Le Tonk companionway boards

[csoule13]

Full Disclosure - I've never varnished anything before.

Over the next year or so I'm going to slowly remove the old, brown cetol and refinish the exterior wood on my CD27. After reading all of the holy wars on various finishes, I thought I'd start with a small project to get a sense of what varnishing is all about. This winter, I grabbed the heat gun and a sharp scrapper and took the old cetol off of the drop boards to discover some gorgeous teak. A little light sanding and it was time to finish.

I went with Le Tonkinois Original for a finish because I hate sanding and I don't have a well ventilated space to work with anything involving solvents. I tried to follow the directions on the can, but admit that the temps in my workspace are barely at the 60 degrees required. 6 coats in total, with the last one rolled on and tipped. Used a natural hair brush

The final product looks pretty good, until you look at the finish at an angle against the light. And here's my question for the group. The finish has a million little pock marks in it. Dried air bubbles? Lint/dust/etc? Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but am curious if the hive mind here has some suggestions for how to touch this up and avoid in in the future.

[John Stone]

Csoule13
Hard to say without pictures plus I never heard of that particular varnish so I know nothing about it. There is too much involved with varnishing to suggest causes. Dust, unstrained varnish, contaminated surface, contaminated brushes or rollers, pollen/wood dust in the air...you name it. How to fix it? Sand it till the surface is dead smooth, probably with an RO sander and 220. Then apply another coat avoiding all the above.

How to avoid it in the future? It depends on what you desire as an endstate. How far away are you willing to stand and not see any imperfections? 5’? 10? 25? What do you consider an imperfection? The reality is if you want great looking varnish that will look very nice when you are close there is no short cut. Others may tell you different but having varnished the interior of the Far Reach with seven coats of high gloss Epifanes (and selected exterior wood with dozens of coats of varnish) there is no way to get a high quality finish without sanding between every coat. Not possible.

It’s called varnish “work” for a reason. That does not mean it’s didficult. It requires a certain amount of labor and patience. It requires a modicum of skill that develops quickly if you are serious about learning and you avoid listening to anyone that tells you there are shortcuts. There are no shortcuts. However, it gets easier as you gain more skill because you understand what you are doing and make less mistakes.

If you don’t require a high quality finish (or you’re unwilling to risk having your heart broken on occasion) there are other less labor intensive solutions. But the quality will be less as well.

I can only talk about Epifanes tung oil based varnish. That is where my experience lay. Most “spar” varnishes will be very similar. As a rule, varnish is not very tough. It can’t take a lot of abuse. I personally would not varnish drop boards—either side. They have a hard difficult life. But the interior companion way framing is a good candidate for varnish. I would not varnish a toe-rails either. On the Far Reach, on the exterior, I varnish the bowsprit, cockpit coamings, and winch bases. That’s it. All other exterior teak I leave bare or paint. If your drop boards are teak, I recommend you leave them bare. They look great against the varnished companionway trim. You can scrub them with mild soapy water and a wash cloth a couple times a year. They’ll look great. Even under the best conditions, left unprotected from the sunlight’s harsh UV, exterior varnished wood will need to be revarnished three to four times a year.

The best book I have seen on varnish work, and the one I use as a reference, is “Brightwork: The Art of Finishing Wood” by Rebecca Whitman.

None of the above is to imply that there is not a simpler less labor intensive way to finish wood. It just depends on what you want and how hard you are willing to work to get there.

Attached below are a few pictures. The shelves I just built. The fifth coat of varnish was applied a few days ago. Got a couple more to go. The coaming show the contrast between varnished mahogany coaming and teak winch base with bare teak cap and bare teak winch pad. There are lots of options to help you find a maintenance routine you can live with.

[Sailhmlri]

I'm a varnish novice also. I can tell you that from my experience you must sand in between coats. I have wet sanded with a fine grit (not sure of number) to knock down those imperfections and those cursed brush hairs. I have used Epifanes and other spar varnishes. So, yes, sanding in between is probably a must. 10 coats and I think it looks pretty good. I personally varnish every piece of wood, including toe rail as it is a gorgeous feature on my boat and shines in the sun.

[Frenchy]

and those cursed brush hairs.

One pro tip from Whitman's book: use quality disposable foam brushes and ditch the expensive ones.
She uses Jen Poly-foam brushes available from Amazon (less than 50 cents each for 3" brushes when purchased in a pack of 36).
Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/Jen-Poly-Foam-Br ... B000N9MFQK
Good luck - Jean

[John Stone]

Jean
I agree. I retired my badger hair brushes a long time ago. I have gone exclusively to Jen-Poly foam brushes. I seem to get better more consistent results.

John