Varnishing - "Sanding Sealer"???

[Joli]

If you have lots of trim.........this is an invaluable tool. A truly fantastic way of dealing with trim.

Multimaster

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Joli

If you have lots of trim.........this is an invaluable tool. A truly fantastic way of dealing with trim.

Multimaster

I thought about one of those but bought a cordless Bosch Hand sander like this, as being only an occassional user it is hard to justify (and store!) everything

Freemans Bosch Cordless Orbital Sander PR10

The "pointy bit" works well onboard and no cable to strangle meself with

But as I was looking again at my hand sanding efforts (Bosch is on the boat!) this morning.....I decided not good enough ....so bought another Sander - a Makita 1/4 size, I ummed and arred about if this was too small - but will give it a go (probably the next one will be 1/3rd - I seem to be working me way up!).

The only piece that I am very happy with was an experiment - at the start of the thread I mentioned about putting Sanding Sealer on BEFORE the wood stain.......and despite the good advice here (and what it says on the bottle!) I decided to give it a go anyway - but only on the reverse of a nice bit of small mahogany. I tried some photos, but is hard to see the difference - but it really seems to have added what I can only term as a rosy rich depth to the colour - looks good enough to merely give a quick polish to , whereas the good (??!) side looks dull and flat (like freshly cut moist Fruit Cake vs a month old slice of wedding cake ) - will give both a couple of coats of varnish to see what happens next........probably an accident or varnish falls off!

Maybe it stops the woodstain sinking in too far and is therefore the equivalent of 1/2 a dozen coats?? I dunno (or care!) looks grrrrreat, but early days yet - more experimenting to be done - fortunately I am messing around with trim from the Forepeak which houses the head and the storeroom - so a workmanlike finish can cover a number of failed experiments.....


....but be good to have my approach sorted before I tackle the Saloon........been reading about using shards of glass as a scraper on old varnish (and water staining) on veneer that does not dig in (yeah, I can see how that will go on my fingers as well!)....I will mull that one over a bit more.

BTW useful to read about the Epoxy approach, will be tackling some external varnish work later - and am keen to try out "a longer lasting approach".....my past interior work has always survived with the odd clean and polish - so I am not bothered about Epoxy at the moment.

[imagine2frolic]

These are examples of how the wood looks with no stain...

[Southern Star]

I haven't use UV-stabilized epoxy resin before, but did once make the mistake of using normal West Epoxy resin/hardener to 'seal' some exterior teak prior to varnishing with marine varnish (with UV screening). Yes, it looked terrific initially. Unfortunately, it was difficult to discern places where the varnish chipped or abraded off, and the resin itself rapidly clouded when left exposed to the sun.

Brad

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

These are examples of how the wood looks with no stain...

Mr Teddy Bear looks a bit sad

I will confess that I like my varnish work darker - but used in moderation to prevent it being overpowering or gloomy down below (and for ease of maintanence ).

I've not got anything to show for it yet , but am nonetheless enjoying myself immensely

[David_Old_Jersey]

This is what the forepeak looked like - these bits of wood are part of what I am working on at the moment. (the rear of the strut in the middle turned out great - so far!)




If the forepeak ends up looking something like this I will be a happy man:-



My aim on the saloon will be something like this:-



A hostage to fortune showing this!

But no before shot (at the moment) due to embarrassement

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I have never heard of "Sanding Sealer" and secondly as you can see from the link to a product Rustins Shellac Sanding Sealer the advice seems to be the other way around

Anyone got any opinions?..........before I try each way

I've always used a sanding sealer on sappy (not oily) wood like pine. In my experience, this is the only place it's required, although some folks use it on open grain wood like oak.. The object of the sealer coat is prep work so you end up with a uniform absorption of the stain. The finished project will look professional. For teak and mahogany, it isn't needed. In the case of mahogany, it will level the grain if you put enough coats on. Personally, I like mahogany the way it is.

If you decide to try it, you can easily make your own by thinning shellac 3 or 4 to 1.

