Wax Or Varnish

[CaptinDread]

Since I use my boat daily and a couple of days ago I sanded my steering wheel I didn't want to sit around

for hours waiting for varnish to dry.

So I bought some wax to go over the wheel instead.

 

would you wax or varnish?

[LondonRascal]

If it were myself then I would get some West System Epoxy (but other cheaper alternatives would be as good - I am useing this as an example as to now what Resin and Hardener to use).

Using their 105 Resin and 207 Hardener will mean when they cure it will be ‘water clear’.  The 207 Hardener also has some UV blockers built in which will help under a traditional Varnish and prevent UV light effecting both the underlying wood and the Epoxy itself.

Once the first coat of Epoxy is cured, sand it back with 220 grit sand paper then clean the surface of all dust with a soft paint brush then wipe down with Acetone and apply the second Epoxy coat.  Once the second coat is cured sand again with 220 grit sandpaper. You might like to wet sand as it will control the surface and Epoxy dust better.

You want to ensure there are no shiny surfaces showing and all the wood is matt in appearance. Once sanded clean the surface with Acetone again.

Now it’s time to Varnish. 

You will want to use a Varnish with a high amount of UV stabilises/inhibitors in it – notice no thinning of the Varnish is done because you are not Varnishing over untreated wood, so the Varnish does not need to ‘soak in’ to the wood in the first couple of coats.  Just use light strokes with the brush - a foam brush is ideal as will leave no brush marks and has no risk of any bristles coming out.

Allow to dry – then sand back with 320 grit sandpaper.

You can use a ‘tack rag’ if you wish, but don’t use any Acetone now you’ve begun the Varnish layers, but you want to ensure all dust from the sanding is clear before you apply the next coat.  Then apply a second coat of Varnish and allow to dry then once more sand back but this time with 400 grit sandpaper.  Now time for the third coat, repeat above – you might like to go one step further and apply a fourth coat.

This will mean that the wood surface you are protecting has had the Epoxy ‘soak in’ to begin and effectively be encased in the grain with the protecting Epoxy. The Varnish then adds extra UV protection on top, and of course is the main finish you see which will not only result in a very protective surface to the wood, but give a glass like finished and wow factor much the same as if you had applied far more coats of Varnish had you not begun building up with Epoxy first.

Bit overkill for a Steering wheel you may think, but good advice generally when considering protecting wood to achieve a very fine looking glossy finish without flaws.

[grendel]

you can always sit with a glass of beer relaxing and watching the varnish dry.

[BroadScot]

12 minutes ago, grendel said:

you can always sit with a glass of beer relaxing and watching the varnish dry.

Or better still......a case of beer 

[JawsOrca]

Better still.. Just get a steel or plastic one  

[Poppy]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

you can always sit with a glass of beer relaxing and watching the varnish dry.

...... or reading one of London Rascal's posts

[Warp]

Currently considering trying Osmo which is natural oil and hard wax

Osmo

[MauriceMynah]

Is Osmo's female sibling Osmo's sis?

[Guest]

Epoxy resin is marvelous stuff for sealing and protecting wood, but it can be very difficult to get a really good varnish-like finish because it is much more viscous than oil or varnish.

Any runs, ridges, ripples or blobs are very difficult to smooth once it has set.

It's a fantastic constructional coating, which would have complemented the "stitch and glue" plywood construction of the1960's perfectly, making very light, waterproof and stronger dinghies than GRP.

I'd be very wary of using it as a cosmetic finish on something like a wooden steering wheel though.

The traditional multiple coats of varnish with flour paper sanding between can easily produce a superb professional finish, and any runs or imperfections can easily be corrected between coats, unlike cured epoxy resin.

[Polly]

Doug is the varnish meister I'd follow any advice he offers. 

[JanetAnne]

Epoxy will stick to new untreated wood beautifully and using the method Robin suggests will result in a steering wheel to die for!

But.... (you knew there was a but didn't you) epoxy will not bond properly to old varnish, flaky varnish, paint, dirty wood, some woods with either naturaly occuring oil or resin in them or applied oil or wax on them. It will also not bond to wood that had been stained.

It will stick to the workshop floor no matter how dirty it is...

We use West a lot, mainly for glueing, and have experimented with it over brand new wood with stain on it with a view to varnishing etc. However, if the natural colour of your wood is right then its well worth considering. We will be doing our oak rubbing strakes in West as they dont need a woodstain.

[ChrisB]

Robin, I suspect that you have not used the West system retrospectively. It is a bit of an "art" when using newly worked wood, application to used wood that has been open to any number of contaminants both natural and chemical is fraught with problems.

[Guest]

Another thing to remember about epoxy resin coating is its susceptibility to UV degradation (sunlight).

