My experience has been that no matter how carefully you work, you will not get a clean line between the painted and the varnished areas. I solved the problem by covering the seam with 1/4" marine vinyl tape. It looks sharp and has held up well for three seasons so far. -Wes

Excellent Idea. Thanks

I left my tape on between painted and varnished surfaces until I was totally done.   Primer coat and three paint coats.   Line looks great!    We will see if over time I think differently and utilize a pinstripe over that transition but for now it looks really good.   Just used a higher quality blue painters tape from the depot and it worked very well. 

A trick I learned from a painter for getting a clean line with tape:  a little bit of whatever color you are painting always leaks under the tape and messes up the line.  To solve this, put the tape down, then paint over the edge with a very small amount of the color you are masking (e.g. if you are masking the varnished area, cover the line edge of the tape with a small amount of varnish).  Let dry, then paint the color.  When you pull the tape, the initial small amount of varnish will have filled all the imperfections along the tape edge and the paint won't bleed through. 

This works well for painting different colors on boats, walls, etc. as well as the paint/varnish line you are working on. 

There is also a tape, I think it's called frog tape or something (it's green) that says it prevents bleed-through, but I've never trusted it enough to try it so I don't know if it works or not. 

Great tip Kathy!  I'm going to use that technique in about 2 weeks when I get to work on the outer hull of my Annapolis Wherry (first build).

By the way- I loved your shearwater build video series on WestCoastPaddler.  Your expertise and attention to detail is inspiring.  In fact, for my second project, for the upcoming winter season, I'm leaning strongly towards a Shearwater Sport-hybrid.  See ya on the lake.

Hickory in Seattle

I used a fine line masking tape. Expensive stuff, but it really doesn't bleed through. I pulled it off after each coat had been put on, to avoid a lip.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/64292877@N03/6114121572/][img]http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6089/6114121572_793e9516c0.jpg[/img][/url]

I went to buy some of that as well....ridiculous expense.   I just used a high quality blue tape that advertised that is stopped bleed through and it did not bleed anywhere.  Worked perfect.  

I used the fineline tape from CLC for the transition from paint to varnish on my deck. The line is perfect, I couldn't be more pleased. I taped the varnish side while painting then put tape on the paint side while varnishing. I made sure to press the tape down with a plastic squeegie to prevent any bleeding under the tape. I also used blue masking tape beyond the fineline to give a wider barrier while applying varnish.

This was my first experience with this and I will definitely use it again.

Mike

Frog tape, the green stuff, does work better than ordinary painter's tape but there is still some bleed through unless the surface is perfectly smooth where you are taping.

I use just plain old scotch-blue painters tape. Recently, forest green enamel over lightly sanded varnish and no bleed through. Burnish the edges of the tape first. I use the back of my index finger nail, brace it with my thumb, and slide it along the paint edge of the painters tape. I did 3 coats of the enamel, removed the tape, lightly sanded, then topped off the whole boat with 3 more coats of varnish.  

Frog tape worked far better than blue painter's tape for me...I taped over graphite/epoxy mixture, which has a very slight eggshell finish, to varnish the sides and deck of my wood duck.  After the tape was put on it is very importanat to burnish the edges.  I used the thick side of one of my bondo rubber scrapers.  I taped off the same line about 10 different times (I thought putting too many coats on would chip as I removed the tape).  So after about 1.5 rolls of frog tape I'd have to say I'm sold on it!

Fine Line tape from 3M to define edge, regular old masking tape to tack down paper. Paint, then remove masking and peel Fine Line up at a 45 deg angle before paint/varnish dries. The edge will flow slightly and be smooth.

I have not had a remarkable result with using a masking tape as there tends to be bleeding coming on either side even when you use a higher grade and apply it a lot of times.  What you could try, though a very tedious process, is to use wood glue that you could peel off later. But that could also be a challenge when applying and making it sure that they run straight.