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Step 20Varnish the Skin
I painted three coats of varnish onto the lower portion of the cloth hull to waterproof it.
I waited a few hours/overnight between coats. The previous layer is still tacky enough to bond well.
The varnish is "Varathane #93 Clear Satin Spar Urethane" recommended by Wolfgang Brinck. Thanks Wolfgang!
Read the instructions on the can.
Read Wolfgang's instructions.
I knew the fumes were going to be bad. I didn't have a gas mask. Inspired by plans from 1942, I made one from a snorkel, a tin can, and some coconut-husk charcoal. It worked great. No headache.
Mistakes I made, none of them fatal:
Started too late in the day. Dew and insects got on the finish.
Should have vacuumed out all the shavings from inside the boat first. Now some are glued down inside.
Didn't mix the varnish first. Should have read the instructions. When I did I'd already painted a lot of the boat with runny varnish and left the remaining varnish thicker than it should have been.
There was rain and high humidity which slowed the varnish drying. It took almost a week for it to get hard and stop smelling of varnish. I ended up using exactly two quarts. I expected it to take more. If I varnish the rest of the hull, that would take most of a quart.
The varnish shrinks when it dries and makes the skin even tighter. The boat gets better and better, like a fine musical instrument. Which is what it sounds like when you tap it.
How will we keep this nice skin from getting destroyed by rocks? Find out in Chapter 8: Keel and Rub Strips
I waited a few hours/overnight between coats. The previous layer is still tacky enough to bond well.
The varnish is "Varathane #93 Clear Satin Spar Urethane" recommended by Wolfgang Brinck. Thanks Wolfgang!
Read the instructions on the can.
Read Wolfgang's instructions.
I knew the fumes were going to be bad. I didn't have a gas mask. Inspired by plans from 1942, I made one from a snorkel, a tin can, and some coconut-husk charcoal. It worked great. No headache.
Mistakes I made, none of them fatal:
Started too late in the day. Dew and insects got on the finish.
Should have vacuumed out all the shavings from inside the boat first. Now some are glued down inside.
Didn't mix the varnish first. Should have read the instructions. When I did I'd already painted a lot of the boat with runny varnish and left the remaining varnish thicker than it should have been.
There was rain and high humidity which slowed the varnish drying. It took almost a week for it to get hard and stop smelling of varnish. I ended up using exactly two quarts. I expected it to take more. If I varnish the rest of the hull, that would take most of a quart.
The varnish shrinks when it dries and makes the skin even tighter. The boat gets better and better, like a fine musical instrument. Which is what it sounds like when you tap it.
How will we keep this nice skin from getting destroyed by rocks? Find out in Chapter 8: Keel and Rub Strips
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