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Handrails, Gunwale and Bowsprit. Epoxy and 1 or 2 part?
Hi,
I’m just about to start a spring project, temps in around 12-18 C but highly fluctuating so I’ve decided to try to get a high build with epoxy 207 on the clean sanded teak gunwale, a solid 2 cm wood rail 6 to 8 cm wide. After the epoxy I haven’t decided yet to do 2P or 1p varnish for the finish. So that is my first question. epoxy then more 2 part or right to a 1 part?
I’ve also got a new bow sprit to install, it is a solid tapered piece of white spruce. 16×15 cm tapering to 10×9 cm over a 250 cm length. I don’t think it will flex or move much but was wondering if it would be best to do it 1 part varnish or if it can be epoxied too? I was thinking about the 3% tensile limits of the epoxy.
I have a few questions on colour, the teak rail is now sanded to a beautiful natural golden, as I apply 3-6 coats epoxy (207) then start to 1 part varnish with Epifanes high gloss will it change much in colour? Would it be wise to stain it a bit darker?
All the handrails need doing too – probably epoxy first then ?
The boat is pure white Awlgrip so there will be a large contrast in deck to woodwork. I’d also like to stain the white spruce bow sprit to be a teak colour to mach the gunwale.
The boat is used in a commercial harbour tour so I’m trying to achieve both beauty and durability. It’s getting a full refurbishment.
Here are few pics of
The new flooring – Interlux 2 part perfection
The bowsprit new in spruce (teak stain and then 1 part Epifanes high gloss) or epoxy first then high gloss?
The gunwale before sanding, then it will get epoxy and many coats of finish.
The deck and hand rails
On the water sailing. Downeaster 38 Ketch, Lake Superior
The second part of this project is a full grinding of the 1 part Interdeck and its anti skid, then two coats of epoxy Alwgrip 545 primer, then Awlgrip top coat, then griptex then final coat of Awlgrip.
Thanks
Greg
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Hi Greg
First of all apologies for the slow response. I like to try and do a well thought out response on posts like this and think “I’ll reply to that when I get time” but then time flies by before I realise it. Anyway…
First of all, two part varnish is definitely recommended onto epoxy. Going straight on with single part is not a good idea, you can go two part and then one. For example West 207 > Epifanes PP > Epifanes Clear Gloss.
I don’t actually know the reasoning behind why that is, possibly because the two have such different elongation ratings. The guys at Epifanes told me that PP is the perfect bridge for this though. 207 is 3.4%, PP is something like 5.5% I think and I expect Traditional Clear Gloss is more like 8-10%, that’s just a guess though.
Make sure the teak is well prepped and degrease with acetone as it can push off finishes that are well sealed.
Teak (and all woods for that matter) will darken even with the 207 special clear. Finishing up with traditional varnish will bring a bit of richness back to the finish. Staying with two part clears all the way will give a very glassy look to the finish. I would probably steer clear of staining unless you really want to get a specific colour into the wood. It adds a complicated step to the process both in application, sanding back and any future possible repairs so if it’s not needed then I wouldn’t bother.
I think you’ll be fine with the epoxy for flexing. Just remember that if you go for encapsulation, EVERYTHING needs to be considered and properly sealed. About the worst thing you could do is coat the bowsprit and then screw the fittings on at the end which will allow water ingress. Do you have many screw fittings that go into it? If so they should be properly potted with epoxy to seal them… a video that’s on my list to make some day.
If you get to the later stages of varnish and you want a little more colour in the bowsprit then the Epifanes Rapid Coat could be an option, it has a little more colour in it than the other varnishes and could allow you to darken things a little more down the line if you think it is needed.
My overall recommendation would be, no stain, West 207, Epifanes PP and then Traditional Clear Gloss. Thats a winning combo in my eyes.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers
Dan