Wood sealer without varnish?

The Iroko will do a sterling job on its own, anything else beyond raw (sealing/varnishing) is bothering. The Bonda wood seal is just replacing a varnish or woodskin and as to how well that does, you'll know. It comes well recommended.

Looks great!
 
I use a sealant for teak garden furniture and it works pretty well. The big advantage is that, when it does start to fail, a quick rub down and a few coats of sealant get it as good as new. Once varnish cracks, the whole lot has to come off so you can start again. Thanks, but no thanks. Jissel's an old boat and I'd far rather spend the time sailing or just sitting in the cockpit with a glass of something refreshing.
 
It looks just like the international woodskin so I may add another coat and compare how it does against the woodskin.

It's certainly a lot easier to apply and dries for a new coat much quicker.
 
In answer, yes I have on the odd bit on my own boat and its been fine.
Its a type of polyester resin and is catalyses with moisture in the wood so its somewhat different from normal from varnish.
Its also very viscous so sinks in well.

We can usually get two or three coats on a day so in the yard it has basically cut our varnishing time down by at least half.
I rate it highly for a base coat as after a few extra coats of quality varnish the finish is superb.
We often rag it on rather than use a brush which might work well with your rubbing strake.
On quality work we used to use around 12 coats of varnish and now after three coats of bonda we find that 5 coats of varnish is enough for a mirror finish.

On its own has worked for me down below but I truly don't know what its performance would be medium/long term with UV light.
It wont do any harm so give it a go.
 
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Ok copy that!

I've put three coats of Bonda on one side and 5 coats of International woodskin in the other. I'll report back in a year!

The Bonda was enormously easier to apply. As you say can get 3 coats on in a day whereas Woodskin can take forever to go off sometimes and one bit of water or dew seems to make it blister. On top of that the Bonda looks way better!

As you say... if it works then fantastic!!! I'll never go back to woodskin or varnish again. Let's wait and see.

This is after 2 hours of Bonda. Already touch dry and could probably go sailing already.

View attachment 66634
 
northcave said:
Ok copy that!

I've put three coats of Bonda on one side and 5 coats of International woodskin in the other. I'll report back in a year!

The Bonda was enormously easier to apply. As you say can get 3 coats on in a day whereas Woodskin can take forever to go off sometimes and one bit of water or dew seems to make it blister. On top of that the Bonda looks way better!

As you say... if it works then fantastic!!! I'll never go back to woodskin or varnish again. Let's wait and see.

This is after 2 hours of Bonda. Already touch dry and could probably go sailing already.

View attachment 66634
Click to expand...

Hi @northcave - just wondering how you got on since testing the Bonda vrs Woodskin? I'm interested in your opinion what worked best?

Thanks, Ricky
 
rickywright78 said:
Hi @northcave - just wondering how you got on since testing the Bonda vrs Woodskin? I'm interested in your opinion what worked best?

Thanks, Ricky
Click to expand...

I tried 1/4 of my toe rail with Bonda as an undercoat and it was terrible. Looked great but soon degraded and ended up lasting a lot less time than Woodskin alone.

Woodskin performed ok ish in the Canaries but as soon as we got back to the UK with rain and humidity it began peeling off.

Anyway I’ve given up on Bonda and Woodskin and opted for Semco.
 
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