Hello

[Eric Charles]

Hi everyone , I am new to the forums .

I purchased a beautiful cedar canoe a few months ago . All the varnish has been stripped , im done sanding and all the surfaces are ready for the final finishing .
My canoe has a fiberglass on the outer hull . My canoe is in very very good shape ,

I was wondering before i apply the varnish . Btw I have bought the best money can buy or so i think , Old Masters spar-marine Varnish Gloss for exterior and satin for interior so the the interior wont blind me from sun reflectionhehehehe .

Ok so before i apply varnish , should I apply some sort of wood treatment oil/sealer ? the cedar is in very great shape ,and since not much wood is exposed since the outer hull is covered in fiberglass , only the kiel and " the side upper edge , is exposed " the inner finish was such in excellent shape i just passed 300 grit sand paper lightly so i can apply the Satin varnish .

Up to date i have over 30-40 hours invested prepping and being very careful , I am asking this so i dont scrap all my hard work LOL

I am a very particular person , I love a job well done , I DO NOT CUT CORNERS , and expect nothing but the best , thats the way I function .

Well i thank you in advance for all your information , Im sure i could have found the answer to my question on the forums , i looked a bit but I just get incomplete answers to my question hehehehe

Ohh and as a genereal rule , how many coats of varnish should I apply . Old masters specs say a minimum of three .

 

[Dan Miller]

Hello Eric, and welcome to the WCHA Forums.

I am not familiar with Old Masters brand varnish. I looked at their website and it does appear to be a suitable varnish (not polyurethane), but it is not clear what oil base they use. Most of us use traditional linseed oil or tung oil based spar varnishes made by ZSpar, Epifanes or Interlux. You will want to be sure your varnish is not a polyuretane, as those types of varnish create problems down the road with flaking and difficulty recoating.

For surface prep, follow your manufacturers directions - e.g. Old Masters's instructions say to sand previous finishes with 220 grit. To use finer grit will not provide the "tooth" you need to get a good bond between old and new varnish. I would go over what you already sanded with 300 grit again with the 220 grit.

There is usually no need to pre-treat the hull with anything prior to varnishing. When starting with bare wood, the usual procedure is to thin the first coat 50% with the proper thinner, the second coat gets thinned 25%, and the remaining get thinned 10%. I note that Old Masters says do not thin. The number of coats required varies depending on the individual project and individual varnisher. From bare wood, 5 to 7 coats are often applied. For recoating, two coats might be enough. I judge the varnishing to be complete when the varnish is no longer getting wicked under the ribs, leaving a dry area alongside the ribs.

 

[Eric Charles]

Ok thank you very much .

It was only the inner hull i sanded with 300 , but the outer was done with 120 to strip and 180 for final .

I read the msds , its oil based varnish not polyurethane .

It says to not thin it , but as you state it would have a better penetration if i do ? But the hull has a fiberglass or as i read canvas ?

 

[Dan Miller]

I read the msds , its oil based varnish not polyurethane .

It says to not thin it , but as you state it would have a better penetration if i do ? But the hull has a fiberglass or as i read canvas ?

Yes, oil based, but what oil?

Thinning is most important when starting from bare wood, but it can be important also if the varnish is thick (as is typical of the brands I mentioned above) and needs to be thinned for effective brushing. Your varnish may already be pretty thin (like Man O'War varnish) so may not need additional thinning. Try it on a test piece.

 

[Eric Charles]

Treid it on a test piece Dan , its very liquid , applies very easily .

Now , what do you guys recommend for sanding in between coats , fine steel wool , or as the Old Masters varnish specs recommend 220 grit sandpaper

 

[Dan Miller]

Definitely not steel wool. The little particles that get left behind rust. If the manufacturer says to use 220 grit, that is probably what you should do. If, when you sand, you are gumming up and not getting fine powder, then the varnish is not dried enough.

There has been a lot written in these forums about sanding and varnishing. Here are a couple of hints. You can sand cross-grain with 220 grit paper (e.g. the planking between the ribs). A 220g sanding star from Woodcraft chucked in your electric drill makes short work of sanding the interior.

 

[Eric Charles]

Ok thank you very much for the info , ill post pics after the first coat is on , all depending on how humid it is , humidity is about 80% , will not stop raining here in eastern Canada . hopefully this weekend all is well , anyhow i wil post up Pics when I have a chance .

Once again thank you