Posted by Fred on December 31, 2002 at 14:57:57:
In Reply to: Re: can you epoxy over sikkens cetol marine varnish? posted by Barry on December 29, 2002 at 10:21:30:
Art - Sikkens cetol marine "varnish", is something a lot of sailboat folks use to do the "bright" wood areas. It really isn't varnish perse. Just sort of a colored exterior finish. Many sailboaters like it - its rather expensive stuff. To do "cetol" right, you need to lay down 3 or 4 layers.
Seems like no matter what one uses for exterior boat woodwork - it doesn't last all that long! Guess that is why so many boaters spend so much time - revarnishing their boats. Perhaps cetol
lasts a little longer.
I've never heard of anyone applying varnish
over cetol! I suspect you would ruin it, as far as being able to come back next year and give another coat of cetol, to spiffy it up.
From what I've gathered, there seem to be a couple of "cetol" sikkens finishes, or at least shades available. One is sort of a mousey brown look.
I don't know that EPOXY clear finishes are any more impervious to weather/exterior than any other of the short-lived finishes. The "Islander" wooden boat people up in the St. Lawrence River, in upstate NY - use like 8 coats of the best marine gloss varnish in the world - and do it often!
Fred
: Try something else. I am not familiar with the material you used, or whether epoxy will stick well, but epoxy needs to be protected from UV light. If you covered with epoxy, you would then need to clear coat the epoxy with varnish or whatever. An epoxy like Poxy-Shield or WEST will make the surface harder, but will not make a softwood dent proof. Use at least 5 coats of varnish and touch up as necessary.
:
: : I am using western red cedar for the rear seats on the cabin skiff and would like to darken up the natural color of the wood. I tried cetol marine and it looks great, but because it is such a soft wood I need to protect it. will epoxy stick to this stuff or will I have to try something else? Any suggestions???