Need primer suggestions for bare mahogany

[Dan Meals]

We are restoring a 40' 1939 Chris Craft. The hull has been thoroughly sanded. We need to select the correct primer for the mahogany. We plan to top coat with Imron.

Suggestions/feedback appreciated.

[NormMessinger]

Let your top coat be your guide.

Actually I don't really know since Imron isn't formulated for wood. You do know what saftety precautions to take if you are doing the Imron yourself, I assume.

So I'm no help. But welcome to the forum anyway. I hope you can post pictures of you project.

Best wishes.

[Victor]

Primer? You're gonna PAINT mahogany? It's your boat, but if by chance you mean a sealer, the Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Sealer works pretty well for me, darkens it a little. I also used CPES on one side of my stern brightwork and left the boat out in the sun for a few months. That side looks much better than the other, that's for sure.

[JimConlin]

If you're going to use LPU paints on a plank on frame hull, I'd follow strictly the paint manufacturer's recommendations for the whole system of coatings. If the paint manufacturer won't recommend and stand behind such a system, find another vendor.

[sdowney717]

Epoxy primer

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...%3Dimron%2520p rimer%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwg

As for Imron, it was originally created for fleet trucks and airplanes.
Early advertisements for the stuff actually claimed a 3kt speed gain on
airplanes. I have never seen Imron significantly peel off of any type of
primer (lacquer based, zinc chromate, epoxy primer, etc.). I have seen
Imron AND primer peel off together. Imron usually STICKS to what it is
painted on, the primer underneath usually fails. Imron will usually
adhere to less-than-perfect substrates (oil, dirt, etc.). Actually,
Imron and most other catalyzed paints are a bugger to keep FROM sticking
onto any other surface in the shop. Even doing a small spot job on a
small panel usually wipes out anything within 50 feet with some very
tenacious spray dust.

[Buddy]

I've used Imron so here goes. Truly, Imron was first "designed" for a less expensive coating for airline ground equipment like tugs and trucks. For sheet metal, aluminum, fiberglass and steel. But...

Are you bright finishing this boat with clear Imron or are you painting white I presume like an original color scheme?

I have used Smith's CPES to get the best ultimate bond on bright finished mahogany trim and panel bits followed by two part linear polyurethanes- Bristol Finish on one project, and Interlux Interthane Plus on another. Both successful, but I wasn't bridging yards and yards of planking seams. You know lpu's don't have much flexibility to accommodate much movement.

If you're going with an opaque color, then use an epoxy primer. Pick your color- white, gray , or oxide red- by your topcoat color. I've used Dupont's product and Interlux 400/414 and can recommend them both, but I'd still be concerned about putting an lpu over planking. A cold molded or strip planked boat with a 6 oz or so fiberglass "skin" I ( like so many others) have done and it's worked famously, but on a wooden sticks and plywood "Taj Ma Dockbox", I've had some peeling and popping in the cracks at the corners. I'd hate it to happen on the topsides of anybody's boat.

[Buddy]

One other thought, and it'd make a lovely experiment on something else small first. Dupont (and all the other's) make a flex additive to put in any of their "metal" paints for use on the molded plastic bumpers and transition fairings of cars. I'd ask the rep about that for use in the epoxy primer and lpu topcoats for your boat. Surely some pro "in the business" has thought of this and tried it already. Maybe they have a tech sheet or case study write up available.