Thank you for the varnish wisdom. I would like to add, as a long time Cetol (the glossy type) user on our exterior teak and santa maria brightwork, that Cetol also "melts" into the previous layers to weld itself on, so it acts like traditional varnish in that respect. I don't know how it resembles varnish otherwise as I have not used traditional varnish on my boat, but Cetol seems to hold up to the Florida sun reasonably well.
For interior work I use only MinWax poly varnish, three coats minimum, and have been satisfied with that. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.72N 081 38.40W ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Hardin To: [email protected] Sent: 6/2/2008 11:31:52 AM Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Mahogany Finish Vern, Im a long time owner of a mahogany on oak Hinckley Sou Wester , a mahogany Lyman lapstrake runabout and I am a friend of George Smith who started working at Chris Craft at the age of 10 and ended up running the place with his brother till it was sold The Smiths tried every kind of magic goop sold for clear finish and you cant get around the suns destruction of anything it hits. The whole trick is to refresh before the finish starts to break down. Use traditional marine varnish, not plastic. Build up 7-10 coats if you strip and prepare the wood. Then it is easy. Every few months when the top layer starts to dull do a quick light sanding and a fresh coat of varnish. This takes less time than waxing fiberglass. ;-) In between you can touch up nicks with a bit of varnish. If you use plastic you cant do the touch up of course and other problems arise. Real varnish melts into the underlying layers and holds up better over the years than any other goop yet made. I have clear finished mahogany cabin sides, rails, coamings and spruce spars on the sail boat and clear transom, decks and interior on the Lyman that have not been wooded in over 30 years and they look great. As for stripping wood, a good heat gun and very sharp scraper. Keep a file in your back pocket and when the scraper stops squealing sharpen! This is very fast and effective and green and safe and PC and cheap. ;-) Bob
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