Brightwork Question from a Dim Wit

[Gary Wyngarden]

In the spring of 2004 I took delivery of a new hard shell sailing dinghy from Gig Harbor Boat Works. She's a lovely boat and rows like a dream and sails very nicely. For purely cosmetic purposes I paid a lot extra for a wood sheer which really dresses up the boat.However, after two years of extensive use, the wood needs a lot of work and the dinghy is in my garage to start the work now. The manufacturer says they used a West system epoxy on the wood and then finished it with Detco Crystal Gloss number 1. He also says the fasteners were set into the wet varnish to seal them. The finish is worn down to the bare wood in many areas and there is water intrusion around almost all of the fasteners. My intention is to heat gun, scrape and sand down to the bare wood and use the same Interlux sealer and Schooner Varnish I've used on Wanderlust's exterior wood which has worked well for us. I may need to use oxalic acid to get rid of the water intrusion marks. I also plan to rebed the fasteners to prevent more water intrusion. However Gig Harbor strongly recommends against silicone due to possible "fish eye" problems. I'm not sure they could be any worse than what I'm facing.Any advice on process and product selection, particularly on bedding compound, will be appreciated. Thanks for your help.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[mike c]

heat gun??

I don't think a heat gun will work on the wood if it has been covered with Epoxy. Were just the seams epoxied or was the entire wood hull?? if all the wood was covered in epoxy then I would think that sanding is the only way to get down to the wood. (epoxy is hard stuff)No to silicone.....try either lifecaulk (a polysulfide) or 3m's 4200 (not 5200)

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Whoa, Gary,,,

That picture is ART. What's the story? Did you take it or is it off of a pamphlet or something?As far as your finish question, don't know.

 

[Gary Wyngarden]

Fred

Thanks. I took the picture in the Broken Group in Barkley Sound in August, 2004. She's a pretty girl so I have to restore her to her orignal pristine condition!Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Heat vs Epoxy

A heat gun works to remove varnish, it also works to remove epoxy.I'd try the heat gun to see if I could just get the varnish off the wood without melting the epoxy.I assume the fasteners on the sheer were counter-sunk and plugged. After removing the plugs and re-bedding the fasteners with 4200 or West Epoxy, install new plugs with a good waterproof wood glue.Carefully sand the bare wood, the bare wood will sand much easier than the epoxy coated wood. Coat the entire sheer with 2-3 coats of West Epoxy using #207 special coating hardener. Don't sand between coats. After the final coat is hard (4-7 days), sand the epoxy and varnish.

 

[Doghouse]

Silicone kills finishes

Because of the nature of silicone, nothing will stick to it! Even if you spray silicone lube on something on the other side of the garage, some of the particles will drift over and mess up a finish. (don't ask!)Nothing sticks to silicone, so as you build your finish, bubbles will appear as the silicone repells the finish. Sometimes you can get shellac to cover it, but not always. You have received good information on applying the finish so follow those, and avoid the silicone at all costs. Remember to rub out the varnish between coats. Don't just "Scratch" the old surface up a little, make sure you sand down any dust nubs or hairs. Then wipe the whole thing down before your next coat.

 

[Rick D]

Dolfinite

...is a wood caulk of the old school. I used to use it a lot and paint/varnish adhered to it. It comes in a can rather than a tube. As an alternative and as suggested, I would use paintable LifeCaulk. RD

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Doghouse, one idea for automotive finishes is

to add 'squirts' to your paint before spraying. We used to use it in the sixties and '70s. Sure took care of fish-eyes. I would assume the stuff is still out there. A car-paint store should know. Fish-eyes ain't cool on the hotrod.

 

[Rich]

Citrus strip and save the screws for last

I hate doing mechanical things like sanding or scraping with heat guns because they hurt the underlying piece--why not strip the old finish with a gentle stripper like Citrus Strip? And the idea of varnishing over the screw heads seems totally old-school in this age of stainless steel everything--why not leave the fasteners off until the finishing is done, then give them a dab of silicone as they go back in? That would be the best of all worlds...

 

[Dan H]

Dolphinite?

If I remember correctly, in Rebecca Whitman's book on bright work she says to set the screw plugs in varnish. Glue and epoxy will prevent you from removing them in the future without damage. Don't care about damage to the plug, but the wood around the plug gets chipped. Also, when I strip wood using a heat gun, I make scrapers out of wood. I usually make them out of oak or beach. They get dull fast but they tend not to gouge the surface. I would also like to ask what Dolphinite is like? I removed all of the teak from my boat and refinished it. I do not want to install it with polysulfide. It had originally been installed with polysulfide and it was miserable to get off. I ended up breaking it to get it off and I have now re-made a bunch of it. I had planned on using plumbers putty but Dolphinite has cought my attention. I really want easy removal in the future. Any coments?

 

[Rick D]

Dolphinite

Dolphinite is manufactured by Woolsey and you can (sometimes) find it at West Marine. It is a traditional bedding compound that stays flexible and is NOT an adhesive. It contains products that retards rot. (or once did.) This used to be standard stuff in wooden boat building, at least the higher-end stuff. WM sells it in a quart can for about $20 USD.Rick D.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Varnishing plugs

I agree that varnishing the plugs in is the "proper" way to do it. Making them easy to remove implies that you are going to be re-doing the brightwork.I hate varnishing, but I love brightwork. Prep the wood once, seal it with 3 coats of epoxy, then varnish ... better yet clear polyurethane to provide UV protection for the epoxy.One of the things that kills varnish is the wood changing dimension and moisture content. Varnish dries hard and brittle, the wood will try to remove it over time. Epoxy seals the wood and makes it more stable, epoxy remains flexible (compared to varnish) so it doesn't tend to crack. Varnish over epoxy is the best of both worlds. The epoxy protects both the wood and the varnish.Dolphinite is used to bed planks and deck hardware on real boats (wood). It has the consistency of peanut butter and never dries out. This allows the wood to move without breaking the seal. It is GREAT stuff. The outside skims over and can be sanded and painted, but the remainder stays gooey. You can take a stanchion bedded in Dolphinite off the deck three years later without cracking the gelcoat. As Rick says, it's not an adhesive, you can't glue ports into the cabin with it. But if your teak or hardware has positive fasteners and might someday have to come off, it's just the ticket.