Re: New P19 Hatch Boards - Varnish? smarnish! Acrylic not for rudder

SolarFry@aol.com
Wed, 7 Apr 1999 12:09:13 EDT


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 4/6/99 6:30:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
JBlumhorst@aol.com writes:

<< Subj: Re: New P19 Hatch Boards - Varnish? smarnish!

In a message dated 4/6/99 3:21:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ej@blarg.net
writes:

> Have you tried this? It sounds like a great idea (and God knows I'd love to
> not spend as much time varnishing)... but I'd be afraid that the great
> expansion/contraction of wood in heat/cooling cycles would be too much for
> acrylic clear paint. In the half-dozen or so books on boat maintenance
I've
> read in the last year I've seen no mention of it. On the other hand, that
> finish seems to work fine on cars which spend as much time in the sun as
> our boats. Anyone else tried this?

I'd heard this was a good top coat to protect the epoxy. I tried it on my
lower rudder blade.

First I stripped it, sanded, and sealed it with three coats epoxy. Then
two
or three coats of spray white epoxy paint. Then three coats of clear
acrylic. It's chipping and shows scratches like crazy and it really shows
up
because it's white. Glad I have the epoxy underneath to protect the wood.
Maybe I didn't do it right, but the results aren't satisfactory.

On the other hand, the upper part was done with Armada Finish (sort of like
Cetol, but I like the color better). Stripped it, sanded, sealed with three
coats epoxy. Six coats Armada. Very few chips that I see (maybe they're
there and I just don't notice -- I'll have to check). Looks great.

Regards,
Judy B.
>>

My P19 has been in water since February... Won't come out till late June...

Metal expands more than wood. The wood should be cleaned with dewaxer,
sanded, tacked, dried and sealed completely in epoxy to prevent absorption of
humidity. Then epoxy must dry for a week in sunlight (UV lamp?) before
applying acrylic clear paint. You must have enough epoxy on that wood so that
you can lightly sand it or acrylic will not stick. I did all my wood
handrails that way last summer... They still look like new in Florida sun and
rain. The lil front ones get to have lines tied to them all the time and
acrylic has not worn out yet. I used automotive clear acrylic spray paint on
them...

You should not use acrylic paint on items to be submerged. Specially wood, as
the water is absorbed between acrylic and epoxy. The water then blisters
acrylic paint out. You learn this one by experience... Yep, I did that too...
Lot of sanding to get that acrylic of S13 rudder...

The varnish on my rudder is peeling out (I leave rudder in water for 2-3 days
at a time). I wonder if I should use 3M Vynilester resin or West Epoxy resin
to seal it from water penetration? I'd like to leave it in water with
antifouling paint, permanently. I hate taking it off every time...

SF