Interior woodwork finishes

[Peter]

A couple of questions on interior woodwork finishes. Due to the nature of the finish on some of the wooden surface inside the boat, nice satin finish. Not sure what the finish actually is, varnish, oil or even waxed. Is there anyway of testing a finish to see what it is?
If it is varnish what do I have to do to re-vanish. The currently the finish is not to bad at the moment, only going to re-vanish to cover light ware/scratches etc. not water damaged varnish so don’t want to strip off old vanish. Also any recommendations for a inter varnish.

Peter

[BlowingOldBoots]

I asked a similar question about two weeks ago. Type my name into the search engine or type "varnish" into the search engine. All your questions will probably be answered.

[saxonpirate]

Peter....Do have a modern grp boat? If so, and it's relatively new, the chances are you will have a sprayed lacquer finish. If you are going to apply varnish on this finish it will need a very thorough flattening off. If you don't, the varnish will peel as if it were applied to wax over time.

As I said...if it's a grp boat I doubt very much if it's waxed or oiled. If a previous owner has applied varnish, it will almost certainly be of a polyurethane kind. Again though, a good flattening off with 400/600 3M Aluminium Oxide Paper is essential for a good key. A good wipe down with hot soapy water won't go amiss either to remove live-aboard and cooking residues.

Now as for varnishes, I would highly recommend Blackfriars Polyurethane Satin/Clear Varnish. It flows beautifully and gives a wonderful finish. I must have varnished about a hundred boats over the years and I've tried just about every varnish known to man, and always end up using Blackfriars products.

I've pasted the URL to the Blackfriars site below. There is a drop down list with suppliers in all counties.

http://www.blackfriar.co.uk/shop/Pro...cId=87&pgId=57

[doug748]

Originally Posted by saxonpirate

Now as for varnishes, I would highly recommend Blackfriars Polyurethane Satin/Clear Varnish. It flows beautifully and gives a wonderful finish. I must have varnished about a hundred boats over the years and I've tried just about every varnish known to man, and always end up using Blackfriars products.

I've pasted the URL to the Blackfriars site below. There is a drop down list with suppliers in all counties.

http://www.blackfriar.co.uk/shop/Pro...cId=87&pgId=57

I have never seen Blackfriar's products mentioned before but I must agree they are very good - the equal of many of the fancy marine brands, and they are available at many ordinary retail outlets. They are modestly priced and available in small cans.
Whilst not being a fan of Polyurethanes I can recommend their traditional Yacht Varnish. If you can only find gloss, it is quite easy to matt off later when fully dry. I have even found it hard enough to use on the cabin sole.

PS I have held off in the past when high spec finishes have been discussed but, what the heck, I have never been let down by these products. Rustins is another name I look for - but I have not used their varnish.

[saxonpirate]

Originally Posted by doug748

PS I have held off in the past when high spec finishes have been discussed but, what the heck, I have never been let down by these products. Rustins is another name I look for - but I have not used their varnish.

Doug...it's really funny you should mention Rustins. I was finishing off a varnish job last Sunday and ran out of Blackfriars. There was nowhere that I could get anymore on a Sunday, so popped down to Trago's in Falmouth and bought some Rustins Satin to enable me to finish the job. I regretted it....it was like trying to apply treacle. Couldn't keep a wet edge, so gave up in the end because it would have ruined the job. Bought some more BF on Monday....what a difference.

[doug748]

Originally Posted by saxonpirate

Doug...it's really funny you should mention Rustins. I regretted it....it was like trying to apply treacle. Couldn't keep a wet edge, so gave up in the end because it would have ruined the job. Bought some more BF on Monday....what a difference.

Great. Thanks for that Saxon - that's Rustins crossed off my list.