finishing

[Cut-Throat Jake]

Hi , i am building a plywood dinghy and am planning
on glassing the outside using epoxy, what would be the best thing to use on the inside?
I was thinking about deks olje? is deks olje compatable with epoxy?

Cheers
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[Art Read]

Compatible how? If you mean to coat the insides with epoxy first, then Deks won't work. You'll need a "hard" finish like UV varnish or paint. The Deks needs to be able to soak into the wood like any other oil to adhear and the epoxy will prevent that. But if you just want to use the Deks over the bare wood, it should work fine. I can't see that having the outside sheathed with epoxy/glass should make any difference on the inside. Just be aware that the Deks will require frequent "refresher" coats to keep up. Like maybe a couple of times a season. The good news is that it's a lot easier to scrub her good and lay down another coat of Deks than it is to sand and feather a painted or varnished finish on all those nooks and crannies in there. Is your ply good, marine grade stuff? I suspect that Deks won't offer as much protection as epoxy, paint or varnish. Keeping it well kept up will be a lot more critical to prevent exposure damage to otherwise unprotected plywood. You wouldn't want to ever have to sand it much to "bring it back"...

For what it's worth, my boat will at least start her career with Deks #1 as the interior finish. Just because it IS so easy to keep up. I sort of suspect that after a few years, even with the best of intentions, she'll start to look pretty "tired" in there. I'm afraid the oil will eventually pick up too much dirt and grime to renew easily. And I'm sure the wood will darken quite a bit over time, though that in itself, doesn't really concern me. At any rate, if it ever does come to that, I'll probably just hold my nose and paint over it...

Welcome to the forum, btw!

[Cut-Throat Jake]

That might be a problem actually. my ply is 4mm exterior! Could i paint on the Deks#2 at a later stage maybe? can you use just straight epoxy, or do you have to varnish over it?
Cheers and thanks for your help!

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