Tiller varnish advice??

[Xavier]

 
As I wait on a hitch wiring kit for my car I've decided to do a little tiller and rudder improvement. I have sanded the wood and am wondering what the group thinks would be a good varnish. I'm thinking of hanging it from the shed ceiling and varnishing it vertically. Any suggestions and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[mikew]

Look for an exterior grade spar varnish that has UV inhibitors in it. I prefer an oil base instead of a water based varnish. It has been awhile but the last time I varnished my tiller I used Ace Hardware brand. They had a smaller can available which allowed
for several coats. Also a natural bristle brush helps too.
Mike

[bruce]

My favorite is Pettit Flagship Varnish. High build, UV inhibitors, flows out well, sands great. Spring for the 120 Thinner. It does curtain if applied too heavily, watch for that. Self-priming thinned, I've never tried their 2018 Sealer.

https://www.pettitpaint.com/products/varnish-wood-finishes/wood-sealer/ez-wood-sealer/

[brackish]

I've had good luck with Epifanes gloss clear.  However, whatever you choose, invest in a tiller cover if the boat is to remain outside subject to UV.  It will extend the length of time between refinishes.  I took a scrap of Sunbrella, got out the dreaded sewing machine and made one.

[fried fish]

AMEN to the tiller cover.
You can apply 20 coats and it won?t last?unless you have a cover.
However, 4 - 5 coats would be sweet.
Happy sanding till the black is gone.

[Bob23]

X: All of this advice is dead on. I've used Flagship and it's a durable and hard finish which like all varnishes, will need to periodically refreshed. A cover is a must.  Not very expensive but it will lengthen the life of your varnish and your tiller will be much happier!

  There is a very good book available entitled "Brightwork. The Art of Finishing Wood" By Rebecca Wittman which focuses on wood on sailboats. A very good investment or you can probably find it at the library. I bought mine, I keep it as a reference book.
Best,
Bob23

[Xavier]

Wonderful. Thanks for all the great guidance. By the way, are my images appearung HUGE to everyone else or is it  just me? I apologize if thats the case.

[bruce]

Going bright is a lot of work, but can be rewarding.

Yup, the photos are huge. File sizes around 100 kB are plenty. When I resize, I just set the longest dimension to 600-700 pixels. Don't know why the file size limits are so high. Unfortunately, photos don't preview.

[brackish]

Yep, you have to resize. I keep an album of photos that have been resized just for this forum.

This is a tiller I made done with Bristol two part poly.  A nice finish but I would not recommend, expensive, pot life on a mix, and it didn't last any longer than a standard marine varnish.

[Bob23]

By the way, while I use Flagship on the tiller, I do not use it anywhere else. It is the smoothest and hardest varnish that I know of and when I first bought my 23, I removed all of the exterior teak I could, sanded it to bare wood and eventually completed a 7 coat Flagship project, in a small heated finishing room. It looked great for about 4 years, then eventually started to blister. Again, all the teak parts were removed, sanded bare and now I use Cetot which is much more forgiving and very easy to apply and maintain. For the final coat, the Cetol gloss is a must as it seems to be a slightly harder finish than the standard Cetol finish. I use the teak flavor!

I also use Cetol om my customers exterior mahogany handrails on their bayfront home. I can get 2 years before any maintenance is needed, and they are outside, 24/7.

  Bottoms up!
Bob23

[brackish]

By the way, while I use Flagship on the tiller, I do not use it anywhere else. It is the smoothest and hardest varnish that I know of and when I first bought my 23, I removed all of the exterior teak I could, sanded it to bare wood and eventually completed a 7 coat Flagship project, in a small heated finishing room. It looked great for about 4 years, then eventually started to blister. Again, all the teak parts were removed, sanded bare and now I use Cetot which is much more forgiving and very easy to apply and maintain. For the final coat, the Cetol gloss is a must as it seems to be a slightly harder finish than the standard Cetol finish. I use the teak flavor!

I also use Cetol om my customers exterior mahogany handrails on their bayfront home. I can get 2 years before any maintenance is needed, and they are outside, 24/7.

  Bottoms up!
Bob23

I second this advice.  I use Epifanes on the COVERED tiller, but not any where else.  For the first time last year I used Cetol Natural Teak, followed by Cetol Marine Gloss.  After a year I have NO breaks in the finish, which has never happened with a half dozen other finish options.  And I'm UV exposed all the time. Getting ready to put a maintenance coat of gloss on, without having to go through the normal strip, sand and multi coat refinish.