On the 1987 C22 I recently acquired, appears that the external teak was varnished, and has since faded. The Admiral wants the original teak look back, not Cetol, etc. I'm thinking I can lightly sand off the remaining varnish and then use teak cleaner, etc. I'm also planning on getting some Sunbrella to cover the stuff to ease the long term maintenance. However, I've heard a couple of rumors that concern me. 1.) Don't sand teak as it will leave grooves (so I assume if I sand lightly I should be okay). 2.) On teak this old, it has likely lost its luster and oiling etc won't bring it back to life. I think this is nuts but thought I'd check with the experts before spending countless hours preparing. Any suggestions or comments.
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Les Murray
Sand Away
Teak should be sanded if you want the original color back. If you strip the surface of any varnish (sanding, scraping, chemicals, etc) and clean with quality teak cleaner you will have a good raw material to work with. From there, you can leave it bare, varnish it, or oil it. If you leave the surface bare, there is no need to cover it. You will want to wash it about once a week or more with salt water to help it retain its natural oils. However, with that said, a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that teak when left unfinished will become a grey/silver color, not golden brown. Second, if it is as old as you intimate, there is probably lots of exposed grain (deep ruts) in the surface and it may take a lot of sanding to make the surface fair. If you want that nice gold color, varnish or oil are the only ways to achieve it. Otherwise, you will have grey teak. With oil, you will be reapplying about every other week. Varnish, depending on how many coats you start with, you will be doing touch-up at least every other month. With bare teak, you may be resanding it probably every other year to keep the surface fair. Good luck, Les Murray s/v Ceilidh '86 C-36 #560
Teak should be sanded if you want the original color back. If you strip the surface of any varnish (sanding, scraping, chemicals, etc) and clean with quality teak cleaner you will have a good raw material to work with. From there, you can leave it bare, varnish it, or oil it. If you leave the surface bare, there is no need to cover it. You will want to wash it about once a week or more with salt water to help it retain its natural oils. However, with that said, a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that teak when left unfinished will become a grey/silver color, not golden brown. Second, if it is as old as you intimate, there is probably lots of exposed grain (deep ruts) in the surface and it may take a lot of sanding to make the surface fair. If you want that nice gold color, varnish or oil are the only ways to achieve it. Otherwise, you will have grey teak. With oil, you will be reapplying about every other week. Varnish, depending on how many coats you start with, you will be doing touch-up at least every other month. With bare teak, you may be resanding it probably every other year to keep the surface fair. Good luck, Les Murray s/v Ceilidh '86 C-36 #560
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Chris Burti
Agree with Les...except
Sand with a block to keep from gouging out the soft ring-wood. Unless the wood has deep checks, it will refinish nicely and will still contain oil below the weathered surface. If The admiral likes oil...go with a good grade of tung oil/teak oil from a woodworker's supply. Tung oil forms a low luster, natural finish and does not harden when pure. It must be thinned with mineral spirits to catalyze into a hard durable finish. Teak oil is (I believe to be) thinned tung oil. It is the only oil that penetrates and forms a hard finish on oily woods like Rosewood, Zebrawood, and Teak. It doesn't need a catalyst added. These finishes are tough, abrasion resistant and waterproof. Most of the junk they sell in marine supply stores is cut with so much thinner (in order to keep the price down0, that you might as well be wiping down with mineral spirits. The good stuff won't be any more expensive than the stuff labled 'Marine'. If you shake up the clear plastic bottles of the junk, they will literally foam up. The good stuff may get a few bubbles, but those will dissipate almost instantly. The link below may not be the best or cheapest source, but they have a store convenient to me and I have been pleased with their service. It will help get you started.
Sand with a block to keep from gouging out the soft ring-wood. Unless the wood has deep checks, it will refinish nicely and will still contain oil below the weathered surface. If The admiral likes oil...go with a good grade of tung oil/teak oil from a woodworker's supply. Tung oil forms a low luster, natural finish and does not harden when pure. It must be thinned with mineral spirits to catalyze into a hard durable finish. Teak oil is (I believe to be) thinned tung oil. It is the only oil that penetrates and forms a hard finish on oily woods like Rosewood, Zebrawood, and Teak. It doesn't need a catalyst added. These finishes are tough, abrasion resistant and waterproof. Most of the junk they sell in marine supply stores is cut with so much thinner (in order to keep the price down0, that you might as well be wiping down with mineral spirits. The good stuff won't be any more expensive than the stuff labled 'Marine'. If you shake up the clear plastic bottles of the junk, they will literally foam up. The good stuff may get a few bubbles, but those will dissipate almost instantly. The link below may not be the best or cheapest source, but they have a store convenient to me and I have been pleased with their service. It will help get you started.
