Rants & musings—Paint and Brightwork (Varnish)
True Grit (Phyllis,
05/2007)
I’m
going to make a confession here: I think
brightwork is beautiful. However, since I’m the
one that ends up maintaining it—that’s because
John
insists I’m so much better at it than he is, which
is a rotten trick and one I fall for regularly—I
also believe it doesn’t belong on our boat. In
fact, I’ve spent hours communing with a maul and
slick (big chisel) removing extraneous expanses of
it (eyebrows). Those bits that I can’t remove
without leaving gaping holes I have covered with
white paint that only needs spiffing up every
three years instead of every three months. At this
point, the only exterior brightwork left on
Morgan’s Cloud is a few bits in the cockpit
and that’s because
John
threw himself bodily in front of them when I went
for them with the slick. So, until we get an
unpainted aluminum boat with no exterior wood
anywhere, I guess I’m going to be varnishing and
painting.
While
spending the last several years at
Billings
Diesel and Marine in
Stonington,
Maine (www.billingsmarine.com),
where we are refitting Morgan’s Cloud,
we’ve garnered a few tips from the professionals;
in my reluctant case, from the guys in the
Paintshop:
:
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If
the paint or varnish pulls (is hard to drag
across the surface), add minute amounts of
thinner (i.e. less than a capful at a time) just
until the brush runs smoothly. |
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Foam
brushes are useless—they don’t hold enough paint
and varnish and so lay on an uneven and thin
coat; which means you’ll have to varnish or
paint more often (shudder). |
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Drill
a hole in the base of the brush handle so that,
after use, the brush can hang from a wire
through the hole, so that the hairs of the brush
don’t touch the bottom of the container of
thinner—the brush will keep its shape and
suppleness for much longer. |
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And, most important of
all, the best sandpaper comes in rolls with a
sticky back: Norton A275, 2-3/4” wide by 45
yards long. Though designed to be stuck on to
sanding boards, if you cut off a suitable length
of the required grit and fold it in half so the
glued sides stick together, you can make a piece
the size and shape you want that won’t crumple
or tear. Since the quality of the grit is so
good, the paper is very thin and therefore can
fit into much smaller spaces than folded sheets
or blocks. The bad part is that once you have
the sandpaper all cut and glued you then have to
actually do the sanding—sigh.
Download the catalogue where you’ll find
this great stuff on Page 4. |
Okay, no more varnish talk, on to something more
interesting (which leaves the field pretty well
wide open).
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Last
edited on
Thursday March 13, 2008
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Nothing on this website or in direct communications received
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Decisions to cruise the high latitudes, where you go, and how
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but that does not mean it will work for you, or that it is the
best, or even a good way for you to do things. |
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