Howie
Wooden Canoe Maniac
So... You've spent many hours stripping then re-stripping the inside of your canoe, then spent more time scraping & sanding to get rid of all traces of the previous finish. Then, if you're like me, you clean & bleach the wood to help even out the wood color make the wood as... clean? pure? as it can be.
So before varnishing do you stain the wood?
I never have myself - I find that old wood immediately turns a nice amber when varnished. But I'm certain almost all the canoes I've restored were stained at the factory - either stained then varnished, or varnished with some tinting in the mix.
What do you folks do? And what were the staining/tinting practices used by other companies? I saw an unrestored Penn Yan Rainbow a while back that looked to have a gorgeous cherry-amber stain. OldTowns also seem to have have been stained.
So before varnishing do you stain the wood?
I never have myself - I find that old wood immediately turns a nice amber when varnished. But I'm certain almost all the canoes I've restored were stained at the factory - either stained then varnished, or varnished with some tinting in the mix.
What do you folks do? And what were the staining/tinting practices used by other companies? I saw an unrestored Penn Yan Rainbow a while back that looked to have a gorgeous cherry-amber stain. OldTowns also seem to have have been stained.