Oil for interior of skiff

[Bill Mercer]

I'm working on a plank-on-frame skiff, and eventually I'm going to get the bottom on it and want to finish it. I've been planning to oil the interior--any suggestions of the best goop? I've been thinking either:
1) boat soup--linseed or tung oil, pine tar, etc.
2) plain tung oil (I'm not that eager for it to turn sooty black if left in the sun
3) some kind of varnish oil, like Le Tonkinoise.

Obviously tung oil is more expensive than linseed, but everything else on the boat has cost at least twice what I expected, so why stop now?
My concern about Tonk is that it might be slippery underfoot.
The boat will spend must of its life in the garage, being dry-rowed.

Bill

[Paul Girouard]

Seafin Teak oil by Daly's sort of like boat soup but it comes ready to go right outta the can.

And yes it's NOT JUST for Teak :rolleyes:

[David G]

By boat soup, are you meaning one of variety of recipes for homemade slurry of solvent, oil, tar? Of the two owners I know that have used them (different recipes), one is quite happy, and the other complains that his interior is hard to keep clean because of residual stickiness - esp. when it gets out in the hot sun.

The other oily products you might consider are Deks Olje and Sikkens Cetol Marine. I know nothing about LeTonk. I've heard mixed reviews about the Deks. I'm partial to the Cetol, but some don't like the orangish cast imparted by the original formula. They've currently added 3 more flavors that appear much more attractive to my eye.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education" -- Mark Twain

[Doug Hamilton]

If your skiff that is to be oiled inboard is to be painted outboard, "the oil must be applied after the paint because the oil may well seep through the planking around the fastenings so that the outboard paint will not adhere properly".

----- "Finishing" by Walt Simmons, page 9

[mike hanyi]

total nonsense,
scandinavian boats are impregnated with raw linseed oil untill it bleeds thru the planking "impregnate" then it takes a few weeks to dry and then you can paint or varnish whatever.

I will mention that the old farts are deaf and blind.
"oh wooden boats MUST be oiled and tarred...its a tradition!!!"
yes its fine on old workboats that will be reoiled every spring and retarred also.

enter modern times when people are wanting a no maintenence boat, oil dries out, planks crack and frames rot-"dambed builder did a s**t job" is not far out of their mouths.
I have a 2 year old boat that the builder oiled out and varnished in, only a cotton string between the laps, in the water 2 weeks a year andwhen I put her in she sank like a stone after 12 hours I could clear the bilges, good paint inside this would not have happened.

If you know this and can accept this fine. the inside of an oiled boat will get scuffed with shoes, all dirt will stick to planking, and your nice new boat doesnt look so new in only 2 years.

I recommend-impregnate the boat, paint the outside,paint the inside under the floorboards with 2 coats redlead,then 2 coats high quality bilge paint. if painting the intior is not an option varnish the inside,you can apply the final coat with low gloss to make it more natural. cetol is also a good choice as it is less hassle to maintain.
you will have to maintain the boat regardless-its your choice on how much.


If you have not completed installing thwarts and bresthooks and knees, finishing the intior BEFORE is a wise choice as it really kills your back finishing the inside,it will take 4x as long the do the inside as the outside. if the boat is under 14 ft stand it up to save your back!

on the outside
paint redlead under the waterline twice (and above once if you will paint the boat) use a roller one coat per 24h or as recommended by paint manufacturer. if you are varnishing her get out that roller and roll on 3- 4 coats chasing it with a brush, dont worry about getting a perfect finish now, you are trying to build volume, let it dry SEVERAL DAYS and then sand out the problems and again build up another 3 coats with a roller, again wait and now sand out every defect and prepare to put on the perfect final coat.

paint will outlast any varnish job, varnish is pretty and if you keep her out of direct sunlight can go 5 years between coats. if shes out side then paint will last many more.


nuff said

[Thorne]

I tried 50/50 BLO and Turps on various parts of the fir over oak interior of my dory skiff, but ended up sanding it off and using varnish -- too sticky in the sun and it let dirt/mud into the grain of the wood. YMMV...

If you want that trad oiled look, why not try Le Tonk == seems like a good compromise between an oil and a more modern varnish?

[Bill Mercer]

Just for clarification, this is a cross-planked skiff, so there will be no floor grating--the cross planking will be the floor.

As for oil getting gooey in the sun, I dunno--I've coated a couple of paddles with tarsmell.com's old boat soup (BLO, pine tar, turps, drier in unknown proportions), and while it did take several weeks to fully dry, they don't get sticky in the sun.

Anybody ever walked on Le Tonk? Am I likely to go over on my butt climbing in off a dock?

[mike hanyi]

sure you can walk on le tonk, that leaky boat has it on the decks and owner walks all over it. of course he has a forstay to hold when he gets on. go for it