Teak

[gofastsandman]

Ohhhhh, that`s sexy. Looks like an old Scarborough or Merritt express. Love the tumbledown. Has that old timey look.
Must`ve been hard to wave goodbye.

I`m leaning toward Epiphane as I`m not familiar w/ epoxy.
Will the epoxy base last longer/look smoother than a varnish base properly maintained . Looks like I`m gonna try to shoot it. This`ll be fun. Is epoxy darker than varnish? I`m partial to lighter tones in teak.
Thx Joey,
GFS



Thx, GFS

[gofastsandman]

I`m starting to feel like Vinny Babarino.....
GFS

[joey]

The epoxy kind of gives it a hard base and it really doesn't darken it any.But you'll be fine with the varnish.I learned the epoxy thing from the Merritt boys,if you spend anytime working a custom boat you will flat learn about brightwork!
Yeah it was a sad day watching the Jenna Mae leave,but there will be another by spring.

[gofastsandman]

Maybe it`s time for me to try to think about the 21st century, or the thought that it`s what he does everyday.....
Thx Capt. Started sanding splaswell. Belt sander and 80. Yep Didn`t have 60 . Could`ve used some. Thx All!
GFS

[GradySailfish]

I LOVE teak on a boat and I think its a shame the new production boats have so little of it.

I did my Grady with Epifanes and Cetol. The Epifanes was used in the helm area which is not as exposed to the elements as the cockpit, where I used Cetol. Cetol is tougher and better able to withstand the abuse from the elements then regular varnish, but the regular varnish is beautiful.

The Epifanes is excellent. As Busheacker said, thin the first coat 50%, follwed by 30%, 15% and 10%. This builds a nice base for the topcoats which are applied at fullstrength. In between the fullstrength coats I even sand with 220 grit, but only ever so lightly. I normally do the 4 base coats and 4-5 top coats, sanding with 320 between the last coat.

The cetol is simpler and easier. Apply the 3 coats of base at fullstrength follwed by 3 coats of gloss with light sanding between coats.

Joey did what I consider the ULTIMATE teak finish. Epoxy followed by Clear Awlgrip or Imron. If it lasts 12 months in the direct Florida sun, it will last a easy 5-6 years up here.

My next year plan is to coat the varnish on my boat with clear imron. Although I didn't treat it with epoxy from my understanding the multiple coats of varnish can be overcoated with Imron as they already built a base and filled the grain.

Epifanes:





Cetol

[joey]

GradySailfish your brightwork looks great!And I too feel that there is way to little of it around anymore.You definately can hit it with the clear now and have a truely stunning finish.The truth be known,the epoxy is kind of cheating,it allows you to clear coat much quicker.Your way of varnishing and letting it sit awhile before clear coating is the best way.

[gofastsandman]

Yum Yum GSF.

Almost done w/ the 80. I`m using the palm orbiter in tight places and straightening by hand as best I can . How do you get the bottom of 90 corners? Tried to take it apart, but strong glue and thought stopped me, after I took the plugs and screws out....,but before I made another mistake.Did I say thought? With everyone`s kind guidance I`m expecting close to happy results
Thx,
GFS
Bushwacker: Have you had that beauty for 30 years?

[Bushwacker]

[/QUOTE]Bushwacker: Have you had that beauty for 30 years?

[/QUOTE]

Bought it in 1975, so I guess it'll be 33 years in a couple of months. Found it at Brown & Hauptner Marine before Waterway Cafe was built on the site. Was a 1-owner boat; belonged to father of a guy I used to work with that had a 67 SeaCraft 21! It had spent some time in a covered rack building but he also kept it in water at son's house which explains the bottom paint. Dad was evidently a bit of a klutz with docking as there are a few spider cracks along gunnel from some dock walloping and one spot of barnacle rash on the gel coat, but otherwise it's in pretty decent shape. Bought it as-is and put a new 115 Evinrude on it which never quit on me the whole time I had it and was running good when I sold it. Just got tired of the noise, smoke and 2 mpg performance; after 30+ years I was ready for some newer technology! Deck is solid and when Don Herman filled in the transom, he said it was the driest one he'd ever seen in a boat that old! I did 2 things when I bought it that protected the transom:

The first was to follow Brown & Hauptner's practice of removing the aluminum trim around the transom cut-out and replacing the brittle polyester putty in the cap-to-hull gap with Life Caulk. They did this on all the new boats they sold. Also pulled out the baitwell inlet/outlet plug under port stern seat and resealed it, as it had started to leak.

Currently fixing up an old galley seat I got from 73Seafari. Hope to have it ready for Long Point gathering.

[GradySailfish]

Bushwacker, thats a great history with that boat. I'm sure she means a lot to you.

Joey, funny you say that, because I was under the impression that what I'm doing is "cheating" in that I'm too lazy to strip off all the old varnish and re-do with epoxy. I'm happy to hear that though, and look foward to the finish. I might be selling my Grady though and buying a 26 Fortier. We'll see, but either way I look foward to playing with the teak. Its a beautiful thing.

[gofastsandman]

I too miss teak on new boats. Sad trend. +^%$#@&* bean counters. Why not make it an option?

Ok Q&A time.
1 On thinner pieces,would it be a good idea to leave a little grain up after the 80 and get it as you go up in grit to leave more wood?

2 I have some nice badger brushes for future touches, but they have been used for alkyd round the house house paint. ok or no k?

3 Do I coat the back of flush mounted pieces?

4 When you re-coat in the future , do you just tape, sand, re-tape and hit it?

5 When shooting, hang w/ stiff wire in a screw hole and hit only the vertical plane or 360?

6 Overlap 50% of the pattern like cars?

7 I have acces to a compressor and was thinking of a Harbor Freight gun, do I need a Binks, or can I get good results w/ an unknown?

8 Le have a huge ficus tree 10 feet out the back door for shade, but is there a sweet temp at which to shoot it?

Thx, All!

Bushwacker that`s a wonderful love affair! Ever since I was a young child, I marveled at people who could do louvers.

I to think those caps are done that way on purpose. No marine AIA would do that. I`m rigged , how should I seal that?

GFS