Finishing

I am currently building a Peeler stiff (my first boat project).    I am about finish it and plan a scheme that is similar to the CLC boat, Pre-Kote/Brightsides on the exterior (except outwales) and horizontal interior surfaces and varnish on the vertical interior surfaces.  As I have applied epoxy to both to bare wood and fiberglass cloth it has often dripped/run while drying particularly on the vertical surfaces.   I would then sand the surfaces and apply the 2nd coat of epoxy.  At present the surfaces look and feel pretty smooth, but when I resand you can still see the drip/run lines.  My question is to what extent will the finishes smooth this out?  I would expect that both Pre-Kote/Brightsides and varnish will fill better than the epoxy and of course I expect to use multiple coats of both but I would rather not be disappointed with the final finish because the epoxy/fiberglass was not made glass smooth.  Thank you for your thoughts, fellow boatsmen.


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RE: Finishing

Varnish and brightsides level better than epoxy, but you will still see the runs.  Your choice is to use fairing compound, sand and reprime to eliminate the runs or use a lower sheen paint.  If I had it to do again, I would probably use a less glossy marine enamel from Kirbys.

On the list of things that I would probably do differently a second time, I would likely eliminate the varnished brightwork in favor of oiled teak.  My Peeler spends most of its life at a dock and in the course of a season picks up a few dings on the outwales.  The boat is currently upside down in my backyard awaiting 60+ degree days so that I can touch up a few dings (maybe 4 square centimeters in total).  If I had used bare teak, I would have sanded them out (or not) and would have been in the water in early April.  

RE: Finishing

   Sorry, that's Peeler Skiff.  Darn voice recognition software.

RE: Finishing

my personal perspective is that there is very little that hides drips and runs other than stepping back a couple paces.  most enamel finishes will accentuate any lack of preperation of the substrate....not hide it.

for drips and runs a fairing board is useful. the suggestion of using a fairing conpound also works.   but maybe it's really about just another day or two  or three of sanding focusing on elminating the drips and runs.   fresh, high quality sandpaper and a good ros sander should make quick work of these type of issues...though on a large boat like a peeler. with lots of drips and runs...you probably want to break it up into manageable sessions.

if it were me....i would start with marking up all the drips and runs with a pencil....and attack each one with a ros/fairing board to get them down/off.  i would hold off on fairing compound unless i thought i had a lot of divits to fill....or that the quality of my epoxy work was such that i could not get smooth finish such as lots of bubbles or perhaps weave showing....and i don't want to sand into it and cut the weave and i don't have the patience to fill it with additional epoxy layers.

h

 

 

 

RE: Finishing

   I gave up on the drips and flattened my exterior paint just enough to make it an OK 10' finish.  I intend to sail and row this thing a lot, and am less interested in making a showpiece than getting the damned thing in the water.

RE: Finishing

   Thanks everyone.  I get it.  If I want a quality finish I need to sand better rather than count on the primer and polyurethane to cover inperfections.

RE: Finishing

   Any drips you can see after sanding the epoxy will also be visible after you varnish. My experience was that the varnish should go on in very thin coats to avoid getting any more drips. But it is also my experience that relatively minor drips are virtually invisible on a nicely varnished wood hull. The grain of the wood has enough variations to distract people from evening noticing minor imperfections in the varnish. I think that might be less true on painted surfaces.

RE: Finishing

���I'm building my 1st boat. ( woodduck 14). I'm getting to the point of staining and fiberglassing it. But not sure which i should do 1st. Fiberglass or stain 1st? Also i would like to find a fellow boat builder in my area. Celina, oh

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