[Public-List] rub rail digressing to epoxy fires

[dan walker]

roger
varnishing is a labor of love. one thing i have3 learned though is always varnish with a beer near and a cigar going. that way you always get dome cigar ash in the varnish and if any one wants to comment about the many imperfections you can blame it on the cigar and beer. 
dan
rascal 145  


"Roger L. Kingsland" <r.kingsland at ksba.com> wrote:  
Mike,

RE epoxy fires; no, thankfully, although I have had some "epoxy solutions"
that were too hot to touch, no fires as of yet (reminds me to put the fire
extinguishers back on board).  Closest I have come is back in the day when I
used MarineTex I used to enjoy the smoke after mixing the two parts.  I
guess my biggest frustration (so far, many more opportunities for mistakes
in the offing) is "coatings".  I love carpentry and don't mind spending time
to do it right (IE: fix my mistakes); but, as soon as it's time to apply
something on top, all of the gremlins come out of the closet/woodwork.  

Here is what I think I have learned (dangerous assumption);  1), anyone who
has used varnish more than twice has too much time on his/her hands and
should "seek help" (no, really; I am not afraid of work but, to spend weeks
applying 8 coats that last the same number of months in sunshine is
"certifiable"), 2) more thin coats are better than fewer thick coats (thick
results in the same appearance as antique glass; thin allows sanding flat
[is that called faring] permitting, at least the potential for perfection),
3) rollers are better than brushes, especially if you agree thin is good, 4)
foam rollers are best (I have tried several [thousand] and discovered those
with fuzz will deposit their fuzz on my/your/anyones/everyones boat, even if
you blow them off with air from your third, progressively more powerful,
compressor and roll them over super sticky duct tape and pray the rosary
[and I'm not even Catholic] six times over the roller before wetting), 4) if
you don't have the right roller, don't bother (actually, that applies only
to the last coat which I have done, on average, 4 times with each coating
project) and the right roller is small cell foam with rounded edges made by
Sherwin Williams and costing about 10% of what I paid for the several
thousand fuzzy rollers, 5) be like the positions and manage expectations; it
never will be as good as you hope/think it should (the reason my boat is
named "PERFECT intentions").

Words of wisdom worth what you paid for them.

All the best,

Roger 148        


       
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