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Raised trim
Hi,
I’m restoring a ‘57 Chris Craft Sportsman which has a raised trim ring around the interior in gold Cordova stain, as well as raised trim under the foot pads and air vents, which contrasts with the CC mahogany stain on the rest of the boat. In your class, your surfaces are flat. How do I apply over the raised pieces (and edges)? Brush? I am worried that the trim edges will flow down to the deck surface and puddle.
Great class! Thank you.
Hi Kevin,
I am actually in the final varnishing stages of a rebuild the same boat.
I would like to share a little of my experience.
I bought and tested bothe the Corina and Cordova filler stains as well as a gel stain from Mike Mayer at Lake Oswego Boat company. I sealed all of my tests with 8 coats of Epifanes (as well as Petitte Captains Varnish) so I could get accurate color samples. I was told I needed Corina by a professional builder, and Cordova by the salesman at Sandusky Paint.
In the end I went with Corina Filler stain which is yellower, but warms up nicely under the many layers of varnish. There are a lot of different blonde treatments in the various Chris Craft models, but this was the color the professional told me to use and in the end I liked it best. I did not like using the filler stain though and opted to use the gel stain for the red brown. It is a very forgiving stain to work with.
I attached a couple of advertisements I found of the boat. If you look closely you can see the trim pieces by the step pads and under the vents are actually stained to match the brown, not the blonde. Most people do make those blonde. Either way, if you stain and varnish the small bump out pieces separately, you can add them with a mahogany colored bedding after the boat is varnished. Without those additions attached to the trim, the straight cockpit combing and covering boards are much easier to varnish neatly. Especially when you consider doing sixteen coats. I did use a brush to get into that ninety degree edge and then rolled and tipped the rest.
I would also recommend using a sealer (I used Pettit Wood Sealer) it seems to be a step that many professionals use on the filler and gel stains.
I initially just used thinned Epifanes. But after my third coat I accidentally pulled off some varnish while peeling off some blue painters tape. I then checked my samples and the varnish peeled cleanly off them as well. I panicked, stripped off the entire boat and restained, sealed and varnished. In hind sight I believe it was just the young varnish not adhering and not an application issue. I cannot peel the varnish off of the sample now that several months have passed. But I did use a sealer when I re stained the boat, just to be safe.
sorry for the essay, best of luck!
Marc Petrovic
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Hey Marc!
How great of you to respond and give me this info. This helps me so much. I already bought the cordova based on a local boat guy, so I’m going to give it a twirl first. Thank you for the photo — I’ve thought from the beginning that the bump-outs should be mahogany but as you note, most seem to stain them gold in the google photos. i’m going mahogany. I so appreciate your help — it’s confusing out here!!
Chandler
Hi Kevin
Are you varnishing these in the same operation as the rest of the deck? I think I can see what you mean from Marc's picture above but if you can share any pictures of the areas so I can visualise them that would be great.
By the sounds of it you will need to use a brush in conjunction with a roller but let me know on the above points and I can let you know a method.
Hi Dan and Kevin,
this is the route I chose. I am doing all the buildup coats with the additional trim pieces unattached, and I will bed them when everything is finished. Seemed like it would give me a cleaner end result not having to navigate around these.
I used a brush to get into the recess, but everything else was rolled and tipped at the same time.
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Thanks Marc!
Just made a Cordova stain sample and it’s not gold at all. Did your sample look like this before varnish?
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Here are the samples I made of the various blonde stains. All are sealed with 8 coats of Epifanes.
Left to right,
1) no stain, just bleached Philippine mahogany.
2) Corina filler stain from Sandusky Paint Co.
3a/b) Cordova filler stain from Sandusky.
4) Blonde gel stain from Lake Oswego Boat Company.
I used the Corina on my 1957 CC Sportsman.
hope this helps.
marc
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The stains change dramatically once they have a half dozen plus coats of varnish applied. You will find the different brands impart different tones as well. I tested Pettit Captains varnish as well and it is slightly darker and less amber than Epifanes.
I forgot to mention that in the image of samples-
3a) Pettit sealer applied. (One coat really darkened the resulting color)
3b) just Epifanes, no sealer
Good luck,
Marc
Thanks so much for taking the time. Your photos helped me immensely. Based on them, I’ve gone with the Cordova and will be applying Epifanes per Dan Lee — a little freaked out that the stain is more sandy than gold, but I’m going to move forward based largely on your post. Again, my thanks.
Glad I could help. It won’t be the last thing that you chronically question as you rebuild.
Where are you restoring this boat?
marc
In my garage; why?
Seriously, in Minnesota, US.
Thank you again. I’m finding too many who have apparently invented wood boat restoration and feel the need to keep their double-top-secret methods under wraps. Your help was invaluable to me. Thank you.
- I was hoping for an address. Not sure where to send the invoice.😉
Hey Kevin,
do you think you could email me your contact information to Marc@marcpetrovic.com have a couple of measurement questions that you could probably answer seeing as you have the same model.
Thanks
Marc