Iroko deck

[manel]

Hi,
Recently I started to work again on my Penobscot 17 after more than one year with the project stopped.
In a few days I’m going to plank the plywood deck with 5/16” iroko. I would like to varnish the iroko to keep its brown color. I’ve read you have to use polyurethane varnish because there is an antioxidant that doesn’t allow regular varnish to dry. In any case, Should I epoxy coat the iroko to seal it before varnish, or is not necessary? Can I use a regular UV varnish if the surfaced is epoxied? I would like a natural finish, not glossy. I don’t know if an oil (teak oil?) is more convenient than varnish or epoxy. What do you think?

Another maybe innocent question: Is necessary to glue with epoxy the deck planks on the plywood? Is there any other method to make possible replace the deck in the future?
Thanks

Manel

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I cannot answer all your questions, but I can answer some:

1. You definiteky should varnish the iroko; it is not a suitable wood to leave bare, owing to the type of surface checking that it develops. That's why you almost never see a bare iroko deck.

2. It is perfectly easy to varnish iroko, with any type of varnish - conventional or one or two part polyurethane. But personally, for a deck, I would spend the extra and use Coelan; it's far and away the best for this application.

3. I would think that you can use Sikaflex just as well as epoxy to bed the iroko to the ply, but both will be "permanent".

[Venchka]

WHOA!

You have the cart before the horse. I think you should ask Arch Davis if it is ok to add that much weight up high where you don't want extra weight on a small boat. You are also adding a big problem area for the future. Moisture will collect between the iroko and plywood. Arch's design with plywood decks works nicely. Ask him if the extra heavy wood on top of the plywood is a good idea.

If Arch says OK, then I was never here.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[manel]

Thank you for your answers.

Venchka: planking the deck is part of the design. Arch suggests ash, oak or cedar. He mentions iroko for the stringers, but I used light fir so probably the weight is compensated. Anyway I appreciate your advice.
By the way, is a little more weight so important? Are not plywood boats extremely light, maybe too light for stability? Your answer made me think about this.
Here, in Mediterranean waters, clinker boats are not traditional. The thick and solid wood fisherman’s boats are much more heavy even if smaller. In comparison, a plywood boat looks like a paper one. What do you think forumites about?

Thanks

[Venchka]

Originally posted by Venchka:


...If Arch says OK, then I was never here.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D You never saw me. I didn't say anything. I wasn't here.

If I had been here, and if I were building that boat, I would ask Arch Davis if I could do without the extra fake decking. In my mind, 6mm plywood is plenty good for a deck on a wee boat. But my mind is a terrible place! tongue.gif

Wayne
Learning something new everyday in the Swamp. :D

[Toby Freeman]

I would be very careful with any kind of varnish on deck. Most of them can become lethally slippery when wet.
Coelan has the advantage of an ability to expand and contract with the wood, but then I was on board a Dutch sail training ship in Dover some years ago which had a bosun whose esteem for Coelan had been broken along with his leg on a wet deck.
Dutch is an impressive language to swear in, I learnt some great new swear words.

I would use deck oil.

Toby Freeman

[manel]

I’m still not sure what kind of oil or coat tot use. Have you hear about “Burgess Hydrosoil”, a water based product? In the april issue of Classic Boat there are the results of a test with several varnishes and oils after six monts of aplication. I missed it. Anyone has read it?

Venchka: you are rigth, the extra deck is not necessary, but not being a purist, I like it. I’m aware about what I’m building, I know it will be a fake deck. In the same way I think a plywood epoxy boat is a fake wooden boat. But is what I can afford to build with my skills, and what I can afford to maintain later. I don’t pretend to be building a real wooden boat, or to be a boatbuilder.
Once you are building a fake, make a real fake.
;)

[Venchka]

I take back "fake deck". I didn't mean it that way. Sorry. I said I was never here!

You are building a real boat. Plywood boats are real boats. Add the wood over plywood as the plans say. Just make sure you glue them down tight and keep water from getting between the wood and the plywood. She will be beautiful!

One thought: are there any lighter weight, durable woods available? Can you find African mahogany (khaya)? It works, glues and finishes beautifully.

Wayne
In the Swamp.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Having skidded off a Coelan coated deck myself, my esteem for the product is undimmed but I would most certainly add the nonslip granules that they now supply!

[Toby Freeman]

The deck which the grumpy Hollander broke his leg on had the non-slip granules included.
I am wholly in favour of not allowing myself or anyone else to be damaged or lost as a result of my work on board.
There is also the embarrassing question of what to say to their N.O.K. when you return without them.
Toby