Varnish-- I Don't Get It.

[Roy M]

Another option: Wood the teak down to get it pristine, sanding it to 220 grit. Apply a very thinned out (50-50) mix of thinner and varnish. Let it harden, then give it a "haircut" with 220 grit to chop off the wood fibers that absorbed varnish and stood up. Then begin building up multiple coats with thinned (10-20%) varnish, sanding between each coat. Do this until you are utterly sick of doing it (maybe 6-10 coats). Now admire it, absorb the compliments, and move to the next phase - ultimate protection. Give it a light sanding to remove all glossy spots, then cover with two coats of high quality single-part polyurethane (Brightside or equivalent) in WHITE or WHATEVER LIGHT REFLECTIVE COLOR your hull is. Go cruising the tropics, then when you return, remove the topcoat of white paint, put one coat of varnish on the original, and voila!

[Gashmore]

Anyone have experience with Honey Teak?

[CSY Man]

I suspect that people use varnish because they've "always done it that way" and for no other good reason.

Darn, if I had known that I would not have stripped my teak and put on 17 coats of varnish last year.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Darn, if I had known that I would not have stripped my teak and put on 17 coats of varnish last year.

Only 17 coats? And what do you do in your spare time?

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Only 17 coats? And what do you do in your spare time?

that's the thing .. if you have to wait for the right day and the right time .. and you have to repeat this over and over in order to get 3 or 4 coats of varnish on .. not to mention if you do other things like work a job .. varnish gets old IMHO. then if you wait a little too long and you get black spots .. then you are in trouble. cetol much more forgiving.

[cat man do]

I prefer to let teak go au natural but then have only used small amounts.

I have used Beech outside without treatment and it goes a nice silvery blond and stands up to the elements well.

I have also heard of and had a fancy laminated tiller with ash, cedar, ash layers done with epoxy instead of varnish for buildup, and then had a uv resistant varnish over the top for protection.

This finish looked very thick, but was only a few coats.

Dave

[CaptHead]

I have a 10 year varnish on my boat and this is year 6. I am in SoCal where the sun shines on every inch of this beautiful finish.

Yes prep is the most important thing and the first item is cleaning the bare teak of all the surface oils before the first coat is ever applied. The second most important thing is the sealer. Most people use the wrong sealer. It is very important to use thinned spar varnish at 40-50% thinner as the sealer as this will get to the cellular structure of the teak and bond with it to prevent moisture from getting under it and causing lift.

I have been doing Britework for over 28 years and my system is indisputedly the best anyone here has seen.

Also sand paper grit size, timing, humidity, and many other factors apply to getting a lasting and hi quality finish.

When I ask most boaters they reply with "it's just to get me by this year" and that is the attitude that produces Dullwork and sloppy crappy looking varnish work.