name boards

Woodsong wrote:

Ok- decision time!! They are painting the topsides. I need make up my mind whether to refinish the name boards or just go with vinyl letters directly to the side of the fiberglass of the flybridge (similar to attached pic). Name board is a traditional look. However, they are small and you really can't read the name of the boat unless close up. It is also yet another piece of teak to refinish.
Or- just go with larger letters applied to fiberglass- easier to read, one less piece of teak.

Too sacrilege to skip the name boards?

Click to expand...

Go to a sign shop. They will let you choose your font, size and color on the computer screen, and then they print it on adhesive back vinyl attached to a one pieces paper backing. You then position it and start removing the paper as you go. It's reasonable and bombproof.

I would suggest you fit the name behind the antenna. Maybe one word above the other, and go with a little less flowery font, so it can be easily read. I sure don't like the way the name rolls around the front of your bridge right now. Just sayin....

*

Do the name boards!

Tony, I agree with Carey.

What does your transom look like?

Nameboards.

We made new boards last year when we bought the boat. We made the boards and put on five coats of TufShield. We had Prism Graphics in Seattle make the lettering and put them on (I did not want to risk mucking it up), then five more coats of TufShield. I have no idea whether that was the right way to do it, or how long they will hold up, but they look pretty good to us. This is the first time we have had a boat with nameboards.


-- Edited by Rusty Lewis on Thursday 17th of February 2011 10:40:19 PM

transom will look something like this:



and underside of dinghy:



Text may be little less "scrolly" but it will be something like that. Also, if I did it in larger letters on the side of the flybridge, it would stop before the curve to the front of the flybridge...i am just lazy with my photoshopping.

Nice.*

Use the name boards...
They really look classy....

HOLLYWOOD

On my boat the Nameboards have the screws exposed and there are standoffs in the back.

I think painting may be better in the long run because you just keep varnishing over it.

JohnP

Carl,
THANKS for posting those. All those examples look great IMO. True North example being closest in style to our Monk and it looks just fine without the name boards, as well as Rolling Stone on a bigger scale. We'll see what we do- part of it will depend on whether the screw holes @ the old name boards are covered up or not. If not- I guess I may be reinstalling the nameboards to cover the holes. If I didn't already have a forest of teak on the exterior I'd keep the nameboards without hesitation but really- less exterior teak the better for me I think since we have so much. *We'll see- gotta get the wife to ok it first so maybe I'll be doing the nameboards afterall. *


-- Edited by Woodsong on Friday 18th of February 2011 08:50:52 AM

I also battled for a while about to go with natural or painted. *Finally decided to do the boards in Awlgrip Mahogany Red, with matching gold-leaf (real gold leaf encapsulated in vinyl) on both transome and side boards. *Easy to read. *I guess I have to update my Avitar, since the photo reflects the ideas I was working with at the time, and not the finished product.

-- Edited by healhustler on Friday 18th of February 2011 09:00:47 AM

I think the nameboard looks terrific. And since your boat his little or no external teak, there was no need to try to maintain the varnished teak look. Judging from the photo, I think you made a great choice in color for the board itself. I wish ours looked that good and were that easy to read from a distance.

Ok. I have the nameboards at the house- marina doing the topsides painting overnighted them to me since their yard is a 4 hour round trip for me.
The person who last installed them appears to have wanted to make darn sure they never fell off- caulked solid all over the back and then 10 screws (yes 10) installed to hold it on place. See attached picture. I do not want to install them the same way they were which was just with countersunk screws with wooden plugs over them and varnished. Assuming I reinstall these and don't just go make new ones, I want to use through bolts with decorative SS donut washers so that the boards can be taken down for refinishing any time.
Question- how have you all best found to install wood plugs? I don't need 10 screws to hold these boards in place so I want to cover some up and eliminate them.
It all seems more of a pain- I may just go make some new ones but all the teak I have found in the past is very dark compared to older teak.

Mine have carriage bolts permanently buried under plugs that go right through the bridge side.

Nuts and washers on the inside, out of sight ,hold them on. All that is seen from outside is the plugs.

When I first got the boat and took them off the bolts were a bit loose and I was afraid they might spin so I dribbled some epoxy into the holes to lock them. Worked.

Tony:
When you sand off the old name, sand all the way to the dark wood and you will have the colour of what you can buy now.* 2 years on the boat and the sun will fade it back to what you have now.
Get a plug cutter set and make some plugs, cut the matching countersinks, Bob's your uncle.

