refinishing caprails varnish or awlgrip?

[Nomad Willy]

Maybe one coat of varnish would be thicker.
That would make it more of a toss.

 

[SteveZ]

Varnish

This is an issue we face in the boatyards on a regular basis. There is no best method - it depends on a combination of budget, desired appearance, and willingness/ability to keep up with the finish.

The attached article explores some of the choices and pros and cons. For what it's worth, we have Bristol on our boat and have had good results. But it is not set and forget.

Steve Zimmerman

 

[Njlarry]

Njlarry,
One would think the rapid coat feature would have negative side affects.

Such as???
Why so negative? I merely tried to help the OP with my experience. Yours may vary. Why the doubt about thickness? Practical Sailor review is there for all to read.
I have no experience with Bristol but suspect it is similar.
Your boat your choice.

 

[oak_box]

Another wild option...

I have very little exposed wood on my boat. The toe rail, wood hand rail only around the back part around the helm area, and the wood inside the fairly protected helm area.

I'm planning to sand and use tongue oil on the toe rail and hand rail, after I make canvas covers that will snap or velcro over the rails.

I've seen this on one or two other boats, and it looked pretty sharp. The covers can be taken off when you want to expose the pretty wood. Otherwise, the covers stay as nice as any other sunbrella or similar covering. I have my own Sailrite sewing machine, so am hopeful that when needed, I can sew a new cover faster, easier, and more comfortably than redoing brightwork.

Thoughts?

 

[Andiamo2018]

I have been using West System 207 - the clear hardener that has some UV protection - and covering with Interlux perfection plus 2 part. I did the port side over 2 years ago WITHOUT taking off the stanchion bases which was a mistake. But it still looks great, I just know that it isn't going to last as long as it could (also another story how I learned this lol).

We have stepped on the caprail by the companion way every day, dropped heavy things on it and sat a washer/dryer combo machine on it and it has held up and really does still look great. I just know near the stanchions I can pry coatings up without tearing up the wood because dampness has migrated underneath.


In the past I used Smith Co with regular varnish which did not last over a year.


Encapsulation means sealing the whole thing up. The term is also used in reference to asbestos flooring etc where you can just paint or epoxy over it and leave it there.


I used a rotary tool and sharp scraper to clean out the bottom edges of the caprail where it hits the fiberglass. Acetone to clean out that gap and then I wetted it out with an acid brush and epoxy. When I could still easily dent that epoxy with a finger nail I added thickened epoxy to make a fillet. The next day I did 3 coats of the 206. Two weeks later I did the coats of the 2 part perfection.

I also hit every joint and suspicious spot with a heatgun before I did anything with the epoxy.

BTW, I thicken the epoxy with sanding dust I catch by using the bag that came with the sander instead of attaching it to a shop vac. It is a fine powder and turns very dark brown which for me is good.

 

[Andiamo2018]

I think if I wanted to go with Awlgrip I would remove the wood entirely. I don't like how the awlgrip looks on caprails. I have also just painted caprails etc and it is SO much easier. If you wait a little too long to re-coat (5 years instead of 3 for example) you just sand off the top layer of the old paint instead of having to get into the wood again. In a day you can get things looking decent again. Do a couple of coats and things look good for another 3 years.

 

[Photoman41]

Caprail

Hello Kindred Spirit. Two years ago I stripped the caprail on our Krogen 48 down to bare wood and applied multiple coats of Awlwood MA clear. With one exception, it looks as good today as when I finished the original refinishing project 1 1/2 years ago.

The exception was around the joints in the aft corners of the boat. This past August I noticed some minor chipping at those joints. I knew that could potentially become a problem when I originally did the work. The culprit of course was the expansion and contraction along those joints. The solution was having scarf joints cut in. Frankly, I am not sure why Kadey Krogen doesn’t cut those in during the build.

Your post mentioned Awlgrip which I took to mean the paint. A number of Krogen owners went that route. You might check on the owner’s forum for insights from those owners. We elected to go with Awlwood because we like the look of varnish but not the amount of maintenance required.

I did the work myself. I obtained quotes from professionals which I found exorbitant. So I spent about 3 or 4 weeks on the project. It turned out that I actually enjoyed doing the work.

Feel free to contact me with any additional questions. Good luck with your project.

 

[cabinetman1955]

Finihes

It doesn't matter what you use if the material you are covering is not properly prepped and the conditions are not optimum the results will continue to be less than satisfactory. Manufactures put recommendations in the directions for a good reason. Too many times I have seen people out putting finish on when the humidity is way over what the recommendations state. Moisture content of the wood and air and also the temperature must be in the optimum range.

 

[Photoman41]

Agreed.

 

[sailormike]

We have been using honey teak for over 20 years and have only had to do a re-coat once in the 20 years. I highly recommend it.

Practical Sailor gave best ratings to Honey Teak by by Signature finish. Did my teak five years ago and onky now needs a touch up of two more coats.
What I liked best was it is not fussy as regards to temp or humidity and coats can be applied every twenty minutes without sanding.
Your boat your choice and time.

 

[Salish Nomad]

I, fortunately, have no exterior teak on my AT.
On my DeFever , I had excellent results using Semco teak treatment.

 

[R lucky]

Awlspar / Awlbrite

I have that boat that's pretty to look at but no one wants to own -- teak galore. I've been using Awlspar with Awlbrite for about six years and I'm really happy with it. It provides a beautiful deep wet-look gloss (bias noted ).

I gave it two extra coats after the first two and a half years and two more just recently. I don't use covers on any of it. The only drawback is professional application or a fairly steep learning curve.

 

[Choices]

You are confusing products. There is Awlwood and Awlgrip.

Awlgrip has a traditional varnish product, Awlspar and Awlbrite. I have not used them. They also have their pigmented lines.

Awlwood is an Awlgrip product that is similar to Imron, an airplane and industrial coating. I think Awlgrip bought the Awlwood product and relabeled it.

Awlwood's first step is a single stage epoxy, in clear, yellow, red, or whatever you want to mix. The rest of the coats are water clear but can be tinted with the primer.

I have not seen a varnish as clear as Awlwood, and it's definition is incredible.

I brush and spray it.

Start small and learn it's quirks. You can go to " grandbankschoices", and see what I have done, but you have to dig back to see my first attempts.

It can be touched up. It also comes in a Matt finish. It can be wet sanded and buffed back to perfect.

Awlwood is an isocynate product, and can lift varnished if recoated, do experiment if not bare wood.

My compass and sign boards look like they are incased in glass. I love this stuff.

 

[Woodland Hills]

I am using Awlwood thinned 10% to cover the primer. I put on three coats a day to level and fill the grain with a foam roller then sand it the next morning. Here in the Keys the direct sun in the afternoon will cause tiny bubbles to form as the thinner evaporates, but the sanding knocks them down and the next coat fill them, I wait for the late afternoon/early evening to recoat. I am going to put the last few coats on unthinned and finish with their satin topcoat. I absolutely hate glossy wet looking wood!

Anyway, it is very easy to apply and flows out nicely.

 

[Choices]

I have been told the matt is not as hard as the gloss. I tried the matt inside on my counter fiddles. Seems to be holding up very well.

Matt does not show brush strokes like gloss.