Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Went out Monday to clean up the boat and take her for a spin, and noticed some "soft spots" in the wood forming the base of the rear seat. I decided to pull it out and rebuild it. I am using marine plywood for the parts that do not show and I am using CEDAR for the part that does show (the front). (I couldn't get teak on such short notice, and several people recommended cedar -- if it is wrong don't tell me, 'cause it is too late now, and I don't want to know. :D :D :D )

I don't want to paint it, so here is the question: What type of finish should I use on the cedar (varnish, oil, etc.) to stand up to the boating environment? HELP!!! :crazy:

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

P.S. -- It gets worse...

I got an e-mail from my boat broker today, and he has someone interested in the boat, but the guy wants pictures of the INTERIOR!!! I need to get it finished quick, but I wanna do it RIGHT!!!

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Cedar will not rot, that's why it's used for siding and roofs and exterior trim.

If you're looking for a gloss finish, I'd use a spar type of varnish. Oil is easiest and will give a nice finish only with successive coats. It won't peel on you also and it's easy to make it look nice again, just a quick coat to bring back the finish. Either choice will work.

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

cameron , go buy some sikkens cetol marine about 26 clams at west marine , gives a nice finish :drink:

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Coat the wood with West system 105 resin and 207 special hardener... it's uv resistant.. then sand when hard.... wipe with water damp cloth.... let dry.. then coat with spar varnish...

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Ummmm... would a consensus be too much to ask? :eureka:

(Hell, even two of you agreeing would be nice. :rolleyes: )

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Use starboard if you can. (plastic replacement for wood) easy to work with. You can buy it at West marine. It never deteriorates, is lighter and you don't have to coat it.

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Not too good with this "reading" thing, are we? :blaster: Sounds like it would have been perfect, but too late.

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

It is late. Your not finished, and it may be faster to start over. :D If you use a better material and don't sell the boat, you won't have to do the same job agian later.

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Sand the piece smooth with 400 grit and then coat with thompsons water sealer. This is an okay fix. I wouldnt do it for my own boat if I were keeping it. You could our a real heavy coat of resin all over the part too

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Cedar will not take fiberglass, it has too much natural oil in it and just flakes off (I've tried in the past). I also doubt (but can't verify) it will take to varnish or other finishes other than oil based "house" stains.

I'd go with the non-wood crowd. I'm looking into plasticoat (from 84 Lumber) for the seat frame for my CC's new back seat. Ordered a sample to play with.

-Greg

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

Is it (probably is) too late to return the cedar? If there is any way you could do that, I think it would be your best bet.

Otherwise, stay with an oil finish. Oil is a natural compliment to cedar due to it's inherent oil properties within the wood itself. There is a new "all natural" product call Kramers my wife found that is just incredible stuff. I will ask the wife the website so you can check it out. I've done woodworking for over thirty years and some woods just react better to different style products.

I did a "commercial" bar top, in cedar, once for Boothby's Square Tavern in Portland Maine about 20 years ago. It is a soft wood. I mixed "Varathane" mixed with thinner about a 55/45% ration so that it would "soak" down into the wood. Gave this four coats. Let it dry THOROUGHLY. Then added 10 coats of full strength of Varathane. In the older cans was a picture of a 50's girl roller skating and their moto was "hard enough to skate on". In it's day it was without question the hardest, most durable type finish, available in gloss, semi gloss, matte, and flat finishes. The whole secret to making it durable, able to withstand a bartender slamming cases of beer on it without marring the finish, was the first coats mixed with the thinner so it got down into the wood and hardened the first quarter inch or so of the wood to rock hard proportions. That bar was in place for ten years before a new owner bought it and revamped the entire place (bought the building next door and incorporated that into the bar doubling the space and therefore totally reconfigured the layout. Ten years later that bar top was as nice as the day I built it. This particular finishing technique would work fine for you today, but due to the process it would be rather time consuming. If you have the time, go for it. It's practically bulletproof. If you have any othe questions "PM" me. There isn't much I don't know about wood after thirty plus years working with it.

I also have a PHD of the highest order in "splinter removal".

Russ

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

You asked me not to tell you that cedar is too soft...

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

ttt

Re: Woodworking Emergency!!!
 

tip
top
teak
? :D