Tiller refinishing

Jun 11, 2015
14
S2 9.2A Muskegon
My wife and i just recently purchased our first boat. The tiller on the boat is very badly in ned of some attention, after some sanding what should i use to refinish it? I was thinking of using varnish. Any suggestions.
 

BobM

.
Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Spar varnish will work fine, but you should build ups number of coats with light sanding in between. 4-6 should be good then it will last a good few years, especially as you should invest in a tiller cover. I think I got mine off eBay for $20.
 
Jan 11, 2012
44
Ontario Yachts 38 4 Trent Port
Epiphanes

1. Sand to bare bright wood.
2. Blow off with compressed air or vacuum.
3. Wipe with acetone - 2 rag method.
4. Dilute Epiphanes Gloss 50% and apply. Let dry only until not tacky.
5. Dilute Epiphanes Gloss 10% and apply. Let dry only until not tacky.
6. Recoat 5 more times with Epiphanes full strength. Let dry for several days.
7. Sand with 220 grit sandpaper.
8. Blow off dust, and wipe with acetone (2-rag method).
9. In a totally dust free environment, apply one final coat of Epiphanes full strength.

Ramblin' Rod
 

sunman

.
Jul 29, 2009
112
Mac Mac 26D Suwannee
polyurethane, for exterior wood< decks, paito etc.
I did my tiller in gloss looks like its still wet and harder then nails
over 5 yrs ago. I wont waste the time appling triditional varnish anymore to my wood, theres soo much advancement in the industry on ext.wood, and it dont cost that much, try it u'll be a believer,
My Marina has high $$$ homes and condos next around it, they dont load up and head to the house after a day sail, their anchored their, I just dont see'em using Boat products on thier $30,000 decks, because their in a weather salty inviorment
do what U want, Im all about on the cheap$ and high on qual.
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
I was doing some epoxy work 15 years ago. I decided to dip the fore-end of my B235 tiller into the epoxy, maybe 3 inches, just to see how it would work out sealing the end grain. When I sold the boat 5 years later, it was still there- and bright. I assume epoxy of some sort would do the whole tiller nicely?
 
Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
Blackburn designs here in the atlanta area used to make custom kayak paddles and he had a tube filled with thinned west system epoxy that he would dip them in about 4 times before putting on the final finish and they seemed to hold up very well on the rivers and streams up in the tennessee mountains
 
Dec 11, 2008
1,338
catalina C27 stillwater
Epoxy is great for sealing grain, but it should not be used as a top coat as it has no UV stabilizers and will eventually cloud up and/or come apart. Many wood boat show queens have a first layer of epoxy, block sanded to smooth and flat, with a few layers of real varnish op top. The epoxy fills the wood grain and provides that super-flat initial film, then the varnish provides the UV protection and silky-smooth top coat.

I was glad to see ramblinrod's recommendation of an acetone treatment after sanding, but I want to elaborate. At the point in your finish prep where you are ready to do an acetone wipe-down you need to understand you are removing two things with the acetone and rag(s). An obvious thing being removed is the sanding dust. The other is oil.

What people often don't consider is that many boat building woods are naturally oily and trying to apply varnish to oily wood is like trying to varnish a teflon pan... It will peel right off. When putting any finish on wooden boat parts, you want to remove the oils from not only the surface of the wood, but down in the wood too. Displacing the oils with the acetone scrub allows your finish be it epoxy, varnish, cetol, or whatever to dive into the wood rather than just lying on it.

SO...

My recommendation at acetone wipe-down stage is to have a bunch of white rags handy and ready to go. Start with a clean acetone-soaked rag and clean off your part. Throw that rag aside and get another clean one. Soak it and scrub. Do this repeatedly until whichever rag you are working with stays white with no discoloration. Do this in a well-ventilated area please... :D

Wiping to "clean-rag" stage ensures that you have removed surface oils as well as scrubbed away oils even to some depth in the wood. Then, when it is time to apply that first thinned coat as ramblinrod suggests, the finish will go into the wood. This will give your total finish build a much better mechanical grip to your work piece and will give you a much longer service life.
 
Dec 11, 2008
1,338
catalina C27 stillwater
I used to recommend an Interlux product called Jet Speed as a base grain filler varnish, specifically because it could be applied in a build schedule that allowed two coats every day. That allowed you to get many more coats on when compared with a relatively slow drying product like Epiphanes. You had to top it with a finish coat of finish varnish that contained UV stabilizers, as the Jet Speed did not have any. I don't think I can recommend that today, as it appears Interlux has discontinued Jet Speed.


Know this too regarding sanding. With most varnishes, even when dry to the touch you still have a pretty high solvent out-gassing; the finish is relatively soft, so much so that an oily hand-print will end up showing up as a cloudy spot for weeks, as the hand-print slows the outgassing where the oils from your hand have contaminated the surface. Ask me how I know... :D

My point in bringing this up is that you DO NOT need to sand between every coat in a varnish build schedule. I prefer to sand every fourth coat. The dried-to-the touch finish still has enough volatile solvents migrating out that you can apply a coat on top and achieve a chemical bond to the "dried" previous coat. This is especially preferred if you have applied any stain to the wood prior to varnish. The extra layers give you a thicker surface to sand; less chance of sanding through and leaving a bright spot of un-stained wood.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
For the Ultimate Finish .......................

The tiller on the boat is very badly in ned of some attention, after some sanding what should i use to refinish it?
......................... if you're interested in investing the time and money,is to finish it with 6 oz. glass cloth and several coats of clear epoxy followed by several coats of varnish for UV protection. You'll never have to finish it again.

The reason I suggest using a single layer of glass cloth around the tiller is because the it can see its share of whacks and ding over time. The epoxy is notorious for being impervious to water so if a small amount of water does manage to get through a perforation, it has nowhere to escape and will lift the surrounding epoxy in time.

Below is a shot of the companionway stairs after several years of small, gritty, sandy feet pounding up and down them day after day in the summer. Still look like wet varnish after several years.
 

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Jun 11, 2015
14
S2 9.2A Muskegon
Ralph,
so are you saying cover the entire tiller in a single layer of 6 oz. fiberglass and several coats of epoxy, wont I be able to see the fiberglass in the finished product? or will the fiberglass blend in with the wood grain. yours steps look very nice.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Ralph,
so are you saying cover the entire tiller in a single layer of 6 oz. fiberglass and several coats of epoxy, wont I be able to see the fiberglass in the finished product? or will the fiberglass blend in with the wood grain. yours steps look very nice.
Stiggy, take a look in here for a little more (but not complete) detail:

http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...id=267&cat_id=26&aid=8031&page=article&mn=310

The interesting thing about epoxy (at least System Three Silver Tip) is that the refractive index of the epoxy and the glass cloth are the same so the glass completely disappears in the epoxy. Not the same as when you can see the glass in polyester resin.

Below are the stern seat slats coated with epoxy only, no cloth as the seats are unlikely to be physically damaged.
 

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