How to restore weathered wood?

[Allred]

Does anyone have a suggested website, or book that would guide me in restoring the badly weathered wood on my V-22? The previous owner lost interest, and let the boat sit exposed to the weather for at least six years. The rudder and tiller look lilke oak, as does the lazerette hatch cover. Then there is the teak railings and companionway slide strips. They are all sun-faded, the varnish long gone, and the wood has dried leaving cracks in the oak. The teak has also weathered to the point of being rough to the touch.
Should I fill the oak cracks with expoxy or wood filler or some other material, before stain & varnish. I've used teak "brigtener" product before, but it seemed to eat away some of the weather weakened wood, leaving the teak pieces I treated very rough. Is there a teak filler?
I just don't understand letting a boat just rot away, completely exposed to the elements. But then, if it had been taken care of, I woudn't have bought it so cheap. I would like to refurbish the weathered wood as opposed to the cost of replacng it. Any pointers or references to good information is certainly appreciated.

Allred
Riverton, Utah
1971 V-22 (I think)

 

[walt]

Im an amature at this stuff.. but if the Oak is at all salvagable (as you know, rudder and tiller robustness are fairly important for safety), I would probably first use a thinned epoxy (I always use West System) so as to soak the wood and let it completly cure. I havent actually tried this (so you should confirm) but I beleive you can thin epoxy with Acetone. I would then fill all the cracks with epoxy thickened with a high desnity filler such as West 404 (high density adhesive filler). Then re-coat all the wood with epoxy. Finally put a few coats of a good marine Varnish with UV protection.

Im not sure the best thing for Teak but it seems to be fairly easy to make it look good again. I would probably just sand it and coat with epoxy and then UV marine varnish - but there are probably better and easier ways to do this. I dont think there is anything wrong with going the epoxy and varnish route?? You will have to re-varnish every year or two..

Everytime I pass through that area and see Utah lake, it sure looks inviting..

Edit.. since its winter, also be sure the temp of the wood is either stable or dropping when you are using the epoxy. If the wood temp is rising (for example, bringing it in from the cold and then working on it), it will outgass leaving bubbles, pinholes, ext.

 

[beamreach]

Walt's ideas with the oak are good ones. I've had success thinning 4 to 1 epoxy with acetone and coating wood rudders with it. I've restored the teak on two boats, one a Cape Dory 25, the other a Pearson 30, seemed like miles or teak before I was through. Clean it first with a rough cleaning pad using an ammonia cleaner. Don't use steel wool. It will leave rust stains all over your fiberglass deck! Bronze wool works well with the cleaner. Comet cleaner works well too. Scrub it hard and you will see the color come back in the teak. Hose it off, let it dry and sand it. I used a palm sander and 150 grit wet and dry paper. It's tougher. Wipe it down good and varnish with a marine grade uv protected varnish. Thin the first coat about 25% to help it soak in good. Apply at least 2 more coats and your done. The boats I mentioned had teak washboards, winch mounts, toerails and hatchboards. The Pearson even had a teak dorade box. I've also tried teakoil. It attracts dirt and doesn't last near as long as the varnish. Remember though, what goes on must come off someday and the cycle begins over. Teak is pretty but you've got to really love it to keep it up. Good luck.

 

[Robspan]

Beamreach,
My experience is that when you varnish teak, the natural oil in it comes to the surface and breaks up the varnish much quicker than other wood.

 

[beamreach]

You are right! That's why it's most important to thin that first coat and dilute that oil. I put 5 coats on my teak and had to sand and put an additional coat on each year until mother nature caught up with my brush and I had to strip and start all over. These boats were sitting in the sun and water in a slip in Florida all the time, not under a cover in a driveway. I've got a skiff I fish in on the flats with a teak rub rail and teak bench seats that sits under a pole shed with a tarp over it and I haven't had to touch the teak with more varnish in ten years. Knock on wood, teak wood that is.