thompsondockside.com

I have just put on the old salem sealer over the stain. Do I lightly sand in preparation for the varnish? How many coats of varnish.

Do not sand the Old Salem Sealer. You'll sand it right off. After this sealer, start with thinned varnish coats. First coat about 25% varnish and 75% thinner. Second coat 50-50. Third coat 75% varnish and 25% thinner. NO sanding between these coats. Probably the forth or so coat can be full strength varnish and that's when you begin sanding between coats.

The number of coats is up to you. I put 11 coats of varnish on the '61 Thompson (Peshtigo) Sea Lancer I restored last year.

Andreas

I was putting varnish coat number two(50/50) mixture( Interlux 96 varnish/Interlux 333 brushing thinner) on my Grady today. Before I started I checked the surface everything looked nice. It has been a week since coat number one (25/75) about a half hour into the project on a part of the deck that I had not gotten to in a seam a bright white cream substance started to grow all along the seam. When I got to that part of the boat about a half hour later it had spread along the seam about 18". I decided not to do anything about it until after everything had dried and I varnish right over this cream colored fungus. About a half hour after doing this the fungus disappeared. Has this happened to anyone else? It looked like a chemical reaction. Question is why did it happen then. The coat had been drying for a week. I had not applied any varnish near this area, I was about 3' away. Could it have been the fumes in the air? It happened in a seam but not all seams. before I had applied the second coat it had crept out from the seam about 1/4" . If dry I am going to apply coat number 3 tomorrow (75/25) am I doing something wrong? Any ideas would be great.

No clue.

Andreas

Imagecave.com is down no photo

Could it be glue...did the temps change a lot?

The temp did not change a lot, and the varnish had been on for a week. It has been very rainy here in the northeast but the day I did this was dry. The odd part was that the boat was fine when I started. The only change was the fumes in the air. I had used Zip Strip to remove the varnish but that was months ago. The odd part was the way it grew and then the way the 50/50 mixture made it go away. This small section did not go away and I am hopeful that the next coat will help. It was some type of chemical reaction just not sure what and if it was the varnish or the Brushing Thinner that helped.
Strange

Just finished putting third coat on (75/25). All the cream color is gone... no clue why it came or how it went away. I am noticing a difference in applying the varnish with less 333 in it. It does not flow as easily.
*** QUESTION: Do I go strait varnish from here out or do I add some 333?

Just finished putting third coat on (75/25). All the cream color is gone... no clue why it came or how it went away. I am noticing a difference in applying the varnish with less 333 in it. It does not flow as easily.
*** QUESTION: Do I go straight varnish from here out or do I add some 333?

If the temp and humidity is up adding 2 to 5 perceht of thinner is usually the norm to keep it flowing well...if you are doing a deck or other wide area its better to thin a little than sand out lap marks.

Has anyone used 0000 steel wool instead of 220 sand paper between varnish coats? It would be easier to handle. I am afraid it may leave gray marks or be difficult to remove the residue steel filings.

Do NOT use steel wool on boats for any reason. No matter how well you clean, there will always be some residual steel left. And what does steel do when it gets moist? It rusts. Therefore you have created an excellent opportunity for a mess.

Use brass or bronze wool in and around boats if you want to use "wool."

I would not use "wool" for wood parts anyway. Sandpaper is the way to go.

Andreas