Sanding Bright Work

Orbital vs straight sander to scuff up between coats?

Hand has always been my method as all it is is a swipe unless the last coat was a disaster.

psneeld said:

Hand has always been my method as all it is is a swipe unless the last coat was a disaster.

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That's right!

I learned from an old salt with lots of brightwork that the green Scotchbrite roughs the coat up enough for good adhesion without creating dust. I have done this for 4 years with good results.

I agree with the Scotch Brite. I have used grey. I don't recall the difference in grit between green and grey, and I'm too lazy to look it up. But I will do that when I get started on bright work. If you've a large area to cover, try using Scotch Brite in a quarter sheet orbital sander. The thing I like about Skotch Brite is that you can dull and smooth the surface from dust lumps without worrying about taking off too much. It is also more compliant on curved surfaces.

I use the Scotchbrite by hand, not in a sander.

yep by hand, 320 grit. Just finished last weekend.

psneeld said:

Hand has always been my method as all it is is a swipe unless the last coat was a disaster.

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Our 1973 boat has a rainforest of old-growth teak on the exterior. Needless to say we have done a lot of brightwork over the last 13 years and have plenty more yet to do. We have always sanded by hand. My wife uses a Makita heat gun, various scrapers, and a heat sink to protect the surrounding fiberglass to remove old finish but the preparation of the wood for CPES and Bristol has always been done by hand only. I will sometimes use a rubber sanding block to avoid finger "gouges" in the wood but we won't use any kind of power sander for the reasons others have listed.

I have to go along with the "hand sanding" crowd. Not enough surface area in any one spot to warrant using a power tool. If just scuffing, I use about a 180 Grit. If I have to cut down to the wood, I will start with 120 Grit.

Slightly off topic but I have a couple of areas of (Epiphanes) varnished cap rail that have seen slight water intrusion around fittings - just enough to make the underlying wood appear lighter in color, presumably because the varnish no longer adheres properly to the wood. My question is whether there are any good short cuts that will avoid the need to completely remove the varnish in these locations. There must be 10 coats at this time so it will involve a significant number of coats to refill those areas if taken down to wood. Can epoxy be used to level up before applying an overcoat of Epiphanes?
Chris

NO! there is not short cut if you wnat wnat the teak all one color.

To take down to bare wood I use a heat gun first to get most of it off, then a orbital sander with 80 get to get the rest and finally 120 grit. For areas that get a lot of weather and to build I use West System Epoxy for the first layer, but you have to leave the teak rough so the epoxy does not just lay on top of. Then come back with several layer of varnish. I hand sand between each coat will 120 grit sand paper the Scotts Pads I have tried but prefer the sand paper.

Chrisjs:

I have wrestled with the same problem. In some places, I have to repair a hole in the varnish, and don't want to take a large area down to bare wood to get a uniform finish.
I have filled holes with several coats, up to 15, to bring the level up to the top of the surrounding varnish. In other areas I have sanded down the edges of the hole to feather in the area and haven't filled to the level of the surrounding varnish. In still other ares I have taken the whole area to bare wood. In subsequent years, I like the look of the places I have filled the holes the best, where I have taken it down to bare wood, next best, and the uneven level a poor third place. I should add that where I have taken it down to bare wood is a distant second place, as it still needs those extra 15 or more coats that the original had, before it will look as good.
And need I say, I haven't used anything but Epifanes for about the last 10 years, so the finish is superb.
Back to the original question, I prefer using a quarter sheet orbital sander, with 400 grit, as it allows me to achieve a perfectly flat finish, that I have never been able to achieve with hand sanding.

If you use an electric sander be careful around the radius' and edges. On Hobo you can see sander marks on some of the window glass and gel-coat where a sander just briefly touched. The previous owners loved electric sanders. Taping may help but 220 - 400 grit on gel-coat, ouch!