Man when is the cold gonna go away!

Well here on Button Bay the ice is still around and the weather is all over the place with temps below 20 one day and 40's the next. We have been getting a mix bag of Snow, Ice, and Rain. I have been busy down in the basement working on various projects this week.

I finished my small pieces and they came out pretty good but still have stuff in the finish, rrrr! Here is one of the side box steps


The rest of the items came out well and the one step I repaired looks pretty good.


After I finished the varnish work I switched gears to repair my front bench seat. It had a crack in it an various screw holes to dowel. What I plan on doing is epoxying the crack then glue and screwing a piece of White Oak underneath to strengthen the area. In the picture I have injected the epoxy into the crack with West System syringes. I used tape on the back side to hold the epoxy in the crack. I then use the seat brace pieces on the underside of the seat to apply preassure to close the crack. I then used claps across the crack to draw it tighter. I am letting it set up before attaching the oak plank. I will bevel the plank like the seat to give another row of material to screw the back to the seat.


I am doweling the screw holes because most were really reamed out. I did track down some mahogany dowel rod and am epoxying it in place. I have some high spots I will need to sand down for a tight fit. After I get these cleaned up I will stain and varnish.


While this setting up I began to stain my rear bench seat. I am getting use to the stain but do not paint it on as they say on the label, then wipe off. I use the same staining method I learned from my father in that I use cheese cloth, an old dark glass wine bottle and work the stain across the grain then rub again with the grain. I like the out come and do not waste as much paste. The down side is it is not as fast as the paint method. I like how it works.


I also tinkered with painting the steering wheel. I used rustoleum almond and it is really close to the original and pretty inexpensive. One thing I did not see when sanding the wheel was hairline cracks that when I painted stuck out like a sore thumb. I am hoping additional coats will color these areas.


Well thats about it for now, more to come when I finish varnishing the rear bench seat.

Varnish, varnish and more varnish

With the ice storm hitting Vermont I started in the basement varnishing a few small pieces like my step box tops and the trim ring for the steering shaft. I have pre-pictures below. One of the steps was cracked right in half, but I liked the look of the grain so I repaired them by epoxy and a piece of wood to strengthen the damage area.

I have been trying out the Epifanes Wood Gloss Varnish which does not require sanding between coats if done within 72 hours. I figured with all the rib detail on the inside of the hull this would be a good choice. I am not the best a bright work and can never get a perfect finish. I always have something in my finish, dust, hair, whatever. I find this product is a little harder to work with than traditional varnish. It seams to attract more contaminants, I am not kidding, and I find more dust in my work. I am applying 4, maybe 5 coats then re-coat next year. I cannot get the mentality of 12 coats before it hits the water, but admit it looks nice.

The temperature here on Button Bay is still cold and I cannot do my repairs or varnishing on the hull until spring arrives and 60 degree temps are here again, maybe May. For now after this round of varnishing I need to turn my eye to the benches and repairing screw holes and fixing a crack in the seat of the front bench. I got a piece of White Oak (way over kill, but the price was sooooo cheap I could not resist) and dressed it up with my father-in-laws surface planer. Once I have the varnish out of the way I will work on these pieces and then stain and varnish. I have noticed that the solid mahogany pieces are staining darker than the mahogany plywood pieces.

Well that is where I am for now, more to come.....

Whats been happening

Well since my last post I have been busy working down in the cellar repairing my benches for the boat. I have sanded all the parts and am fixing a couple of cracks in a side step and in the front bench seat. I went to Morse hardwood and picked up a nice piece of white oak that I need to dress. I want to use this piece of oak underneath the crack in the front seat to stabilize the crack and give it strength when I epoxy everything together. Here are some pictures of the work.






The wood the bench seats are dirty in spots but I don't think I want to sand them clean for fear of removing too much stock. I have also run into a bit of a snag in that I ma trying to find the oval head screws in silicone bronze 1 3/4" but can only find flat head for any size. I may have to use flat heads but I like the original ovals. I can find them in brass but prefer the silicone bronze for durability.