Re: Finishing questions

Posted by Dave Houser on Mar 7, 2005

Wet sanding is the answer. I use a bucket of water with a squirt of kitchen detergent added followed by a running-water (hose) rinse. Wet sanding is good thearpy second only to planing.

I have found that the foam brush strokes in the varnish are the same profile as the scratches from 220 grit sandpaper so to avoid cutting the varnish too deep I wet sand between coats with 320 grit on a 1/4 thick closed cell foam sanding block (from the local boat shop) to assure I only sand off the highs. Wet sanding is a must for varnish because varnish quickly clogs the sandpaper. Wet sanding also keeps the dust under control during the varnishing process. I use 220 grit on a small wooden sanding block only to spot sand runs or sags. (A soft block sands through the area adjacent to the drip before the drip is leveled.)

I use a tack cloth to greatly reduce the number of dust specks in the varnish. I have not had any application problems after using a tack cloth on varnish (never use one between epoxy coats).

I use Captains and have given up on Flagship.

In Response to: Finishing questions by Karl on Mar 7, 2005

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