Varnish over rivets

[jimstitt]

I'm just finishing up a lapstrake pulling boat, copper riveted cedar planking....
I would love to varnish the interior, right over the peened roves/rivets but I get the feeling the flex in the boat, and the adhesion of the varnish to the rivets will leave me with 400+ black rings by the end of the year.
Has anyone successfully varnished over rivets in an open boat, and what products were used / lessons learned.
Thanks,
Jim Stitt

[Ed Nye]

How in the heck are you not going to varnish over them? Let's see, 6 million rivets, 6 coats of varnish. I think you are going to varnish over them.
Ed

[Scott Rosen]

What Ed said. You should spend less time worrying and more time varnishing. ;)

[Chadd Hamilton]

I third the suggestion. By the way, don't be stingy with the pictures of that boat when you're finished.

[Bruce Hooke]

Vanishing the interior of this sort of boat is certainly common practice, however, the problem you describe is a very real issue, althought probably not quite as bad as you make it sound. The thing to do is to keep an eye on the finish around the rivits and if cracks start to develop hit them with a little touch-up varnish. One useful indicator that I picked up from Walt Simmons' book Finishing is to look for oxidation around the head of the rivit. When you see oxidation it means moisture is getting through and it's time for a little touch up varnish around that rivit. You are likely to have more problems with this the first year as everything settles into place and the wood swells for the first time from being in the water, thereby pulling the rivit head a bit deeper into the planks and frames.

It should be noted that paint has the same problem, the key differences are that the cracks are easier to see and the results of not getting to them in time are less noticable because they are covered with paint. One way around this whole issue is to use an oil finish on the inside of the boat. Actually that's not a complete way around the issue since the same sort of thing can happen with an oil finish, but it is easier to slap on some touch up oil than it is to slap on a little touch up varnish.

[Bob Cleek]

This is a job for CPES! Soak it in CPES and then varnish as per the instructions on the product literature. Your varnish will stick much better. Moisture will be limited in the areas around the rivets and staining minimized if not eliminated entirely. And don't forget, those stains, nicks, dents and divots are the "patina" that add character to a wooden boat, if not to her owner!

[jimstitt]

Thanks for the info everyone. I wasn't really planning on varnishing the interior wood and avoiding the rivets! I figured my choices were
1) Varnish everything
2) Make boat juice and soak it
3) Paint it.

I bought the CPES yesterday and really wanted to give it a go, but was hesitant, because without some UV protection (if I had used boat juice) the CPES wouldn't last very long.
I will go ahead with the CPES and varnish over that.
Thanks again,
Jim

[nutmeg2go]

Duh? What is CPES?

While you're at it, I recently purchased a 20 year old lapstrake, fasten with copper rivets, which has been varnished inside and out, and has green copper paint below the water line. The wood (tamarack) has turned very dark over the years, due to UV effects on the varnish, I think.

I planned to strip the boat (heat gun and scraper) and then refinish. A friend suggested using a penetrating finish (DAK?). I haven't seen much mention of this product on the forum.

I'm new at this, and open to suggestions on how to proceed. Advice regarding technique, products, and mistakes to be avoided very welcome.

Thanks