Caulk the Recess?

[Tony B]

I made some new floorboards of plywood to replace the old ones. The handles are to be recessed in the floorboards. I routed/drilled/chiseled the recesses for the handles and applied the finished to the floorboards. The recessed areas have varnish on them but just don't look waterproof like the rest of the floorboards. Since things spill onto floors and recesses act like pockets, should some kind of caulking be applied to the recessed areas prior to installing the handles?

[Wotname]

Depends on how picky you want to be. There will be some exposed end grain on the veneers of the plywood where the the recess has been made and these should be better sealed than a coat or two of varnish but really it wouldn't make a big difference if you left it as is.

If for some reason you are expecting a LOT of water / oil / whatever to be collecting in the recess, then yes, seal or caulk it otherwise go sailing instead