sealer

[Pernicious Atavist]

hi, all,

i'm scraping, sanding and cussin' the old west system and varnish off my thistle rails, which are four, 3/4 x 3/4 strips of red oak, red oak, teak and ash laid side-by-side. the teak and ash are original to the boat, about 1977 vintage.

i'll not err and recoot w/ epoxy, which doesn't do well on the oak, but will finish it with good varnish.

as this is summer and we have two pervasive conditions here in florida this time of year--almost daily rain and high humidity. i'm thinking i should give newly bare areas a coat of thinned varnish to act as a sealer to keep moisture out.

seems right to me as it will be sanded, etc. prior to varnishing. is i rite, o is i rong?

the rest of the wood i've replaced is ipe, which i'll have to post pics of--wow, what a wood once it's varnished!

be well,

ed

[Dan McCosh]

Only problem with sealing as you go is if you want to stain. The sealer will prevent the stain from applying evenly, even if it is sanded later. Otherwise, this seems like a good idea.
Also--how did ipe get on the boat, and why did you replace it? (or maybe it was a confusing sentence.)

[Pernicious Atavist]

nope, not gonna stain it. thanks for the second opinion.

now, dan, i am a writer, and, as a pro, only a writer can screw up a sentance the way i did...

it should have read: i've replaced the rest of the wood with ipe....

now THAT makes sense!

i selected ipe over other woods due to its weatherliness (new word), beauty and cost. imho, it's prettier than teak, and at <$4 a bd foot, a lot cheaper. it also is weather resistant to the point that it's used as house deck lumber. pretty, pretty, pretty....

thanks!

[Dan McCosh]

I've used some ipe myself, mainly as structural beams to replace white oak. It is pretty, but it does seem awfully heavy for a Thistle.

[Pernicious Atavist]

yeah, it is a bit heavy, but as you know, the boat uses grates for decks, so the added weight isn't a significant issue, unlike a solid deck which would take two men and a boy to carry! i replaced the thwart and trunk cap with ipe, too. it's a cruising boat, so the all-up weight factor isn't an issue, either. i'm thinking about replacing the rails w/ ipe, too, but i need to see if it'll bend enough, even after soaking for a week or so.....