Howcome nobody varnishes?

[eric]

I'm in the midst of a rework of my above-deck brightwork. The sanding was hellish, but now that I'm applying coats of varnish, it's very gratifying. There was Cetol on before, but I thought it looked too orange. I have always loved the look of varnish, and every product I read on here is compared to varnish. Why don't people just varnish? It's a little bit more work, but it's not like you have to strip down to bare wood again once you do it once (and refinish with a couple of coats each year. In the north, anyway


EW

[Paul D.]

Eric,

I too love varnish and believe in its value for above deck brightwork. Although I presently oil the teak on my typhoon, I reckon if done correctly varnish is the way to go. My brother does it close to the way I would. He stripped his brightwork down and laid on ten coats of a high-quality varnish. Once every two seasons (We are in the north) he lightly sands and puts on one coat. I would put on two coats at that time because one coat wears away and then you sand one coat off, thus you need to replace two. I oiled my teak just to compare to his. I need to clean and oil once a month for my teak not to go black and gray, which is not difficult. I oiled also because you can always varnish over it!

Sincerely,

Paul Danicic
Typhoon
HORNET
MPLS



nyeme001@tc.umn.edu

[Dave Olson]

I Varnish... Epiphanes works very well and looks great!!! I took the teak down to bare wood with Teka and a random orbital sander... I can also understand how one would want to minimize the maintenance time spent... it's a hobby for me... I park the boat (25D) next to the garage for a month and putter... any other way and I would be a cetol guy too...
Dave

I'm in the midst of a rework of my above-deck brightwork. The sanding was hellish, but now that I'm applying coats of varnish, it's very gratifying. There was Cetol on before, but I thought it looked too orange. I have always loved the look of varnish, and every product I read on here is compared to varnish. Why don't people just varnish? It's a little bit more work, but it's not like you have to strip down to bare wood again once you do it once (and refinish with a couple of coats each year. In the north, anyway


EW

olsonacre@compuserve.com

[sloopjohnl]

there's a time and place for everything. i love the look of varnish and so do the people who admire my typhoon. the areas that get the abuse from dock lines and chafe guards get the cetol. the areas that are more easily cared for get the varnish. the two together may a great pair i think.

[Gregory Lutzow]

I varnish, and love the look of the wood. I have 10 coats of spar varnish on all the wood above deck. I live in Florida and consider that the minimum necessary to maintain the look I want. With that many coats maintaining the varnish ia much easier. The corners don't fail as they will with fewer coats.

Greg



nms_inc@mindspring.com

[Michael Greenberg]

Varnishing is easy. I just tell my boatyard to do it, and
badda-bing!, there it is!



mikegre@idt.net

[john]

Varnishing is easy. I just tell my boatyard to do it, and
badda-bing!, there it is!

[BILL COLLINS]

I have varnished for 10 years. The advice you have been given is correct - 9-10 coats initially and 2 coats to freshen in the spring. Any of the name spar varnishes work well. E-mail if you have specific questions I'm an expert on varnishing; I have also varnished the cabin of my CDMKII.



william.collins@eng.ped.gmeds.com