Finish on Douglas Fir floorboards?

[Norm Bernstein]

Hi, I'm midway through construction of a 15' catboat, and am working on the removable floorboards.

http://www.marisystems.com/ellipticat/boatphotos/Dsc01532_websize.jpg

I'm wondering what to put on the floorboards. They're being constructed of clear vertical-grain Douglas Fir. I know some people would advise leaving them natural, although from experience, I know this wood gets fairly ratty-looking when weathered. How about boiled linseed oil? Any other suggestions?

FYI, the project is being documented in detail at:
www.marisystems.com/ellipticat (http://www.marisystems.com/ellipticat)

[Ian McColgin]

Linseed oil blackens with age. Tung oil is excellent, as are somr propriatory products like Deks Ojla #1 (spelling approx). If you like the oiled look.

A boat like this is not really ment for standing in. So if you want to make yourself lots of work and go fancy with a ton of varnish, have fun.

If you work the boat hard, you may want to go with a good traditional deck enamal - some light color like a bristol beige looks well - and maybe even some non-skid tossed in.

[Dave Hadfield]

I have open, slatted fir floorboards in the cabin of my ketch. I gave them 6 coats of Diamond water-based exterior varathane.

Looks quite good. The finish wears to a satin quite soon and then seems to stand up very well. Absolutely no sign of bubbling or chipping off.

With this coating you can add several layers per day -- goes quickly.

[Norm Bernstein]

Dave, I've used water-based varnish finishes before, but only on interior floors... however, they are terrifically easy to apply, dry very quickly, and seem to be durable... I think I'll look into their weather-ability!

Truthfully, I would have much preferred to use some species of wood for these floorboards that could tolerate being left bare, without looking ratty after a while... obviously, teak would be the prime candidate. However, I'm trying to keep the total expense down, and am saving the teak for the decking!

[yorgie]

Great project Norm.Your website is a good resource for the home builder,I'll be looking at again soon.I share you pain over the small workshop,mines 20'by 12'.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Although Douglas Fir isn't as pretty as some other boatwoods, it's strong, light, rot resistant and cheap. The sun usually does more damage than water or wear so a UV protectant might be good. I also enjoied your website. smile.gif

Did you know that Lyman made Catboats in the 1930's? They were a racing class on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.

http://www.clinkerbuilt.com/images/cat03s.jpg

http://www.clinkerbuilt.com/15_cat.html

[ 11-21-2004, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Mr. Know It All ]

[HarryH]

Thanks for documenting your progress on your site..You sure are to be commended for not letting a minimum of space or dough($) deter you from a lot of fun.

Way to go.

_Harry

[ 11-21-2004, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: HarryH ]

[JimD]

Norm, you have quite an undertaking on the go. I haven't read your entire website but I wonder if I may change the subject of your thread and talk a bit about how you came up with the design?

[BillyBudd]

Norm, Two things. #1. -- Have you considered Kirby Paint's "Salty Dog"? this is a pine tar, linseed oil, plus mix that I used on rubrails and might well use on floorboards. A pint would probably do. Darkens the wood, and the more you put on the darker it gets...and it can be renewed. #2. What are your plans for removable floorboards? I see that yo've got stringers that sister to cross braces. Are these to be joined by fasteners?

[Norm Bernstein]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments. I hadn't considered the Kirby product, although I frankly don't care for the 'darkened wood' look (just a matter of preference, I guess), so I think I might try a water-based low gloss or satin varnish. From experience, Doug Fir isn't the greatest looking wood when weathered bare.

As for the floorboards, the crossbraces sit adjacent to the floors, and are prevented from moving laterally by cleats on either side (the outermost boards are 'permanent', i.e., the don't come out with the floorboard halves).

Someone asked about the design.... and it's not really a 'design', per se, just my crackbrained idea that I could convert a double chined design to round bottom by drawing elipses, using the breadths and heights of each of the frames of the original design. The idea is covered more fully on the website (see the first post of this thread for the URL).

