Ready to refinish my repaired tiller

[Kermit]

Teak oil or varnish? I'm the only one I know who doesn't have an opinion of what's best for a tiller. So, I would love to know if y'all prefer teak oil or varnish? I'm sorta leaning toward teak oil but have everything I need for either one.

Thanks!

Kermit

 

[Squidd]

I like varnish, I think it's "smoother" on the hand... a bit more work (repetitive) but a tiller cover helps...

 

[Steve Dion]

Varnish too, but have you considered Epoxy and then Varnish?

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/Uploads/varnish.pdf

If you do this properly you can get several more years out of the tiller.

Be sure to cover the tiller after each use.

 

[inarathree]

I varnished my new tiller. Just make sure that its recommended for outdoors.

 

[kloudie1]

Cetol Marine.. not exactly as nice looking as varnish but lasts lots longer!

 

[Kermit]

Final answer... well maybe

Just finishing up cleaning the tiller after the repair. I have a small can of Minwax satin pecan stain and a can of Ace clear Spar Varnish. Thanks for the suggestions. Since I have the stain and varnish, I plan to use those once the tiller is completely dry. I would consider some of the other suggestions if I weren't so dang anxious to go sailing so soon.

Thanks again for all of your responses. I'll post before and after pictures once I'm done.

 

[Squidd]

Caution on the "stain" before varnish...

The varnish will wear and need to be touched up (recoated) from time to time.. Varnish over varnish looks like varnish...

If the stained wood gets damaged, or wears more than the rest (top of hand grip) you will not be able to "touch it up" and get it to blend or match the rest and will need to sand down and refinish the entire project...

 

[Kermit]

Thanks for the heads up. I hadn't thought about that. Now for the "...well maybe" rethinking. The tiller is still pretty wet from the cleaning. So I have a day or two to keep scratching my head. Kinda amazing, though, how nice a wet-from-just-being-scrubbed tiller looks. Right now it looks completely refinished. But I've fallen for that trick before. I'm pretty sure it'll look unfinished again soon enough.