More Varnish Questions

[jimp1234]

I'm a first time varnisher and I had a few questions.

A question about maintenance coats. Presumably you'd want to stay with the same brand of varnish for maintenance coats as was originally applied. The PO of my boat said he used Pettit Captains 1015 so I was planning on sticking with that for the maintenance coats. However I did talk to Epifanes tech support and they said it's ok to use their product for the last 1 or 2 coats.

Also if you take things down to bare wood do you need to start with a sealer coat? Pettit, in their guide recommends it.

Painters tape. Frog tape or 3M 233+ auto masking tape or ??

Finally should you stick with the companies brand of thinner? I read another thread on this topic, and while there were arguments on both sides, it seems there were a few more votes for sticking with the companies thinner.

Thanks

[NorthernMac]

Depends on what you’re working with.

Took my teak down to bare wood
I went with sikkens natural teak and gloss, my teak was grey and weathered, I hit it with 80 all the way up to 200 (small dewalt palm sander) 3 coats natural with no sanding between, 24hr between coats, 2 coats (as I recall) gloss clear with a very light sanding. I’m happy with the results.

Mx is just hitting it with a 3m pad by hand once a year or so and a top coat of gloss.





Frog tape all day long, have a friend with family who worked in the “film” industry, frog tape is the best tape, used it with varnish, ablative, etc


Natural teak
https://www.amazon.com/Interlux-IVA3...dp/B0017KQKX8/

Gloss top coat
https://www.amazon.com/Interlux-IVA3...dp/B0032G17CY/

[Fishbust]

I wouldn’t mix and match different finishes.

I never used a seal coat. Before my first coat on teak I wipe it down with acetone. Your first coat will saturate deeper and it will brighten the grain.

[keepondancin]

If your finish is in good condition, you can top coat it with the same type of finish, Epifanes would go over Captains or Schooner. You should use a sealer coat on raw wood, but it usually is the varnish you will be using, thinned to their recommendation. I am doing my boat now, took it down to wood, bleached and starting over. Third time in twenty years. I am using Epifanes Rapid clear for the first couple of coats, can be recoated without sanding in about 4 hours. Then a couple of coats of Epifanes Wood gloss, that can be recoated after 24 hours, but before 72 ours, without sanding. I will finish up with 2-3 coats of Epifanes Varnish, sanded between coat. I started using 3M red scotchbrite pads if I exceed the recoat timing, rather than sand paper, so you don't reduce film thickness like sandpaper does. The last coats I will use 220 to level the finish. I don't go crazy with wet sanding, too much mess for me. I have had good success with Epifanes over the years, held up well the 20 years I was in the Caribbean, with maintenance.

[sailah]

I've been varnishing for years. This year, on my teak bowsprit, I took it back to bare wood. I used Interlux Interprime sealer for first 3 coats and then topcoated with Interlux Schooner 96.

The sealer is awesome. It builds quicker than varnish, levels better, dries quicker and harder so you can sand faster. I see no downsides. I could easily dry sand the next day with Interprime. With varnish, sometimes it wouldn't really be dry and then I had to wetsand to keep the progress moving and the subsequent cleanup of wet sand slurry everywhere. The only thing I found funny was usually I use cheap plastic cups that I strain my finish into so I can dispose of them. With the Interprime, it would melt through the cup, varnish would not do that. Took my a couple sessions to wonder why my cup was leaking so if you use it, make sure you use a real paint cup not a grocery store plastic cup.

Previously I would use sinker coats of thinned varnish but it took longer to dry and just extended the project out. From now on, on bare wood, I'm only using Interlux Interprime and then top coats.

I do use the INterlux 333 brushing thinner but only because it's convenient to order it when I place a large order with Jamestown. I only use it to thin the varnish. When I wipe down I use regular mineral spirits.