikkens HLS. Can be applied in low temperatures (5 degrees C). You have to start with bare wood, add one coat of Sikkens HLS, which is quite thin, and then, with NO rubbing down between coats, add two coats of Sikkens Cetol Filter 7, which has the consistency of normal varnish. Period of time between coats is not critical as long as the last coat has had 16 hours to dry. The finish is matt and this system has been on my boat for 10 years. Each year it benefits from a very light rub down with a fine foam sanding block, wash with water, and one coat of Sikkens Cetol Filter 7. It has good abrasion resistance (I also use it on the halyard pin rail of my gaffer which takes a lot of hard use when sweating up the sails). A friend of mine has been using it for 10 years also or and has never had it peel. It is not completely clear, like varnish, and the stuff comes in a range of "colours" (teak, pine, mahogany, etc.) BUT, if you use the PINE colour it looks a little like real varnish (but with a matt finish) whether you put it on iroko or teak (I have not used it on mahogany). If you use any other colour the final result is a very dark finish, which does not look good as the colours are intended to make a light colour wood look like, for example, teak. I also use this on my bowsprit with good results

 

[trouville]

Re: I can recommend Sikkens

I tried oil and varnish,and perfer varnish, as that can be sanded and recoated easly,and with a heatgun be stripped when the sun bleached the wood.

With oil looks great and quite easy,but even recoating weekly,the sun eventually hardens tiny dropletts making it look bad, also the pollution from MOBO engins tends to stick to it. Redoing its very hard work! as it blocks the sand paper. I used waterproof paper and acertone!!!

Bst is linseedoil the wood let it dry a bit then varnish, if the woods very bleached and you dont want to sand anymore wood away stain and varnish if you find a good stain colour match, buy a reserve!

 

[mikewilkes]

Re: I can recommend Sikkens

I agree on the Sikkens. SWMBO uses it and is very pleased with it. Mind you Colin Scott, aka csscott49, threatened to throw her over the side if she mentioned that word on Englander again!!!!