How to best prep and varnish your boat - Part 1

Getting the Herreshoff 12 1/2 'Rhode Island Red' ready for another season in the water, Lou shows us his method of scraping the varnish flat with a razor blade before sanding in order to keep as much varnish on the boat as possible. In Part 2 the prep work will be finished and Lou will demonstrate how to apply varnish.
Watch Part 2 - • How to best prep and v...
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[@miguelhidalgo9372]

Howdy! Wow! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I am a Seaman Apprentice. My only desire is to focus solely on the prep and varnish woodwork on the gorgeous Steam Yacht Medea. It's not a replica. I understand and know about the 4 existing known steam yachts in the universe. This is the real thing, and over 100 years old! My goal is to do EXCELLENT (TLC) work on this beautiful steam yacht to live another 100 years beyond me. The entire series of videos enhanced my knowledge of carefully working on the other ships at the San Diego Maritime Museum. Enjoy a toast of the best Scotch Whisky with me - legendary across the world. -- The River Clyde, Linthouse, Glasgow, Scotland. ⛵

[@steved8038]

this is why we use to have apprenticeships ,so skilled people could teach inexperienced people the quickest and easiest way to do a job instead of rushing in with a power sander and making the job worse. the skill and dedication in these vids is amazing to watch and I wasn't that interested in boat restoration till I started to watch this site, thank you for the vids and please keep them coming.

[@bryan_garrick_little]

Thank. God for the university of KZbin - the new space for masters and for us to apprentice 🙏🏽✨😁

[@roundsm18]

Thats why I like watching people who have mastered their trade. Within mine I have watched people 3-5 years out of their apprenticeships - to include my own apprentice once - completely destroy something because God forbid they do something manually. Leave it to the younger side of my generation and Gen Z to throw away a culmination of hundreds of years of mastering something because “this one has a power cord”.

[@je-fq7ve]

I watched 8 minutes of scraping varnish. Appreciate the work.

[@AGuyDoingStuffAdam]

I love your videos Louis. I used a lot of your tips and advice as I was building a cedar strip canoe. Just started my second one. Thanks so much for regularly posting stuff!

[@thecomputergeeksllc]

Every video is is packed with great shipwright tips. Thank you.

[@shanebba2]

love your videos Lou so practical. thanks for sharing! iam building a 16ft carvel workboat in Ireland and follow along with your videos. they have helped me a lot!!

[@chrisleggatt3240]

Thankyou from Bognor Regis uk. Your soothing teachings have taught me how to repair and care for my mirror dinghy. Your lessons have connected me deeper to my hobby and passion cheers!

[@HAL_9001]

Something I remember from my auto painting days is to dull the razor tips or put a piece of masking tap over each tip. That way you cut down on deep scratches you'd have to sand out later. Cheers! Great vid!

[@VibratingDolphinNow]

Why this (presumable) family would interrupt a sailing season by taking this sweet little boat out for cosmetic touch-ups is beyond me. I'd rather sail than have mirror-smooth varnish- but then again, I don't have a doughdish and I'm glad I get to watch men like Louis Sauzedde at work. Keep it up!

[@captlarry-3525]

I love watching this guy work !

[@trimtrac]

My first thought was to use a cabinet scraper, totally agree with L. Reed

[@wadepatton2433]

Total respect for Lou and I'd be dragging a dang razor blade if I was working under him, BUT also a Quick trip to the grinder to knock off the corners (and deburr of course)-is what I'd do to avoid digging with the corners. But then I'm likely to be using a different sort of scraper to start with in my shop. I make 'em from steel banding material, burred as desired. I started out with more rigid scrapers, even glass-but flexible steel is what works best under my hands for contoured or flat surfaces.

[@Captain_Mike82]

Lots of comments about cabinet scrapers, I worked in a cabinet factory for over 7 years as quality control/repair. They work best on very flat surfaces unless you have a curved scraper. The simple razor blade technique used is best for this application as you can easily alter pressure on either side of the blade or scrape to follow the contours of a rounded edge. A good cabinet scraper can do a great job at knocking down drips, runs, sags and other clear coat issues. In this case the razor blade is cheaper, easy to control and works very well. Why pay more for a tool that has one function when you can pay less for a tool that has multiple uses? Fascinating video as always.

[@j.o.t.u.n.n]

you can fold tape over the corners to stop them from digging

[@Samlol23_drrich]

You can just call me a “boatwrong” That was beautiful. Great job

[@jodygaston6438]

Awesome videos. Extremely well spoken and full of knowledge. The beard also lends a ton of credibility. 😁

[@robemega]

Thanks! This is just what I was looking for

[@arubanjames]

Love this series

[@84toyota4wd]

Awesome man, Love the work!

[@shelefries9641]

This is awesome! Thanks for your videos!

[@lynwoodreed9032]

boat builder for 5 years, furniture maker for 41 years. A well sharpened cabinet scraper would have done this easier and quicker than this method. Great respect for Louis. Keep up the great videos.

[@TipsfromaShipwrightvideos]

I'm always looking for a faster and easier way to do anything. Can't wait to see your video on this subject.