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tom b
when i redid my handrails
on my C22, it was gray and was quite weather worn. I sanded and sanded until it was all smooth again. That meant that I had to sand some pieces so much that it got smaller. I know.. when u sand anything it will get smaller..NO I mean smaller...but not so much that it didn't fit back where it belonged. But, it did look great. I really didnt think it would come back the way it did. when sanding, you just need to get a nice fine grit. I started with like 100 grit, and then to 220, then finished up with some 400. You might be able to start with 220, but again, mine was really bad. So far it's been a year with the varnish I used. Being left out in the sun without any cover over the boat has taken some toll on the varnish. But not that bad. The only words of caution I would give with varnish is... Make sure you get all the dust off the wood prior to finishing. I thought I did. But the more finish I applied, the more specks of dust kept coming up.I finally figured out that it was from dust on the pieces I was doing, dipping the brush in the varnish then painting on the wood. Eventually I was gettin dust from the can of varnish from dipping the brush in it. My final two coats were from a spray can. My fault, I didnt prep the wood good enough before applying the varnish. The spray on varnish did however look just as good, and by then I already had like three coats of the varnish out of the can on it. Oh yeah, you will difinitely need more that one coat of varnish if you decide to go with it. Me, I like the way any wood looks after varnishing. Unless I'm going to stain something first, but hey thats another discussion board...haha Have fun and dont forget to wipe it off after sanding.... geesh that dust gets everywhere...
on my C22, it was gray and was quite weather worn. I sanded and sanded until it was all smooth again. That meant that I had to sand some pieces so much that it got smaller. I know.. when u sand anything it will get smaller..NO I mean smaller...but not so much that it didn't fit back where it belonged. But, it did look great. I really didnt think it would come back the way it did. when sanding, you just need to get a nice fine grit. I started with like 100 grit, and then to 220, then finished up with some 400. You might be able to start with 220, but again, mine was really bad. So far it's been a year with the varnish I used. Being left out in the sun without any cover over the boat has taken some toll on the varnish. But not that bad. The only words of caution I would give with varnish is... Make sure you get all the dust off the wood prior to finishing. I thought I did. But the more finish I applied, the more specks of dust kept coming up.I finally figured out that it was from dust on the pieces I was doing, dipping the brush in the varnish then painting on the wood. Eventually I was gettin dust from the can of varnish from dipping the brush in it. My final two coats were from a spray can. My fault, I didnt prep the wood good enough before applying the varnish. The spray on varnish did however look just as good, and by then I already had like three coats of the varnish out of the can on it. Oh yeah, you will difinitely need more that one coat of varnish if you decide to go with it. Me, I like the way any wood looks after varnishing. Unless I'm going to stain something first, but hey thats another discussion board...haha Have fun and dont forget to wipe it off after sanding.... geesh that dust gets everywhere...
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Jeff
Tack Rag
You should remove the teak and work on it inside if possible. You can use a tack rag to remove most of the dust before application. I have even used a rag dipped into a can of older varnish then rubbed across the wood to remove the dust. The tack rag is better less mess and cheap at a hardware store. Jeff
You should remove the teak and work on it inside if possible. You can use a tack rag to remove most of the dust before application. I have even used a rag dipped into a can of older varnish then rubbed across the wood to remove the dust. The tack rag is better less mess and cheap at a hardware store. Jeff
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Art
Teak
First, use a series of sandpapers as suggested earlier. Then purcahse a can of compressed air (like the ones they use to clean off computer keyboards) and go over the area. I found this works great. I then follow up and wipe it off the teak with Acetone, applied with a clean rag. To apply varnish, I found a foam brush works fine and you can buy them cheap so they can be changed frequently. Lastly, choose the right varnish for your area. Ask your marine supply store or a local boat detail company on what they have found works best in your particluar climate.
First, use a series of sandpapers as suggested earlier. Then purcahse a can of compressed air (like the ones they use to clean off computer keyboards) and go over the area. I found this works great. I then follow up and wipe it off the teak with Acetone, applied with a clean rag. To apply varnish, I found a foam brush works fine and you can buy them cheap so they can be changed frequently. Lastly, choose the right varnish for your area. Ask your marine supply store or a local boat detail company on what they have found works best in your particluar climate.
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Chris Burti
Old wood butcher's trick!
Make a tack rag by dipping a piece of cheese cloth in a combination of 1/2 linseed oil and 1/2 varnish then wringing dry(gloves help). I store mine in an old baby food jar. It isn't messy after it has been wrung out and will literally last for years.
Make a tack rag by dipping a piece of cheese cloth in a combination of 1/2 linseed oil and 1/2 varnish then wringing dry(gloves help). I store mine in an old baby food jar. It isn't messy after it has been wrung out and will literally last for years.
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