Dried wood on wheel

[Bigjim]

I bought this boat a year ago and I'm working on getting it back in shape. Unfortunately, the boat sat on the hard for a long time and was mostly forsaken.

One task is to sand down the wheel and revarnish it. It is a traditional wooden wheel, with a metal core. The old coating is partially worn away and badly UV damaged. The wood has dried and shrunk a bit. There are visible seams where the wood has shrunk.



I'm afraid if I simply sand and varnish those seams will not close. Any suggestions on what to do? Will varnish be enough?

I had a wooden flute once that dried out and shrunk a bit. It was left out and got wet in the rain and actually swelled back up to it's original dimensions. Other than dunking the wheel in the pool for a day or two, is there a better way to restore the dimensions of the wheel's wooden parts?

[Orion Jim]

Any markings on the hub? Possibly an Edson product. If so contact them as they may be helpful as to the finish. The sooner you remove it from the pedestal the better. Perhaps an indoor environment, out of the sun, will help it to stabilize it while you research your refinishing options.

[Simi 60]

Couple of coats of clear epoxy
Protects and strengthen the timber and fill the cracks.
Then a couple of coats of varnish to protect the epoxy.

End result will look like its had many multiple coats of varnish

[coopec43]

It would be great to see it back to its' former glory. Maybe something here?

https://www.google.com.au/search?biw...60.zHQt0aFJUkk


https://www.westsystem.com/wp-conten...and-Repair.pdf

[coastalexplorer]

Consider what has happened... As the finish on the steering wheel failed to protect from the ingress of moisture, The wood swelled and strained the joints. Thus when the wood dried the wood shrunk and this is how the gaps appeared.


To make the comment about soaking it in water is almost a joke. Obviously that has potential to close the joints. but sealing water into it is totally impractical.



A professional restorer would completely take it apart and after stabilizing the wood in a controlled environment, replace any parts as required in matched wood species, then reassemble it all correctly. To do this could also involve building an assembly jig.


The City of Richmond in British Columbia has a display of a wooden ships wheel building companies equipment. On display in the net loft at their Britannia heritage ship yard site on the Steveston waterfront. usually only open during the annual wooden boat festival.



https://www.richmond-news.com/news/w...tival-1.495178


BTW, Might be faster and cheaper to just replace yours with an undamaged one?

[Cheechako]

I would epoxy fill the cracks before finishing.

[Rough Magic]

propylene glycol (used in food and cosmetics) is what some furniture makers use to stabilize wood. After application, epoxy and varnish will adhere to the dried wood. I've seen it close major splits, but it all depends on how far gone the wood is, and the species. Works better in soft woods than hard.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you decide to try it, put the wheel in a plastic bag and let it soak a couple of days. Then let it dry inside for a week or so, until it doesn't feel damp. You'll need to remove all the previous finish first, and hit it with fine (320) sandpaper after. Good luck

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Couple of coats of clear epoxy
Protects and strengthen the timber and fill the cracks.
Then a couple of coats of varnish to protect the epoxy.

End result will look like its had many multiple coats of varnish

Hard to see from the picture... I would not wet it. As mentioned above, light sanding, fill the crack with clear epoxy and multiple coats of Spar varnish with light sanding between coats. Surprise yourself... not hard to do. You will do so good that wood will not scare you anymore...

[Ken Z]

Good chance you will not pull it back to original. Epoxy , maybe a cabisel mixture for the cracks or separation, can use sawduest, a couple of coats, then quality varnish 3-5 coats. I would keep it in the envioment that it will be used in. as long as the wheel is strong.

[hellosailor]

Epoxy loaded with sawdust that is a similar color to the wheel, to fill the cracks. You are basically making your own color matched "sanding sealer" to fill in the cracks. Then of course, sand it all and varnish the entire wheel.

Some coarse sanding of the rest of the wheel, before you start, will give you sawdust of a matching color, if you can't find a scrap block of anything else.

[RaymondR]

The wood has dried out and shrunk. Put a pan of water under it and a large garbage bag over the lot and give it a couple of weeks in a high humidity atmosphere and see if it closes up the cracks and if so give it a couple of coats of good epoxy sealer and a polyurethane varnish.

[Mike Banks]

Saturate it with a very slow cure water-based two-part mix epoxy resin. Give it as much as it will soak in--and keep adding it and when it will not take any more and has cured hard, sand it down and dress it with a little Scandinavian oil or if you dislike traces of oil on hands, varnish it with clear two-pack polyurethane clear finish.


Wooden helms are heavy. I usually replace them with stainless steel ones.

[conchaway]

Whip line all the way around the wheel. It will give you a better grip and protect the wheel-- oops, I forgot that today's sailors don't know what that means-- my bad.

[Bigjim]

Here are some close-up pictures of the wheel. The cracks are about the thickness of your fingernail.







To remove the remaining varnish, does anyone prefer chemical removers over sanding?

[Bigjim]

I've watched some videos where the owner used a heat gun and a scraper.