Unknown varnich remidiation

[DuncanN]

skiff pic.jpg

So after years of wanting a sailboat I found this little gem on craigslist for a song... with a trailer that actually works even. This is the picture from the day I was figuring out the sailing setup. I haven't gotten to sail it yet but I have rowed it a few times and it does row like a dream (and I don't even actually like rowing that much really) but the sailing season here is coming to a close as the local reservoirs are all getting drained down to their winter levels so I have months to kind of mess around with the boat for next year. The two things I am working on are the sailing rig because I don't like a sail that I can't lower, and the side varnish because it gets scratches too easily and while in its former life it was used by a older gentleman and beached on sand my world is filled with kids and rocky beaches.

I have no idea what the varnish is but its pretty thick and shiny, but also kind of soft. The bottom has some paint of unknown composition but its hard and scratch resistant so its fine for now. The original owner was going into hospice when I bought the boat from his son and I assume he hjas either passed on or has more important things to worry about then my questions, so wondering how to strip the varnish off and what to repaint her with. I have stripped floors and motorcycle gas tanks with Jasco in the past does that work on varnish? And given that I am going for less "yacht" and more "work boat" does exterior latex really hold up as well as I have heard? The boat will be stored out of the water when not in use and under cover in the winter.

So any ideas on stripping or paint would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Todd D]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

Buy a heat gun and a scraper. An afternoon with those tools and that boat will be varnish free.

[DuncanN]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

I have a heat gun from a wiring project. And scrapers from- well something I don't recall anymore. As soon as I get the "shop" cleaned out from the home "do all the stuff I promised my wife I would do for the last decade" project I will get to it. Thanks.

[Woxbox]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

If the varnish is adhering solidly to the wood, I wouldn't scrape it all off. I'd just sand it down well to create a good base for the paint. Your description suggests the varnish - shiny but soft - is a marine spar varnish. Porch and floor enamel is my budget paint of choice for this kind of application. The better stuff -- I like Sherwin Williams - is quite durable.

[sp_clark]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

Forget JASCO. If there's a chance of epoxy underneath the soft varnish, JASCO may take some of that off with the varnish. Or leave what's left in a condition that may not be well-suited to more varnish without thorough sanding first.

Todd D's recommendation for heat gun (moderate heat, keep it moving, work over a square foot or two before moving on) and a scraper (careful of any that have an edge honed sharp from prior use) is a Best Practice technique for what you're facing if you want to remove much of the thickish, soft varnish.

If you want to sand, beware of soft varnish sticking to your sandpaper. That'll mean the varnish really needs to be scraped off rather than sanded. You can go through a lot of sandpaper with little to show for it if it's soft.

Sanding works if you see dust forming, not little rolls of stickum that quickly clog your sandpaper.

Keep a small scrap plank handy to scrape the scraper's edge free of gunk before it cools or you'll think we're all nuts to recommend scraping at all.

Then sand. Maybe 80 grit lightly (surface left after scraping will tell you) or 100 grit. There'll be enough varnish left in the wood pores to serve as a decent primer for your choice of paint to follow with.

I'd go with two coats with a light (220 grit) sanding in between once the first coat's dried hard enough to raise dust rather than just clog the paper.

[johngsandusky]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

Nice find. Welcome aboard!

[wizbang 13]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

Quarter inch fir ply...be very careful of whatever you do sanding/scraping/heating
maybe some close up fotos of the surface, more description of the "softness"
can you jam a thumbnail partly into it? all the way to the wood? scratch n sniff ?

[DuncanN]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

skiff 3.jpgskiff 4.jpgskiff 5.jpg

Took these as I was getting ready to bring the boat into the shop. The varnish is soft but mostly still sticking to the boat. I can indent it with my fingernail but it doesn't peel off. The bottom is glassed and epoxied and if I had built the boat that's what I would have done to the whole exterior of the hull. But I didn't so here we are. Got some sawhorses and a work light to set the area up for stripping.Tomorrow will get it situated but then it will have to wait for next week for anything else.

[wizbang 13]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

it is odd indeed..
.from the close up i see she is not fir ply
the finish does not look old, or worn , sunburnt or even scratched up
can you tell from the smell if the finish is in fact "varnish"?
It may be a penetrating epoxy that has had too many coats ? as penetrating epoxy is not supposed to lay "on top" of wood,(but we are only human)
I wonder if someone added extra "oil" to a product to make it softer on purpose?
Is it peeling up anywhere except the area in the bottom there?..where it may have been wet for awhile?
that is a nice touch, lamming the strips directly to the inside bottom
the boat is not built by a total rube...there are a few other bits with a bit extra.
maybe the stuff does not need removing ?
bruce

[DuncanN]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

The man who built it had made several boats. His son was taking care of his things as he was settling in to hospice. This wasn't his first (or last) boat and it was definiately worth the $800 bucks I paid for it (including the trailer).

My issue is that it scrapes off against rocks pretty easily and most of the beaches around us are pretty rocky. I guess I assume it was spar varnish based on the way it flakes in the bottom of the boat but- I am only guessing. I am going for a harder coating that will protect the wood better. Kind of leaning towards a polyurethane paint. Also I like the "workboat" esthetic more- white paint and wood rails.

Funny thing though I bought this boat and my wife and I decided right after to sell out place on acreage and get a house in town so it got put on hold. Then The market stopped cold when interests rates went up so we decided to stay put because no one wanted to buy our house- well not at a price that meant we could get a place in town anyway. We have to keep the house on the market to get our earnest money back (on the other house in town) but I figured we were just running out the clock at this point. So I decided to get to refitting the boat in the shop and went to get some odds and ends yesterday- only to get a call from my realtor that we have a showing. So who knows? I am not going to strip until I have the replacement coating on hand but no harm getting it set up in the shop in the meantime. and there are some odds and ends on the mast to be dealt with anyway so it makes for a good morning puttering around the shop.

[sp_clark]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

Looks like some okoume ply I have, and the bright rubrails maybe red oak? Grain looks right if color's a bit lacking in red, but who trusts on-line image display anyway?

There's a 'marine' epoxy I recall using decades ago, cured softish but with a good strong bond to bare wood.From Clark Craft (no relation I'm aware of) out of New York? Smelled dreadful when mixing even with carbon filter cartridges in my respirator.

[wizbang 13]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

gluvit ?
git -rot?
these are softish epoxy coatings popular in a former century

[Canoeyawl]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

I would not be scraping the boat against the rocks

You'll have the builder rolling over in his grave...

[jpatrick]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

The finish reminds me of Rawhide. A finish often used on log houses. I used to see many uses of the stuff in Alaska. It's a varnish/oil sort of mixture... I don't know its actual composition. But it was always high gloss, lumpy, and remained softish. There are far better products available nowadays for log structures. Maybe the boat builder was an old log guy.

Jeff

[wizbang 13]

Re: Unknown varnich remidiation

yes yes, keep her off the rocks.
latex paint will protect her from the sun, but nothing else
nogs of wood attached to the bottom do that job
b