[Ian McColgin]

If you're going for a waterbased varnish, use a good quality like Sikkens. They started as a deck coating and the marine version does have a jacked up price, but it also has far greater UV protection for the wood and resistance for itself and is worth the price differential. Still not wildly expensive for a little project like this.

[JimD]

Someone asked about the design.... and it's not really a 'design', per se, just my crackbrained idea that I could convert a double chined design to round bottom by drawing elipses, using the breadths and heights of each of the frames of the original design. The idea is covered more fully on the website (see the first post of this thread for the URL). Yes, it does seem a little crackbrained but no turning back now. When do you expect to get her in the water? Did it turn out to be 15 ft X 5'6"? Those are precisely the dimensions of my plywood sloop. One project I currently have on the drawing board is sort of the opposite of what you are doing. I am drawing up a multichine catboat for plywood construction based on round bilge designs and have started building a 6 foot model. May I ask what chined design you started out with? As you can see I'm very curious about redesigning like this so I hope you're in the mood to talk a little more about it.

[Norm Bernstein]

JimD: Yes, the dimensions are 15' x 6' 6", give or take a litle. It's the absolute maximum size I can fit in my garage! The original commercial design was the Catfish Beachcruiser, one of the Bolger designs sold by Harold Payson (and, yes, I DID buy a set of plans!). I fully understand and appreciate the subtlety of fine marine design and genuine nautical engineering... but, at the other end of the spectrum, even a box will float, if there are no leaks. Since I'm an amateur woodbutcher, and NOT a fine craftsman, if it floats and sails at all, it will be a victory! Actually, I expect it to do much better than that... the hull form doesn't have the fine entry that the cogniscenti demand in a catboat, but on the other hand, the elliptical hull form ought to be reasonable slippery and fast, and since I'll be sailing in deep water, I don't have to compromise on daggerboard and rudder.

I'm hoping for a spring launch... although I said that LAST winter. My expectations are a lot more reasonable now, though... the schedule calls for floorboards done by December 1st, deckbeams by January 1st, decking and coaming by February 1st, spars and rudder by March 1st, final paint and varnish by April 1st. By that time, I'll be too busy with the family boat (sorry, it's a fiberglass and stainless steel wonder!) to be spending too much more time of the catboat... other than sailing it.

[JimD]

My attitude towards sailing is much the same. The boat floats, the breeze moves it along, and I'm happy. I'll be interested in hearing about how she eventually handles.

[Felix]

Norm: Wow! just visited your project website. You are doing an amazing job on it and your catboat. Much in common with you in your experience with stripbuilding a catboat. Got tired of the 3 or 4 strips a day but it is a very forgiving method if you are patient. My biggest problem was I was not smart enough to start with good material. Ripped and routed through knotty,crappy WRC instead of buying good stuff.
Please keep posting about your progress. Glad to see the interest in boats with the mast way up in the pointy end.
Felix

[sdowney717]

You are an engineer, perhaps you would appreciate the properties of Nyalic as a coating
www.nyalic.com (http://www.nyalic.com)

[Norm Bernstein]

Felix: sorry to hear your tale about having to tediously rip WRC for your strips. I considered ripping my own, but after checking the prices on commercially ripped strips, I realized that 1) I wouldn't save much money ripping my own, and 2) the tedium of ripping hundreds of strips would get old really quick. Also, since the boat would be painted, I didn't need the beauty of WRC, and eastern white cedar was not only substantially cheaper, but a bit more limber and less prone to splitting. It was one of the few good decisions I made... see my website for the BAD decisions, there's a list full of them!

sdowney717: I looked at the website for Nyalic (sp?) and it looks interesting... although I'm only a bit suspicious, because if it were that good, there would be competition at the retail level. Perhaps there IS, it's just that the website doesn't really tell you what the stuff is. I might order a small can and give it a try on some test pieces, though... thanks for the tip!

[sdowney717]

It is good stuff.
It is expensive.
Recoats are so easy.
It is tough.
It is clear.
It is waterproof.
It is 100% UV proof.
I wish you could buy it at Home depot.