BoatBanter.com - Teak Finish

Ingar,
Before I address your question, I want to respond to the answers you
have received, because I am not sure they answer your question
directly, and I want to take issue with them anyways. While it is
true that varnishing teak is somewhat more difficult than mahogany or
other less oily hardwoods, it is not all that tough, especially if the
right varnish and preparation is used. I find that Epifanes wood
gloss varnish is a good way to go, at least for the first 3-4 coats on
teak, with the final coats being regular epifanes or Z-spar captains.
If I want a satin finish, which I normally do on interiors, I usually
apply a coat of a satin finish varnish, or I will rub the final gloss
with pumice. The reality is that a good varnish job is not that hard
to achieve. People talk about varnish much the same way people talk
about fly fishing, as if there is some mystery as to how it is done
right, while the truth is that it's pretty simple to get good results
if you put in a little effort. I personally think Cetol is to be
avoided. It completely ruins the natural finish of any wood,
particularly expensive beautiful ones like Teak and Mahogany. Not
only that, but despite the far out claims of its many adherents, Cetol
requires just as much, if not more maitenance as varnish...and it
always looks terrible. As a boat designer and builder the one rule
that I try to live my life by is that there is no excuse for an ugly
boat!
As far as an oil finish down below, sure, it will be easier to apply
and maintain than varnish, although interior varnish doesn't need too
much attention, so long as a good base (8 coats or so) has been
applied in the first place. On decks, I would avoid any sort of
finish on Teak. Teak is a great, hard-wearing, naturally oily and
naurally beautiful type of non-skid deck surface. If left bright
without any treatment, you should be able to get many many years out
of a teak deck with very little maitenance...just make sure to give it
a good splash of salt water a couple of times a week (something you
should be doing anyways!). Oiling a deck just makes life difficult.
It makes a once very low maintainence part of the boat the exact
opposite; it is messy, smelly and detracts from the natural non-skid
features of teak. While Oiling a teak deck is to be avoied...DO NOT
VARNISH OR CETOL YOUR DECK! I have seen this done, and it is nothing
short of a messy disaster. Your deck will be really hot to step on
with bear feet and will look like crap half way through a summer, no
matter how many coats you have one it...it will be slippery as hell
too. To answer the comment about polyurathane...it is untrue that it
will ruin the wood. I have awlgripped wood surfaces in boats and used
2-part poly varnishes on the interiro of boats, and it works fine if
you want to achieve a really high gloss finish. I personally don't
like the polyurathane varnishes because they are just too shiny, but
the advantage of them is they are extremely tough and hard-wearing.
If sealing wood from moisture "killed" it then cold molding would be a
horrible way to build a boat...which it most certainly is not.
Now...Ingar to your question. As I understand it you want to use
teak for your final layer of planking. If this is the case, all I can
ask is: Why? You can certainly epoxy teak, but you should keep that
gluing to secondary structures and pieces. The reason for this is
that Teak is a really oily wood and does present some periodic
problems as far as epoxy adhesion is concerned. I would be hesitant
to plank an entire layer of my hull with teak knowing that epoxy is
not totally reliable in this case. Now, if you do go ahead with it,
and it has been done, I would highly recommend that you seal the
outside with epoxy. Leaving it exposed to the water, even with extra
oil, will cause the wood to swell, and you can expect to have
problems. If I went ahead with the teak finish, I would use West 207
hardener, which has a little bit more UV resistance than regular
hardener (for West system...other manufacturers have there own
tropical formulations), and then apply 12 coats of varnish. I
understand you want the boat to look beautiful and bright...no problem
there, but I would consider mahogany if I were you.
-Eli

"Frank Gerry" wrote in message news:NYcUb.179654$nt4.777749@attbi_s51...
I've been investigating this question for the cabin sole of my boat. From
what I've found, do NOT use
any kind of polyurethane in the interior of your boat (or the exterior for
that matter).

Polyurathane does not allow the wood to "breath". As a result, it will fail
and you will have a hell of a time removing it. The best option is teak oil
or lemon oil on all bulkheads and joinery. For the cabin sole I've decided
the best choice is to use Cetol Light.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...

This has probably been discussed a million times, but it's the middle of
winter and there's more time to waste now.

Anyway, for interior teak, would a urethane finish such as a Minwax
product be alright? I've had good success with it on certain furniture.

Thanks

Ps What's the difference between urethane and polyurethane..or..
What's the "poly" in polyurethane?