[@lynwoodreed9032]

Can't do videos, sorry. Did not mean to offend. As a furniture maker I have used many means to scrape. I have even made them from glass. I wrap the un-used edges with duct tape. Believe me, I meant no disrespect. I hail from Tiverton, RI myself and worked in yards in the area before moving out of state. I just don't want to see you slip with that blade.

[@RealLuckless]

I would strongly encourage you to make an attempt at doing videos. It is not terribly difficult if you take your time and don't get overly ambitious with your production values. They are an excellent way to share methods and different views on subjects like this, and exchange feedback with other users.

[@alext9067]

I had the same thought. But after I saw the date, I realized that he'd probably moved on to a cabinet scraper by now.

[@robertgrzy4257]

@@alext9067 I just used this technique for the first time after watching his video. I used it on a white oak screen door and I’m making. I used it after the first initial coats of high-gloss to get rid of the nibs. And let me tell you it’s the only way to go. There’s so much control and the blade ends up acting like a scraper if you use one side more than the other. I will not trust a scraper for that delicate type of work, Particularly on a curved surface. Maybe a card scraper but you would have to be gentle with it.? I am going to use this method in the future and all my projects prior to finish sanding and final finishes. Thank you Lou!

[@AfricanSouthernCross]

I have done the exact to get rid of runs and thicker varnish....a handled scraper works just fine because of the angle that the blade sits in the utility blade scraper....using a blade on its own works but it’s tiring with your bare fingers, a handled utility knife scraper WORKS !

[@shittyboats]

Great video as always. Have you ever tried a cabinet scraper for jobs like this? I would think it would make the job go much quicker and give you a flatter finish as well. I've never tried it myself so I'm not recommending it, just curious if it would work. Thanks for the vid.

[@Aa-wv4gh]

I use a silk negligé to magnify my touch when I do bodywork on cars.

[@BigAdam2050]

Might want to look into getting a "Cabinet Scraper" for that first part, might find it a bit easier and at the very least, the blade is bigger.

[@aserta]

The scraper is a bit too much. He's only skimming. Note how he stops once the shiny spots vanish/or get close to vanishing.

[@rodeotrent]

How does this guy not have arthritis, my fingers and knuckles ache just watching it and I'm only 32

[@samualwhittemore228]

Three Cheers!! ... as always. Thanks for the lesson!

[@mikebailey3614]

have you aver tried to use a hand plane set to a very shallow cut in order to smooth the surface?

[@BillHohensee]

This may have been asked, but would a well-tuned card scraper be a good option for removing high-spots and sags?

[@SuperCheese88]

The scrapping had me wanting to cover my ears but I wanted to hear what you were saying. I just can't handle that scraping scratching sound.

[@roamin_ronin]

Totally nails on a chalkboard but I'll do it for Lou

[@videosunrelated1883]

any reason not to use say a more dull [think dust?] scraper instead of the little razor blade?

[@demelitia]

6” Cabinet scraper would have come in handy for this.

[@tedfarwell9812]

Listen to Lou. He's trying to teach you something. If a cabinet scraper would do what needs to be done here, he would have used a cabinet scraper. It wouldn't, so he didn't. Don't try to be smarter than the Master.

[@Eric06410]

The varnish whisperer

[@kesim]

Would a cabinet scraper be too aggressive?

[@dphotos007]

Surprised on the second boat you did not remove everything down to bare wood, is this called a refresh what you are doing. Is this what the client requested.

[@benrandomly2016]

What caused the dark stain across the transom? That's unusual.

[@richardbohlingsr3490]

Lots of manual labor keeping bright work shining.

[@M4t30Luc7]

looks like Elmer got his hands on some varnish.

[@rolandharrison5651]

Wouldn’t a large card scraper work faster?

[@metz12harofreak]

I am going to be going to Jamestown Distributors this weekend to get some of the tools I need for IYRS this september, and I have a question of what i will need for a spokeshave. Will I need a flat bottomed or a round bottom shave? They tell me to get the regular stanley shave in the tool list but I feel a round bottom shave would be beneficial to me. Thanks!

[@deanhoward1374]

I'd recommend both. I think you will regret not getting either as they both have their uses on boats. If not go for the electric spoke shave they will love it.

[@stevenlyons3239]

Burns Tools in Fall River would have a bigger selection

[@metz12harofreak]

That will probably be a store I will go to soon, but JD has a student discount for IYRS students.

[@robertsherman2650]

i went to IYRS and have been working in the field for a bit now. I would recommend finding an older Stanley sweetheart flat spokeshave for starters. The flat spokeshave will be sufficient for almost everything. Then somewhere down the line look for a round bottom.

[@metz12harofreak]

awesome. thank you for the tip!

[@robertnortan87]

Neither I am fond of machines, hand is the best way !

[@Nobodyofimportance2u]

A D.A. sander with some 320 would have made it flat as a mirror

[@martyspargur5281]

might be too gummy

[@bmandrakeeee8378]

what goes without saying and is pretty funny is that the owner probably did that last awful varnish job

[@windsurfer49]

His use of words" makes you want to have a go"" "scraping off varnish "for fun"" , varnishing on anything but a flat surface" Alway fun to do""

[@warrendemers4672]

Crying out loud my boat is ruined