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Varnish Rudder still tacky
Help… sanded the rudder, one light coat of varnish that didn’t dry a week later.
Used some thinners to remove the tacky feel, lightly sanded back and tried again using International Wood Skin.
Still tacky to the touch, it’s cold… question is, am I missing something in application, is it the wood/product combo or should I bring it home and varnish in a warmer temperature? Newbie to varnishing so any help or advice appreciated 🙂
Kerry
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I don’t have any personal experience with this but my understanding is varnish needs to be above 10 degrees Celsius to cure properly. How cold is the shop?
Thanks for getting back to me Mark, it’s been a cold few weeks. I have the heater on when I’m in there but overnights etc would be outside temperature. It’s 11 degrees today for example, so it’s not ideal.
I’m also varnishing boat floorboards and cupboards and they’re drying fine using the same varnish… happy to take the rudder home to give it some love (and heat)
The temperature certainly won't help here, I am doing some sample boards at the moment with traditional varnish and they remain soft for quite some time. I probably wouldn't say tacky though.
It looks as though your rudder is teak? Did you de grease it with acetone before applying the varnish? And did the wood feel particularly oily?
Some teak can cause issues like this with the traditional varnish products. The main reason I think that is that you've said you have some other items that have dried fine using the same product, presumably in the same environment as well?
I'd try taking it home for sure and giving it a good 24-48hrs in a warmer climate. If that still doesn't do the trick then I suspect you may be having a reaction between the oily teak and the varnish. If this is the case, an alternative product would probably be my recommendation. The Epifanes woodfinish gloss is designed to counteract just such an issue: https://danleeboatbuilding.co.uk/product/epifanes-varnish-woodfinish-gloss/
Also the Epifanes PP will handle this well and will certainly dry predictably even in the cooler temperatures.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the reply, yes it had an oily feel and I gave it a spray of acetone pre-varnish. It’s now softer (not tacky) but I don’t trust it… I’ll do a light sand down and a further application at home with Epifanes.
The other items are ply I think (yacht flooring and cupboards) so really the temperature, the oily wood and traditional varnish combination could all play their part?
I’ll get some Epifanes Woodfinish gloss, we’ve got their guy in the boat yard on Thursday so good timing, thank you. I’ll report back on success or failure 😂
Yes I think you are wise not to trust it. Even if you can get it to dry, I have heard of teak "pushing" varnish off the surface before so I suspect you may have issues down the line. If your ply items are ok then I strongly suspect the teak and its oil is causing this.
Ideally you want to scrub the bare wood with a light coloured acetone soaked rag, rotating it and continuing until no oil or colour continues to come off on the rag.
Combined with that I think Woodfinish gloss is the product to use here to allow a bit of breathability. See what Mr Epifanes says when he comes by, hopefully it will echo what I've said 😁