Refinishing tiller- questions

Nov 12, 2015
87
Catalina 22 Lake LBJ
I'm sanding down the tiller as the previous finish had some cracks/peeling going on. Where the finish had come off there are black stains in the wood. I'm afraid sanding to eliminate these would take the wood down too far, and was wondering if one could bleach the wood somehow? Also, for gouges in the wood, is it best to sand them smooth; I don't see how one could match the color/grain with fillers. Pics show the black spots, as well as try to show a long gouge in the handle. PB050345.JPG PB050346.JPG PB030340.JPG
 
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Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
Looks like a glued up lamination. How handy are you with glue, clamps and a hand plane? I'm always amazed at how easy it is to glue up a square blank and hand plane it to a round one. The biggest challenge is getting all the grain going the same direction so you don't get "hogging in"
 
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Aug 2, 2009
637
Catalina 315 Muskegon
I'd fill in the cracks and gouges, prime it, and paint it white. Yeah, it's nice to see the wood, but in order to see it, we have to use the least durable finish.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
You might try a wood bleach for the black spots. Or leave them be. It adds character. If you want perfection, start over with new wood.
 
Sep 15, 2016
790
Catalina 22 Minnesota
You have a few options here. 1. Finish sanding the entire tiller and stripping or removing all old varnish. When everything is removed the black spots will be gone but this takes a lot of sanding. 2. Try a teak cleaner on the spots. They will lighten some as they are caused by dirt and debris getting under the old finish. Then varnish to the level you want. 3. Do nothing rough it up and varnish. The spots will be blacker but as troyer says they will add character. As for repairing the gouges you should remove the old finish and fill these areas. The filler will never look like teak exactly but if you sand it smooth the filler will be less noticeable. At the end of the day it is up to you how perfect you want it to look. If you want flawless then you will need a lot of sanding or possibly a new tiller. If you want nice looking useable wood work with what you got. After all eventually the new finish will be scratched by a ring on someone's finger, or something else.
 
Nov 12, 2015
87
Catalina 22 Lake LBJ
Thanks for the ideas, I'm not looking for perfection, just making it nicer than it was. I don't plan on spending a lot of time maintaining it, other than covering if from the sun.
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
@gkmoore: that is not a very bad looking tiller-- I would hit it with an orbital and say 120 Grit to start... smooth it out after with 220. You have yet to begin in your pics to pull the finish off-- which you'll need to do before refinishing with whatever method you enjoy. You may even get a good portion of the black (mold/mildew stains) off with the first sanding. Cleaners as mentioned above by others will certainly get rid of the coloration-- I actually like a bit of character and leave whatever is left by sanding alone (personal preference). here's a look at what mine has come to look like -- It is missing it's final coat of varnish, but you can get a sense of what sanding alone will leave you with:

IMG_1951.JPG


Below is rough sanded and I'm applying unthickened epoxy resin to fix delamination and gap fill between the laminate:

20160428_040604501_iOS.jpg


And this is early coats of penetrating epoxy (CPES), and before the varnish: plenty of character left in the areas around the mechanical attachment points.

20160428_054330967_iOS.jpg
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
found a more descriptive example: look at the right piece of teak-- exposed as I found it pulled off the boat. Left piece is its sister from the port side after sanding-- lots of dark streaks in the grain. Clean it and you'll lose the contrast-- again personal preference at work here. I like the contrast. and second photo is the same piece with CPES and has yet to be varnished. If you go the clean route you'll get a much more even and lighter tone throughout. Hopefully this gives you a sense of "what if..."

20160428_042735113_iOS.jpg


same two pieces in the left of this pic after CPES:


20160524_061125011_iOS.jpg
 
Nov 12, 2015
87
Catalina 22 Lake LBJ
Thanks pclarksurf. I plan to leave some of the 'character' in after looking at your pics. Tell me about using the CPES, is this the regular epoxy that I use for fiberglass/etc repairs? I assume this will protect the wood from further water damage. And after applying this, you will apply varnish or polyurethane??
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
CPES - known to me as Smiths but still made by them and now available in distribution channels:

http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/

Smiths is designed very specifically to soak into the wood fibers and would not be used in any bonding or laminating with fiberglass. What it is absolutely magical about is sealing wood permanently. Once sanded I use three coats of smiths - followed by three coats of epifanes varnish. In between coats of smiths I burnish with scotchbrite - just enough to scuff up the surface for the next coat. In between coats of epifanes a very light sanding or even scotchbrite again will lay down a very nice even coat of UV protection.

Don't skimp on the varnish-- remember that all epoxy based products lack any UV inhibitors and will get torched by the sun. If you keep up on it annually you can rescuff and toss on another layer of varnish and you'll have a perpetually new look for a long time and never have to strip and refinish.