Bristol Finish and seams

[Forkliftt]

I have some nice teak (I was told) furniture on the aft deck that I have refinished once with Bristol. After a few years it has not done well- mostly due to my neglect and an improper application method I am sure. I really like the product and plan to continue to use it- so this is not a " best varnish to use" thread. On my next attempt I plan on applying two coats of CPES and then the first coat of Bristol while still wet as Marin has suggested in a post a while back. My question is whether or not it would benefit to caulk the joints where two boards meet and are subject to expansion? It seems to me that this area will always be subject to movement and tend to crack. Thoughts?

 

[Nomad Willy]

Forklift,
What on earth would you caulk w that would'nt be hard to look at?

 

[Marin]

If moisture can get under Bristol it reacts no differently than varnish: it lifts. So caulking would be a good idea. I'm not sure I'd use Bristol on furniture at all but regardless, the moisture issue doesn't change.

 

[Phil Fill]

Might want to tru epoxy with additive/filler and some stain mixed in to Match. That is what is used to fill the joints of the 50+ ft rub rail and other out side tril with several coats of varvish.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. Forklift. Hard to know what the piece is exactly, but if a chair or seat, THAT joint will be flexed anytime someone sits or gets up so I don't think there's much that gets really hard, like epoxy that will stay bonded under the repeated stress.
There IS clear caulk (non silicone!!)that can be painted or varnished and such a material may give you a flexible bond that will hold the finish and minimize water intrusion.
Tough call...

 

[Forkliftt]

I would tape these areas and run a small bead of black caulk at the seam. I feel that cracking and peeling are inevitable. Maybe I'm wrong? I would prefer not to have the caulk if possible.

 

[Keith]

I have the same problem with scarf joints on my cap rail. I was wondering if using TDS caulking would work, as it would remain flexible. I just don't know if it'll accept varnish.

 

[Nomad Willy]

In your situation Forklift I'd strip off the old finish and put on lots of oil/linseed oil (10 coats or more) and topcoat w premium oil base varnish like McKloski's or Interlux Schooner. I did this on my cleat/winch platform board a year or so and even through an Alaskan winter is holding up fine. Notice my rather sad looking cap rail w just oil and the winch board finish w varnish on top. The heavy oil base seems to be make the oil base varnish as good as anything. Re coating from time to time should be very basic. I intend to do that w the cap rail when we get the boat down south. By the way the winch platform board is just a pice of construction plywood. Just used what I had locally avoiding buying a 4x8 sheet.
Can't seem to upload this pic in edit mode. see following post.

 

[Larry M]

Here's my 2 cents. The chairs joints as does our cap rail flexes/expands/contracts with stress and temperature. Caulking will flex also. Bristol and varnish are hard finishes or at least they are called that. As the joints/cap move so does the finish allowing moisture to enter in those areas after a period of time. I look at those areas as the weakest link. So, we all work at refinishing with those hard finishes and .

 

[Nomad Willy]

Finally figured out a way to downsize my image so it will post.
This picture goes w my last post.
Got a new camera. It takes 4608x3456 at 6MB.
I reduced it by 75% and it's a bit blurry so I'll try a 50% reduction next time.

 

[Marin]

Eric--- Regarding blurry, this forum must use a much lower resolution setting than the original forum. In the original forum when you would click on a thumbnail of a photo in a post--- like your picture above--- the expanded picture would be just as sharp. But on the new forum, while the photos look sharp as thumbnails, when you expand them they are not very sharp at all. Quite soft actually. So it's not you or your photo manipulation, it's the lower quality of the new forum's photo manipulation function.

Too bad the new forum couldn't have kept the photo expansion settings of the old forum. While I like the format and features of the new forum I am really disappointed by its photo quality. Maybe I'm more critical of that because that's part of my profession. But I thought the photo side of the original forum's software was excellent.

 

[Nomad Willy]

OK let's try this.
The original pic was 6MB
The previous image was .5MB
This pic is 1.5MB
Can you tell the difference?

I can tell a slight difference in the clearness of the screw head on the bow chock but it's very small.

 

[Marin]

On both my iPad and my computer both pictures look identical when blown up from the thumbnail.

 

[Forkliftt]

OK let's try this.
The original pic was 6MB
The previous image was .5MB
This pic is 1.5MB
Can you tell the difference?

I can tell a slight difference in the clearness of the screw head on the bow chock but it's very small.

Eric, I'm hoping for a little more consistent color and the glossiness that Bristol can provide. I checked their website- but there really wasn't any information concerning this. I may opt to give them a call.

 

[Marin]

I think prior posters who talked about the joints in furniture always working a bit when the furniture is used have hit on the fundamental problem. A hard finish like Bristol, varnish, etc. will crack under flexing and this will let moiture in and the finish will lift and fail. I think caulking will help prevent moisture into the joint, but it won't stop the flexing and that is what will put hairline cracks in the finish which eventually will get big enough to let moisture in and then it's all over. This is why I expressed reservations about using Bristol as a furniture finish in my first post.

I think something that will soak into the wood like oil, stain, etc. will do a better job for you over time than Bristol, which as someone earlier mentioned is quite hard and easy to crack if there is any flexing underneath it.