Varnish - What type nad Whats underneath

[AlistairM]

The time has come for me to take off the old varnish of my little 12ft vintage n12, and replace with tsome shiny new stuff to give what will hopefuly be a startling transformation.

Unfortunatly having never done this before (first wooden boat), I was wondering....

1>Do I sand enough to get a good "wick" or just go back to bare wood
2>Do I need to put anything on before hand or can I varnish straight away
3>What type of varnish do I need
4>Do I need to Antifoul - It will be sailed on fresh water with a very occasioanl pickle in the salt on the odd weekend or holiday.

Sorry for the barage but I am a bit new to all this though it is definetly becoming a labour of love.

Thanks

 

[chrishelen]

Hi Alistair,when i varnished my plank bowsprit last year and old salt told me to sand back to bare wood,then mix the first coat of varnish with turps about 50 50,so it soaks right in,then leave for 24 hours and lightly sand,then apply another 50 50 coat,do this for 3 coats and then 4 coats of pure varnish,take care to leave at least 24hrs between coats and lightly sand between coats,result mirror finish.no doubt someone will come on here later with a different method but this worked for me. dont bother to anti foul as it will be in and out quite often.

 

[temptress]

[ QUOTE ]
....

1>Do I sand enough to get a good "wick" or just go back to bare wood
2>Do I need to put anything on before hand or can I varnish straight away
3>What type of varnish do I need
4>Do I need to Antifoul - It will be sailed on fresh water with a very occasioanl pickle in the salt on the odd weekend or holiday.
.......

[/ QUOTE ]
1: How good do you want it to look. For best results it's back to bear wood, apply several coats of thinned varnish, rubbing down and cleaning between each coat.

IMO for best results use Epifanes varnish which I and many others thing is the best.
You should thin the first 4 or 5 coats 70% thinner 30 % varnish and then use 50/50 mix for a COUPLE OF COATS and a final coat or two of 40% thinner 60% VARNISH

that will give you the best result and a mirror like finish but it's a lot of work. You can cheat by using lesser quality products, applying fewer coats and using thicker varnish (ie less thinner) - it's up to you each of these will compromise the finish.

I have got a perfectly acceptable finish on a old Enterprise Dinghy using ‘Deks Olje’ by applying 2 coats of the oil and 3 coats of the gloss. This was done outside and produces a reasonable finish.

It depends on how much work you want to put into it.

2: See 1 above - surface needs to be anded and clean before you start then sanded lightly and cleaned between coats

3: Epifanes is the best but the most expensive. whatever you choose use a good quality 'yacht' varnish form international, Blakes, Jotun etc....

4: |If the boat I kept afloat for more than a few days at a time then you need to anti-foul her. Problem is you need a different type of antifoul paint inland than you do on the sea.

If the boat is kept out of the wter then there is no need to antifoul at all




Good luck - with wooden boats you spend a much time 'looking after them' as you do using them so you need to enjoy the maintenance...............



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[Roach1948]

Read Rebecca Wittman's "Brightwork" - Everything you need to know and more

 

[burgundyben]

We all do it differently, I do one coat of 50/50 on bare wood, then 5 100% coats done over 5 days if I can, works for me.

Your N12 is not number 2400 'Midnight' by chance?

 

[AlistairM]

This is she for thems that is interested, I have had a huge problem trying to find out history, according to the N12 website and the number on the sails she is called "Joan". Thanks for the info, back to bare wood and a thinners mix it is, got a few cracks to fill first, then prhehaps flip it over and start sanding.

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