Varnishing Toe Rail Capping - Best Practice?

Tranona

Well-known member
Joined
10 Nov 2007
Messages
40,898
Visit site
I'm still yet to hear why using wookskin means I have no pride in my boat.
See post #12 If you are ever in Poole, you are welcome to look at my boat. Sitting eating a late and outside the windows is the boom from the boat. 50 years old, taken back to bare wood and 3 coats of Woodskin. Looks a treat, better than at any time in the 35 years I have owned it.
 

itchenseadog

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2013
Messages
460
Location
Chandlers Ford
www.hopeandaiddirect.org.uk
Thanks for this. Yes Iroko and I see you point. So am I better with some sort of UV protective wax or skin? Coelan sounds like a plan but it is super expensive and how long would I expect to get from it before needing to reapply?

I cant speak for Woodskin, its probably one of the only systems I havent tried. We did a Rampart 48 with Coelan about 5 years ago, the boat went down to the Med, where the extreme heat plays havoc with any finish. I have received reports that the brightwork still looks good. At the same time I used leftovers to coat up my oak house name sign and it is still as good as the day I coated it up. I also maintain a 1937 classic ketch which has teak brightwork. We use conventional Epiphanes varnish on this craft and annual maintenance is a case of scraping back any stained areas, patch priming 3 coats and applying 2 full coats of Epiphanes. More work but the results are exceptional.
 
Last edited:

Tranona

Well-known member
Joined
10 Nov 2007
Messages
40,898
Visit site
I have seen quite a lot of Coelan both here and in the Med. Always looks bit plastic and goes rather opaque with age. Downsides are cost, difficulty of preparation and application interest typical DIY context. Also if it does fail it comes off in sheets which man's a strip and recoat.

Woodskin seems to be the product particularly for the Ops cruising plans where the last thing he wants to worry about is keeping his brightwork bright.
 

Swg

New member
Joined
9 Dec 2010
Messages
182
Visit site
Sanded teak cockpit and sole back to bare wood last spring - 5 v easy coats of Woodskin 1 per day's sh over a week. Used the boat, with children on E coast of Scotland and brought in last week. Looks perfect. Just stripped the bowsprit with the intention of doing the same
 

G12

Member
Joined
6 Jun 2010
Messages
952
Location
West Cornwall
Visit site
Have used woodskin myself on an iroko cap rail.... I've got to say I think it is the ultimate lazy man's varnish... Very easy to apply but takes ages to dry if cold - mine was soft three days later but got there in the end.
 

TimBennet

New member
Joined
13 Jun 2008
Messages
1,977
Location
Northwest
Visit site
I'm still yet to hear why using wookskin means I have no pride in my boat.

It was a tongue in cheek comment that your request was on the Classic & Wooden Boat forum.
It's the sort of snobbery you would expect from asking there.

Woodskin might be a quick to apply, durable, easy to live with wood coating, but it isn't varnish.
If you're happy with the look, then it's possibly exactly what you are looking for, but Benjamin Mendlowitz is never going to put a close up of a Woodskin covered boat in his books or calendar.
 

TimBennet

New member
Joined
13 Jun 2008
Messages
1,977
Location
Northwest
Visit site
My instinct would be to use Woodskin on the toerail but varnish the cockpit table.

There's not much work in keeping a table looking good and it's the centre of your cockpit.

Horses for courses.
 

chal

Member
Joined
13 Jul 2010
Messages
581
Location
Valentia Island, Kerry
Visit site
It is actually very difficult to find any images of what it looks like online. There are references in Google images but they all turn out to be something else. Maybe I'll do the cockpit table in it first.

This is not high enough resolution to inspect the finish close up but all the wood you can see is finished in Woodskin - which obviously gets my vote too. Ok, you won't be blinded by the reflected sunlight (maybe that's a safety feature :) ) but it's easy to apply and, even better, easy to maintain. A previous owner used 2-pack varnish and it's dire: full of cracks and splits but still clinging on tenaciously - getting it off is the hardest job I've had to do, it's taken me years to get rid of and there's still some lurking in less visible places. I've seen some good results with Coelan but it's hard to apply, expensive and you can't do minor touch-ups with it because it goes off once you open the tin. It also can have a tendency to go milky when wet, though maybe that's an application issue.

I suppose if there was one perfect solution we'd all be using it, but Woodskin is an easy-to-live-with compromise.

btw most of the wood you can see is teak but the toerail is iroko

www.yachtchal.org.uk
 

Tim Good

Well-known member
Joined
26 Feb 2010
Messages
2,798
Location
Bristol
Visit site
btw most of the wood you can see is teak but the toerail is iroko

www.yachtchal.org.uk

Thanks! Have you had any problems with Iroko staining. Previous owner let my toes rails go a it and not have some dark staining in many places where water has got in. Once I strip the old varnish is there any magical way to get it back to a nice uniform colour?
 

itchenseadog

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2013
Messages
460
Location
Chandlers Ford
www.hopeandaiddirect.org.uk
Thanks! Have you had any problems with Iroko staining. Previous owner let my toes rails go a it and not have some dark staining in many places where water has got in. Once I strip the old varnish is there any magical way to get it back to a nice uniform colour?

Heavy sanding so that you actually remove wood may do the trick but if the iroko has stained black ther's very little chance of removing it.
 
Top