refinishing wood grabrails

[geosizmic]

Last fall I removed the wood handrails from my 25' and plan to refinish them as they are painted brown and have seen better days. If I strip them, will they take an oiling or has the paint made the wood non-porous. I would also be interested to hear about paint or clear coat products that anyone has had experience with.thanks

[Panhdjoe]

Hello, All the exterior wood on our 27 family cruiser had to be refinsied when we got it. It had many coats of old and peeling varnish. As you have already done it is best to remove the pices if possible. I tried chemical striping but found that a heat gun and a scraper work much better (thanks to sugestion from this group). Then sand with 80 grit regular sand paper, I used a belt sander on all flat surfaces and did the rest by hand. None of our wood had been painted so I am not shure how teak oil would work. I chose Cetol natural teak, so far it is holding up well and looks good.

[denchen]

If you can get them back to bare wood, a method I use is to give it one coat of resin and two coats of varnish. They last for years and a light sanding then re varnish brings them up nice. If you have time, try a scrap piece of wood and see what you think. You might get colouring to mix in with resin.

[Yeoman]

Thanks for the reply Denchen.These winter replies are well spaced but I'm still here. When you mention resin do you mean something like Westsystem fiberglass resin? I have done the stripping and sanding so now I am ready to finish. I decided against straight oil because it looks muddy and I'd like to get as bright as possible. Ultralux and Helmsman have varnish but I'm not sure about the resin.

[Robdog.1]

Yeoman, I might suggest a two stage teak cleaner and brightener from West Marine or any supply store. After you've sanded, just wet and brush on cleaner. After a few minutes, you apply a "stop" type chemical. The teak will turn gold like brand new. After it dries, you just use a good teak oil. That should cure your muddy look and be a heck of a lot easier to refinish than a varnish or urethane. I do the teak on my Whaler about every two years and it only takes a few minutes (not counting letting wood dry overnight).

[Yeoman]

Thanks Robdog, I will check with West Marine for that product.

[denchen]

Sorry for not coming back earlier, but yes you could use the West System but I use a general marine grade clear resin I have in the shed that gets used on all sorts of jobs, I made the grand children a 16ft canoe with the same stuff last summer. Why not try on a bit of scrap wood first.

[Yeoman]

Just a quick update on the wooden handrails. I went with the two part cleaner and two coats of teak oil although it was not marine grade so I hope there isn't much difference. Time will tell.

[Robdog.1]

Show us a picture of before and after if you have it!!

[OldDemps]

Cetol Marine "Natural teak" on A25 hand rails & Mast questions

1) Does the Cetol natural teak have any (stain) color in it or is it just a deeper tint clear coat?

2) My hand rails and OEM A25 wood mast range in color now they're stripped & bleached so I'm considering staining all with "Teak" or "chestnut" stain prior to applying Cetol. Necessary?

3) What's the best way to store the remaining 1/2 quart of Cetol? I read somewhere top the can off with propane to displace oxygen. Suggestions?

Coming from Albin 28TE to now my A25, I've never had the pleasure of renewing wood trim before.

THANKS

[DesertAlbin736]

If you can get them back to bare wood, a method I use is to give it one coat of resin and two coats of varnish. They last for years and a light sanding then re varnish brings them up nice. If you have time, try a scrap piece of wood and see what you think. You might get coloring to mix in with resin.

That's what I did with mine. Best to remove the rails from the boat & do your work in a temperature & dust controlled shop environment. I would go with at least two coats of resin, preferably three rather then just one, and if you're using West System resin then use #207 "Special Clear" hardener.

This is a good 'how-to' treatise:

https://epoxyworks.com/index.php/varnish-over-epoxy/

The key to making it last is to seal every last nook & cranny of the wood top & bottom, including screw holes, with epoxy thereby keeping moisture out of the wood.

Refinishing the hand rails, removed & working in the shop. Note how I used nails driven into sawhorses to set the rails on.

DSCN2052.JPG

Doing the rooftop hatch covers & name boards

DSCN2051.JPG

DSCN2057.JPG

To top thing off, making or buying Sunbrella covers for the hatches & handrails helps extend the life of the finish, a must in our intense UV exposure desert heat climate..

DSCN3633.JPG

My hand rails and OEM A25 wood mast range in color now they're stripped & bleached so I'm considering staining all with "Teak" or "chestnut" stain prior to applying Cetol. Necessary?

Applying the resin should darken the wood. Mine as shown in the above photo are OEM natural teak with no staining. You can always try a bit of resin without hardener on the underside of the rails where it won't show & see what you think, then clean off with acetone before you go ahead with resin + hardener.

[NickScheuer]

Our exterior handrails were pretty far gone so I sanded and painted them white with excellent results. Our interior handrails in the cockpit were is fair shape but badly in need of refinishing, so I used paint/varnish remover on them, then sanded, then applied several coats of spar varnish with excellent results.

[DesertAlbin736]

Our interior handrails in the cockpit were is fair shape but badly in need of refinishing, so I used paint/varnish remover on them, then sanded, then applied several coats of spar varnish with excellent results.

That's on my to do list for interior trim this year as well, especially the aft cabin door & frame & other front cabin joinery. For the solid wood frames I'll probably use the old mechanic's heat gun & paint scraper trick to strip off old varnish. Since it's protected interior wood work will like just use spar varnish instead of varnish-over-epoxy.

[OldDemps]

Thanks Gentleman for the info.

I've already decided on straight Cetol.
Does anyone have an answer on three questions please?

1) Does the Cetol natural teak have any (stain / darkening) color in it or is it just a deeper tint clear coat?

2) My hand rails and OEM A25 wood mast range in color now they're stripped & bleached so I'm considering staining all with "Teak" or "chestnut" stain prior to applying Cetol. Necessary or will Cetol bring out a darkened natural wood grain?

3) What's the best way to store the remaining 1/2 quart of Cetol? I read somewhere top the can off with propane to displace oxygen. Suggestions?

[RobS]

Thanks Gentleman for the info.

I've already decided on straight Cetol.
Does anyone have an answer on three questions please?

1) Does the Cetol natural teak have any (stain / darkening) color in it or is it just a deeper tint clear coat?

2) My hand rails and OEM A25 wood mast range in color now they're stripped & bleached so I'm considering staining all with "Teak" or "chestnut" stain prior to applying Cetol. Necessary or will Cetol bring out a darkened natural wood grain?

3) What's the best way to store the remaining 1/2 quart of Cetol? I read somewhere top the can off with propane to displace oxygen. Suggestions?

All I use is Cetol Natural. Here's my teak scraped and with the Cetol. It brings out a nice deep color. The flag staff and the ladder I just did this month. I do nothing special in storing the remaining can, I just seal it tight and keep in climate controlled.