Refinishing Master Stateroom

[Pettigrewr]

The original 55 year old finish is beyond any saving so the SANDING has begun.
I'm in the first stage which is sanding with 60 grit.
Stage 2 - sanding with 120 grit.
Stage 3 - vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.
By the way, solid mahogany!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

That is gonna look spectacular when completed. What finish are you going to use?

 

[Boatsb]

If you can spray look into the xalta wood finish they use on the high end aircraft. It's durable and lays out so pretty. I'm looking at the same with a UV for name boards.

 

[SEVEN]

What a difference taking that old yellow varnish off. It’s going to look fabulous. Send more photos as the job continues. We used Matte finish on ours and it looks beautiful. Try a sample.

 

[Pettigrewr]

Thank you.
I wanted to keep the room as light as possible so I am simply going to apply General Finishes Arm R Seal Gloss Top Coat. it's a wipe on poly. 3 coats is the recommendation with a very light sanding of 600 grit after first and second coat. two to four hours between coats. I choose gloss because I did not want to take a chance of a streaking problem that can occur with satin or semi-gloss which does not occur with gloss. Also, gloss will reflect the light better for a brighter looking room while still allowing the mahogany to exhibit it's beauty. The upper portion of the walls around the portholes was painted with awlgrip by a previous owner and would be impossible to sand off completely so I will either repaint that area white or cover over with matte white Formica or Wilson Art Laminate. If I cover those walls with laminate,that means pulling the portholes out which i'm not crazy about doing right now but that's a decision yet to be made. Flooring will be Viking commercial carpet, color is stoneybrook which is a dark blue. Curtains will match carpet. the original 1965 overhead light fixtures will be re-installed but with LED lamps.

 

[Pettigrewr]

More photos. Drawers.

 

[Pettigrewr]

Sanding finish off drawer fronts, Bed base curve was a PIA, closet wall corner.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I would redo the white areas in white or maybe look for a wall covering you like. As you say, sanding all that AG off will make an already big job really miserable.

 

[Pettigrewr]

If you can spray look into the xalta wood finish they use on the high end aircraft. It's durable and lays out so pretty. I'm looking at the same with a UV for name boards.

I would have considered spraying, however, I don't have a compressor anymore and I already have the Arm R Seal. Spraying is a better finish and will consider it after the results of this project.
I am doing the whole boat, room by room.
Thanks for the suggestion on the spray.
who makes it?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Axalta is the old Dupont finishes company. They own Imron.

I used Imron MS1 clear on my nameboards and other exterior teak several years ago and it has held up well.

 

[Pettigrewr]

Axalta is the old Dupont finishes company. They own Imron.

I used Imron MS1 clear on my nameboards and other exterior teak several years ago and it has held up well.

Sounds like it would be good for my exterior mahogany hand rails and aft deck mahogany doors. Am I right?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Sounds like it would be good for my exterior mahogany hand rails and aft deck mahogany doors. Am I right?

Yes. But I had a hard time finding it. I ended up buying it from a place that said they had only ever sold it to Tiara Yachts.

Now there are more choices. Others have said that Awlwood has performed well and that is much easier to find.

 

[madhatter1]

Renovators Yacht by me had a fantastic brightwork guy when they restored a 41 convertible years ago. Because the wood was so good to begin with it I cannot begin to describe how good it all came out.

Good bones goes beyond the hull and fittings. As shown in the pictures.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Awlwood, which is a moisture-curing urethane, is great stuff. Very durable, not difficult to apply and has held up well for me.

 

[Pettigrewr]

So many good choices for the exterior, not sure what to go with but I have about two months before it's steady warm enough to start outside work.

In the meantime, the interior is getting done.
After four days of sanding, my wrists and shoulders are killing me and only 3/4 done with old finish removal then have to go back over everything with 120 grit.
Now I know why all the previous owners said the hell with it and kept the original finish.
I don't mind the time it takes to get it completed but I'm getting a little too old for this much prolonged pain. After the Master Stateroom, I have the guest stateroom, galley & salon to sand and refinish.

Forward stateroom has vinyl wall covering which will either get painted or recovered. The woodwork is in pretty good condition.

I know one thing for sure, sanding the engine rooms passageway is out! I'm covering the engine rooms passageway with formica like someone else here on the forum did.

 

[SEVEN]

The only sander I saw in one of the photos was a vibrating corner sander. Is that what you’re using for the entire job? If so you might consider a veritable speed orbital and it should go much much faster than what you’ve stated.The other thing that I found is by using only the very best sandpaper the job will also go much much faster. If you use junkie cheap sandpaper it will take you twice as long and the sandpaper seems to wear out much faster.

 

[Pettigrewr]

The only sander I saw in one of the photos was a vibrating corner sander. Is that what you’re using for the entire job? If so you might consider a veritable speed orbital and it should go much much faster than what you’ve stated.The other thing that I found is by using only the very best sandpaper the job will also go much much faster. If you use junkie cheap sandpaper it will take you twice as long and the sandpaper seems to wear out much faster.

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have five sanders available. The one in the photo is the lightest one simply I started using towards the end of the day when my wrists were acting up. I have a belt sander (not used), 1/2 sheet random orbital, 6" round random orbital like you suggested, a 3-D sander with 3 floating sanding heads for curves and the little corner sander I was just demonstrating for the photos. Unfortunately, in the master stateroom the finish isn't just a varnish but a paint/varnish mix and since mahogany, like teak, is an open grain wood, I'm having to sand down quite a bit to get the paint out of the pores. Like you suggested, the variable orbital is the best for the quick removal with the 60 grit. Then 120 grit with a vibrating sander going with the grain will be next. Willis Dupont, the original owner, had the boat built and choose this finish for the master stateroom. A couple of Hatteras 50s had this same master stateroom finish. Honestly, to me it looks like "shabby-chic decor" and I'm not a big fan of that "distressed and worn look". The rest of the boat is simply varnished mahogany, no paint/varnish combo to deal with. I've got probably 3 days sanding and detail sanding to go. Will update as I go.

P.S.,
You are absolutely right about the sand paper!
You pay for what you get and get what you pay for.

 

[jim rosenthal]

One of our members who is doing a huge refit on an old CC, involving a lot of sanding, is using Mirka Abranet. I have tried this stuff and it really DOES work better.

 

[Pettigrewr]

One of our members who is doing a huge refit on an old CC, involving a lot of sanding, is using Mirka Abranet. I have tried this stuff and it really DOES work better.

Thanks for the tip, I never heard of this sanding equipment company.
I just checked it out.
Looks like well built professional sanders with proprietary sanding disks that is like a net or screen that lets ALL the dust travel into the vacuum. I wish I had this before starting the current project although the prices are high. The 6' orbital sander alone without the vacuum is close to $500.
The sanding disks are reasonably priced when buying in quantities like a case of 50.
I going to check out ebay and facebook marketplace for a good used one.

Again, thank you for the info.

 

[Pettigrewr]

More Pictures. At the half way point.