I've tried it on a variety of external wooden boat trim over the years, and it suffered as much as varnish in 24/7 exposed positions, discoloring in patches, even with varnish over the top.

The outside of a boat kept in the open is an extremely harsh environment for surface coatings, even more in Summer sunlight than Winter frosts. Unlike varnish, it's not practical to remove and recoat epoxy when it discolours. Chemical strippers or heat guns have no effect, only complete mechanical abrasion.

There's a great deal of information about it on the Internet, as a Google search reveals:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=epoxy+resin+uv+degradation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=p-tHV9X2H8LWgAa-_pKAAQ

 

[LondonRascal]

4 hours ago, ChrisB said:

Robin, I suspect that you have not used the West system retrospectively. It is a bit of an "art" when using newly worked wood, application to used wood that has been open to any number of contaminants both natural and chemical is fraught with problems.

 

I have actually used it, Epoxy that is – not the West System but Soloplast. Now I have learnt about West System in more detail.  Some years ago my dad bought a wrought iron garden bench with wooden slates – this for a property we had as a second home so usually would only be actually ‘used’ on weekends.

 

He refused to allow the bench to be left out in the garden, because it would soon deteriorate and so it began the fiasco the damn bench needing to be taken out of the conservatory into garden and back in the conservatory when we were to leave.

 

I came to a ‘deal’ that if I stripped the bench and treated it so it would not deteriorate for a long time we could leave it outside.  Long story short, the bench has once again ended up under cover – now in the shed but looks factory fresh despite it having spent a fair amount of time in the garden exposed to all weathers.

 

Anyway – the main thing is if you’re going to use any Epoxy you’ve got to be going in on ’virgin’ wood. All you are doing at the end of the day is trying to protect the wood.  The use of clear coat Epoxy resin helps the Varnish.  I’d not just go in and plonk on a coat of Epoxy and think it looks good and leave, you need a Varnish to top it with a very high U.V stabilizer in it to stop the Varnish yellowing and protect the underlying Epoxy.

 

By using the Epoxy to ‘soak in’ to the wood, then sand, re-coat, sand and then apply Varnish you also cut down on the number of coats of Varnish that is needed.

 

However what fascinates me about this subject is, you will find everyone has their own ‘take’ on things, while one will tell you never ever use Epoxy another will swear by it, some say using steel wool to de-nib is the worst thing you can do because small fibres will be left and over time may cause small rust marks, Tack Rags by some are seen as the Devil incarnated for their will leave a residue which affects the Varnish.

 

Therefore I say all methods are better than leaving wood untreated.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

............I’d not just go in and plonk on a coat of Epoxy and think it looks good and leave, you need a Varnish to top it with a very high U.V stabilizer in it to stop the Varnish yellowing and protect the underlying Epoxy..............

Absolutely right Robin, exterior exposed epoxy resin coating should never be used without UV protective varnish on top, that direction is mentioned in any reference on the subject, as well as the manufacturer's instructions.

3 hours ago, Strowager said:

......I've tried it on a variety of external wooden boat trim over the years, and it suffered as much as varnish in 24/7 exposed positions, discoloring in patches, even with varnish over the top......

I'd mentioned in my previous post that it still degrades even when UV varnished after a few years in 24/7 exposed situations though, like boat exteriors that cannot be sheltered, especially in the Summer.

When that happens every few years with varnish, it's relatively straightforward to get back to the bare wood again, but not with epoxy resin. It's an absolute nighmare to remove completely.

[CaptinDread]

I'm quite aware of how to varnish something but since the steering wheel is inside the boat and already has UV protection due to the necro tempered glass that's been fitted it won't cause a problem.

I just went the easy way as I didn't want to take the steering wheel off to varnish.

As Robin has mentioned doing varnish would've taken a few days to complete so I just thought what the hell and waxed it instead.

[grendel]

how much time will you spend rewaxing it every time it needs it?

[CaptinDread]

rewaxing will only take a few mins instead of a few days to varnish.

 

[JanetAnne]

Rather than epoxy, has anyone with experience of it had problems with or thoughts on 2k (2 pack) varnish at all?

I guess its the usual story of fine till the surface gets damaged and damp gets behind it forcing the rest to flake and fail - just like the laquer on bonnets of cars!

[Guest]

JA, my experience is on wooden racing dinghies and that was quite a few years ago. The problem with 2-pack varnish is that it is far more brittle than 1-pack. If your wood is dimensionally stable (so perhaps a cabin side or a rubbing strake) then it may be fine, even the best choice, but if there is likely to be movement (for example in hull planking or, in my case, plywood decks on a Fireball) you are quite likely to have problems with cracking. After a winter under covers, I've had big sheets peeling off!