My boards were painted white letters, then varnished.* The name shows well, looks yellow thru the varnish.

-- Edited by koliver on Sunday 6th of March 2011 09:54:07 AM

Keith,** Good Info.* Never knew white paint would yield that effect when varnished.

I played around mixing a yellowish color and mine look too yellow.


Next time?* I will go with white.


Yours look great!* JohnP

I've got them sanded down and plugs glued in place yesterday (still need to sand down the plugs) and then fine sand the boards. They are definitely darker now since it's bare wood!! I had a heck of a time with the backs of the boards- seems whoever installed them last REALLY wanted to make sure they did not go anywhere- 10 screws holding them in place PLUS the entire backs were coating in about 1/4" of caulk! I had to peel that junk all off and scrape it down with a good chisel without gouging the wood. They are clean on both sides now. I need to track down the wood guy @ the marina doing the topside painting as they refinished a few spots so I need to see what they found to be a good match for color. The wood is so dark now i am afraid if I just varnish the boards will come out looking brown...thinking some cetol may be necessary to give it that orangier/brighter look then varnish.

There is sanding dust on the boards in the "finished" shot thus the reason they look so splotchy.

-- Edited by Woodsong on Sunday 6th of March 2011 10:14:49 AM

-- Edited by Woodsong on Sunday 6th of March 2011 10:22:00 AM

Tony:
Don't get hung up on the colour. The sun will work with you and make it all the same in no time. If you mess with the colour by using Cetol trying to match something that didn't use Cetol, you have just committed an unforgivable sin. If you varnish it properly, you will get ooos and ahhs from your admirers, regardless of any colour difference, which will disappear in no time.
If what you are trying to match is already covered in that paint, then go ahead. Oh and don't bother to mask, or clean up any spills, it won't make any difference.

Keith,
so you'd skip applying any stain at all? I honestly am not 100% whether the previous owner used cetol or not. I have left him several messages over the last 2 months knowing I was going to do this soon and he never returned the call. So much for his promise of "I'll be there to answer questions after you buy her"! I think he has a full plate though- he was filing bankruptcy right after I bought her. You can see the original color of the boards before I sanded them down....it definitely seemed to be more than just varnish when I was going at with the belt sander but again, I have no way of confirming exactly what he used. I like the look of natural teak and LOTS of varnish on it.

Tony;

If the colour rendition of your camera and my computer are close to being accurate, there was no stain. that's about what my boards looked like before I attacked them to change the name. 8 coats of varnish in 1994 and maybe three more since then, and mine have looked great all that time.

Keith, I don't mean to hijack the post, but am wondering about your make of boat... sent you a pm asking about your listing as a *C&L 44 ... *would love to hear from you!

hm. *Well, perhaps I should have gone with some cetol. *I was debating this myself and was thinking it did not look like it had a stain on it so I just sanded down, etc. put on the first coat of varnish. *Definitely a different tone and darker. *This is the one thing I wish the seller would have answered the phone and told me what he used just so I could match it!

Tony:

my earlier posts go unread.

"Tony:
When you sand off the old name, sand all the way to the dark wood and you will have the colour of what you can buy now. 2 years on the boat and the sun will fade it back to what you have now."

"Tony:
Don't get hung up on the colour. The sun will work with you and make it all the same in no time. If you mess with the colour by using Cetol trying to match something that didn't use Cetol, you have just committed an unforgivable sin. If you varnish it properly, you will get ooos and ahhs from your admirers, regardless of any colour difference, which will disappear in no time.
If what you are trying to match is already covered in that paint, then go ahead. Oh and don't bother to mask, or clean up any spills, it won't make any difference. "

"Tony;

If the colour rendition of your camera and my computer are close to being accurate, there was no stain. that's about what my boards looked like before I attacked them to change the name. 8 coats of varnish in 1994 and maybe three more since then, and mine have looked great all that time. "

Now that you have the boards varnished, all you need to do is wait. Be patient.

Remember that viewers cannot see both port and starboard boards at the same time to compare exact color.

By Larry H "Remember that viewers cannot see both port and starboard boards at the same time to compare exact color."


Now that, is a good tip!
Steve

Keith,
Your insight was definitely not unnoticed! I do appreciate it. I decided to try reaching out to the seller one last time tonight to see if I could get him to respond and miracle of miracles, he finally replied. He used the same Epifanes gloss wood finish I am using so Keith- I think you are right...I just need to be patient.

Now...to put on a dozen coats of the varnish!