Teak and holly veneer- Which varnish?

[Martino Vittorio]

Hi, I have a lot of scratches and small holes in my teak and holly weener on the boat floor.

So I decided that I need to do some maintenance and fix it. I will sand it, carefully and manually (not an electric sander, and probably not to bare wood as it is really thin), I will use some putty filler for the wood, and then I will varnish it.

Now my real questions: mono-urethane o poly-urethane varnish? Or water based?

I was considering to use some varnish from Epifanes, but maybe you have some better ideas.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and recommendation, on how to do the work and on which varnish use.

[wizbang 13]

Those look like dings, not scratches or holes. Stuff dropped from three feet up.
If LP varnish had been used from the git go they may not have happened.
If you are fond of the theatre of “teak and holly” sole, I recon you will never be happy with a hand sanding touch up. They need to be removed and power sanded, stripped .

[dutchpp]

I have uses this on a teak floor in a sauna a few years ago, with good results;
tung.jpg
I don't think this specific brand is available in Italy, but perhaps you can find an alternative which contains boiled linseed oil and tung oil.

On my own boat with a lot of teak on the benches which are walked upon, I've used "Le Tonkinois" with good results, advantage is that Le Tonk is not very slippery when wet..
However Epifanes is also excellent, if the floorboard is veneer on a multiplex board you could even try the two component varnishes of Epifanes, they are more durable than the 1K varieties.

And than there is the Stoppani varnish, made in Italy, especially usefull for the Riva style boats, a bit expensive though.

[Michael_Owen]

To me, it looks like some silver colored, oil-based paint was splattered. I might try a card scraper if this is so. As for varnish, it sounds like dutch pp has you covered.

Mike

[JimConlin]

I agree with the Wiz. It looks like dings from things being dropped. The finish was too thin and brittle, fractured and admitted water which discolored the underlying veneer.

There are two ways to fix that. You could buy a sheet of that plywood and replace the cabin sole (On boats, floors are something else.) or your could strip the finish from the entire sole and refinish. The veneer is paper thin and easy to sand through, so using a chemical paint remover is less risky. The stains may respond to bleaching. Sand very gently.
For a finish, I’d use a one-part polyurethane finish. It’s often used on home floors. It resists dings well and is much easier to apply and less expensive than the two part finishes.

[Michael_Owen]

And we'd love to see pictures of the whole barca!

[wizbang 13]

Remove the old finish with 60 grit on a four inch DA .
As soon as you are touching fifty percent of the wood, switch to 80.
As soon as you have mostly wood, go to 100
Now “polish” the wood with 150.
Try to mentally ignore the spots, it ain’t easy.
Otherwise there will be shallow divots which you, and only you, will see .
Then yes, 8 thin coats of one part poly varnish. Thin the first two coats . Apply in decending temperature.
Take a look at the edge/endgrain of a lifting hatch to see just how thin the veneer is.

[JimConlin]

Nix the 60 grit. You’ll blow through the veneer before you know it.
After you’ve removed the old finish with chemical stripper or heat gun and scraper, start with #120 and be patient.

[pcford]

Remove the old finish with 60 grit on a four inch DA .
As soon as you are touching fifty percent of the wood, switch to 80.
As soon as you have mostly wood, go to 100
Now “polish” the wood with 150.
Try to mentally ignore the spots, it ain’t easy.
Otherwise there will be shallow divots which you, and only you, will see .
Then yes, 8 thin coats of one part poly varnish. Thin the first two coats . Apply in decending temperature.
Take a look at the edge/endgrain of a lifting hatch to see just how thin the veneer is.

jeesuz.

[wizbang 13]

It could be an eighth.

[wizbang 13]

Hi Ya Pat,
Im chillin on my boat in Guadeloupe for New Years Eve.
You?

[John Meachen]

I'd be astonished if you could lose all signs of damage.The typical face veneer starts out as 0.6mm and gets a pass through the drum sander at the factory for cleanup.If you are unlucky,the sheet isn't quite flat and needs a second pass,which won't leave much for scraping or sanding.I'd be very wary of taking any paper coarser than 120 grit to a veneered panel.Local scraping and experimenting with oxalic acid might make it less bad and maybe some teak coloured stain would reduce the difference between damaged and original.I'd go along with the one part polyurethane and next time round prepare for the heresy of Formica with the same pattern.It looks much the same,is much more durable and has a little non-slip effect.

[JimConlin]

It would be about the same amount of work to just replace the afflicted panel(s).
Last time I bought any, a sheet of that stuff (1/2”) cost about $300.

Facing the new year, I’m chilling in Padanaram, watching Casablanca and mulling whether to build another boat. I suppose I should sell one or two first.

[Thad]

Happy New Year, Jim! And all.

[pcford]

Hi Ya Pat,
Im chillin on my boat in Guadeloupe for New Years Eve.
You?

thanks for the invitation, bud, but I think not.

[wizbang 13]

thanks for the invitation, bud, but I think not.

Too late anyway, rounding up into the Grenadines at dawn in a few hours .
maybe the best thing might be to match up the color of the dings with acrylic artist paint in a tube and touch them up, slap a few coats on.
If the veneer really is that thin

[Paul Schweiss]

I had a call recently from a new customer who had purchased a Sabre that the previous owner had neglected a lot of maintenance.
One of which was the salon sole which had never been re-varnished and they had a dog which had left scratches and divots in the teak and holly that had not broken the veneer. There were also gray areas where all old finish was gone.
After verifying with Service at Sabre that it was indeed a veneered plywood sole, I told the owner I could not re-finish it as the likelihood of sanding through was very high, and there was no way to get all the dog nail depressions out. I told him to cover the sole with carpet and have it banded.
Having sanded through teak ply exterior door panels trying to re-finish it is very frustrating to be the one to tell the customer it has been ruined, and the door re-built.

[willin woodworks]

you can try wire brushing the grey spots with a brass bristle brush just enough to get rid of the grey. Tint and seal the raw wood with amber shellac. Feather the edges of the old varnish into the patches with 220 paper, scuff all the old varnish with a scotchbrite pad and revarnish the whole thing with Epifanes.