Bright work finishes

[MikeP]

I have found that varnish wears better under stress, looks a LOT better, and is much easier to repair and refinish later as long as it is maintained.

The problem comes because folks let it deterioriate to the point where it is peeling. Two maintanance coats per season - a couple of day's work - will keep in in excellent condition indefinitely. I like Epifanes but there probably isn't a lot of difference between any of the quality varnishes.

[luckydave215]

True, it's not what kind of varnish you put on, it's how much, how often, and how well you put it on that counts.

[hattitude]

...

Bernie,

I've heard of CPES for structural wood, but not for treating wood that would then be varnished for a good visual effect. Are you using CPES on the interior (in prevention of window/deck leak damage) or just on exterior wood exposed to lots of water?

TIA.

Richard

I've only used it on the exterior teak..


A very experienced painter/varnish guy I've used says to use CPES when as the first two coats after taking the teak down to bare wood. He then puts five coats of varnish on top of that. He roughs and coats about every eight months. I used this regime with great success, until I redid my chair. The varnish took a beating.

A dock neighbor had used bristol finish on his cockpit coaming boards. They get alot of traffic and they looked great after over a year.

I used Bristol on the chair (over the varnish base) with great success. I put two coats of Bristol over my other exterior varnish.. it has so far lasted longer, looking better than the varnish alone...

So far, anyway.....

Bernie

[captwoodyb]

We have had real good luck with sikens over the last 4 or 5 years. Stripped the teak hand rails down to bare wood, used satin finish 2-3 coats, then two coats of sikens high gloss thinned just a little. We wet sand lightly each year and apply one coat of high gloss, maintains all season, no cracking peeling or usual deterioration associated with many varnishes.

[Pascal]

i used Cetol lights on my rails 2 years ago.. 2 coats of light, 2 coats of gloss. so far so good... I added a coat of light after a year, going to add another one this week. I like the fact that you dont' have to sand 100ft of rails between coats !

i woudlnt' use Cetol for a large surface like doors or wet bar, I think Mike found out the hard way.... but on railings, it works.

[SKYCHENEY]

Just beware. Sikkens is not varnish. It does not look like varnish and it will never look like varnish. If you want a top quality job that looks like varnish, well, guess what? You have to use varnish.

[spartonboat1]

Can anyone say with some certainty as to what wood was used for the 1970's Hatt handrails? Thx...

[Boss Lady]

I have taken mine off the boat, and can check them on Monday and post the results here. I will have my shipwright check this, he will be a better judge than me.

[Captned]

Three part Awlbrite is easy and is the best stuff I have used. Dries super fast and is holding up very well for me in the florida sun..

M2C

Captned

[Paul45c]

Just beware. Sikkens is not varnish. It does not look like varnish and it will never look like varnish. If you want a top quality job that looks like varnish, well, guess what? You have to use varnish.

No question, but as Pascal said, for those that are willing to put up with a CLOSE to varnish look for a lot less labor effort, you really can get Cetol to look pretty good. I'd never used the stuff before, and a prior boat I owned came with it.

Some wood on the boat was in very good shape and only needed another couple of topcoats of the Cetol Light (the clear); other parts had to be completely taken down to the bare wood and redone completely. When I went to WM to get what I needed and talked to some people with experience with Cetol, I was told to do a minimum of 2 coats of the Cetol Marine (the base coat). The CM Marine is the nasty-looking stuff that gives it that characteristic orange hue that ain't gonna fool anybody. It sure didn't fool me after brushing out the first couple of sq. feet of it. So, I only did one CM Marine base coat, and did CM Light for the rest of it. The look was pretty good.

I'm sure I sacrificed some durability according to the chemists at Sikkens, but the stuff remains flexible so much longer than varnish that I was willing to chance that. And, just like with varnish, if you get the topcoats to it soon enough prior to blistering, you can keep that finish going indefinitely.

FWIW, I think you base the decision on whether to go Cetol or varnish based on how much wood you have and how much help you have. Within 5-7 days, you can recoat without sanding between. That's pretty convenient.