What have I started

[jimbunyard]

Sanding will be the easy part if you get a good dual action sander with dust extraction and use the right sequence of paper grits.


That looks like teak, which is a very oily wood. You may have problems getting epoxy to stick or flow out well; in my experience epoxy on bare freshly-sanded teak beads up like water on a freshly waxed car.


If it were me I'd go with a good varnish or one of the new 'super' coatings (with which I have little experience (on boats), as I like the ease and simplicity (and even the smell) of plain old varnish...

[Bill O]

I have used acetone in a similar fashion (up to 5%) to enhance penetration. The trade off is a reduction of strength (~ 35%) when you do this. Heating the wood first would aid penetration w/o using solvents and maintain the characteristics of the epoxy.

For any who would like to read about thinning epoxy here is a link to a good article that discusses what happens when one thins epoxy.

And will have to say Mark, you are a crazy man, but you are thoroughly going through your boat to bring it back!


Bill O.

[delmarrey]

Here's a link with some good info...
https://www.endeavourowners.com/dscs...or/floor2.html

Date: November 16, 1999
From: Bob McManis BMCMANIS@email.msn.com

Rex,
I have an '84 Endeavour 33 and have redone her Teak & Holly Sole as well as some of the teak interior. My Endeavour information indicated that the interior teak was originally finished with Interlux 60 (Interior Rubbed Effect Varnish) which I found to be available at West Marine. I just sanded the worn areas and recoated with Interlux 60 and found it matched perfectly. As for the sole, I removed the 3 panels and took them home to refinish about 5 years ago. I used a palm sander to remove most of the existing covering and recoated with an exterior Polyeurethane. You can either go high gloss or satin. I used high gloss and was pleased with the results. I will need to redo my sole in the next couple of years but keeping a couple of throw rugs on deck and cleaning frequently has prevented undue wear. I hope this helps.

[psk125]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

Make sure they're bone dry before you start epoxying them

Absolutely!!!
Brought my floorboards home & epoxied them, only to have them haze up because of water vapor outgassing. Getting the epoxy off is about 5X more work than removing varnish. Clean them up, sand, and get them dry. If they've had years to absorb moisture without being removed before, they'll be plenty damp.

[Markhunter1097]

Progress report
All sanded and old varnish removed
Two coats of old epoxy on the underside, it had gone hard in the container but after a minute in the microwave it came back to life just like the epoxy salesmen said it would.
Then started on the tops with new epoxy, and yep as
Highlighted above the stuff was a bugger to get to flow properly. A few re wipes after it was tacky and all good. Third coat on today and looking great. Hooked my sander up to the vacuum cleaner to get dust free, worked well. Top coats start tomorrow

[delmarrey]

You do know epoxy yellows after awhile, unless your useing the West Systems with the 207 clear hardener. Or, other brands that advertise clear coats.

[Markhunter1097]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

You do know epoxy yellows after awhile, unless your useing the West Systems with the 207 clear hardener. Or, other brands that advertise clear coats.

I did the after cabin a few years back, it was a success, and has given me the confidence that the main cabin will be ok too
The epoxy I’m using is a water based one called bote cote, and then will finish it with aquacote, another water based product, if you believe the blurb, they are safer for you health when applying

[Markhunter1097]

[Markhunter1097]

Here is the aft cabin that I did in 2014, it still looks great today

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Markhunter1097

Here is the aft cabin that I did in 2014, it still looks great today Attachment 184219

Looks great!

[rsn48]

Maybe a good time to repaint the bilge.

[Markhunter1097]

Job now finished, total 3 coats epoxy and 4 coats aquacote. The only tricky thing was they grew a bit wider so I had to shave the epoxy runs off the edges.

[Markhunter1097]

Bilge got a nice clean, and sone old smelly hoses changed as well.

[sepharad]

Hard work! They are really going to look great when you are done. Nice job.

[nwh10]

That is absolutely stunning! And to think that only two weeks ago, you were thinking you were in over your head.