As for beaching wood. Yes, it works, but you'll find yourself doing a lot of tinkering to get the effect you're looking for.

[Southern Star]

Thanks for the photos, David. The heads/forepeak arrangement is truly fantastic for an offshore boat and the main saloon provides a couple of proper sea berths at precisely the point where you get the least motion - impressive! I assume there is a galley aft on the port side and some sort of chart table (with a quarter berth?) to starboard. Regardless, a reputation for solid construction and a layout meant for some serious sailing - a very nice boat!

Brad

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

I assume there is a galley aft on the port side and some sort of chart table (with a quarter berth?) to starboard. Regardless, a reputation for solid construction and a layout meant for some serious sailing - a very nice boat!

Brad

Spot on!



Nav Area - head of 1/4 berth under the table (which folds againts the bulkhead) - on mine the cushion under has been removed to give more storage and the rest of the berth into a very useful glory hole.



Me no cooker at the moment Double Origo spirit - which works well enuf (albeit limited use). Note the plate rack. Solid wood and the dividers are adjustable on slots. Their are small details like this all over which I love - shows real thought.

And cheers for the kind words - a lot of thought went into buying her (and also by the original designer and the builders - and in the tradition of all good boat builders of quality vessels..........they went broke long ago ).......which has made me feel even more guilty over not having given her the TLC I had originally intended......but am trying to make amends now

One day all the pictures will be mine

[Southern Star]

David, not kind words but accurate ones. And thanks for the additional photos - the rest of the layout is indeed as well thought out as the main saloon/heads/forepeak. In a relatively small boat, they have provided a deep galley sink virtually on the center line (so it'll drain on either tack) and a brace so that the galley functions as a U-shape. To say nothing of a dedicated nav station by the companionway.

You'll get her together, my friend, and she'll be a much better blue water boat than virtually anything of her size currently in production.

Brad

[David_Old_Jersey]

New Sander......same old idiot



That's one of the Anchor locker lids That's veneered ply that is

Loads of "excuses" - mainly that this piece was very rough and I was trying to sand the ridges down to the black water staining.....and listening to me Ipod. Fortunately the other lid was a lot better already and the other stuff is all solid wood.

No accident that I started in the Forepeak! I don't think that will be too noticeable, do you?.........

(BTW the rest of it looks a bit blotchy - it's drying, looks a lot better now (apart from you know what ).

[Alan Wheeler]

Can't see a thing ;-)
Seeing as you have a thin veneer, I think maybe a slightly different approach maybe needed. I would look at chemical stripping the old varnish and then using a timber brightener /cleaner to get rid of the water stains. You would need to try one and see if how acceptable the results are. But it may give a better result than that big bald patch we can't see. :-)

[Wotname]

With just a little more sanding it should look quite even all over.
But you say the other panel is a lot "better", so perhaps you will need to start with a heavier grit paper until you get looking almost the same

BTW, good luck with project, thanks for posting the photo's, it is great to be able to follow anothers progress from the other side of the world.

[David_Old_Jersey]

It did occur to me to keep on Sanding Great minds think alike

Gonna try a quick fix .......will get some wood colour on a stick on Monday (stuff used for furniture repairs) and then simply colour in the Blob (albeit it is hard to see at the moment - but I'm a perfectionist )......I figure a dark coloured blob will look better than a light coloured blob. But I've been wrong before............

I will post up the results .........I am always quite happy to share my odd (?!) Faux pas.......I like reading about others too


I think the long term solution is a new lid - which is quite doable, even if a struggle for me. I say long term solution - cos' I will probably do it in 10 years time ......and short term their will be a pile of rubbish / essential stores piled on top.........

[Wotname]

Another variation on the quick fix: mix up a thin epoxy and load it up with the sanding dust from the job - slap it on "bald spot" and hey presto - new veneer - almost - you do keep the sanding dust, don't you? - I do, but perhaps I make more faux pas than most - still your short term solution has a lot of merit