How to Varnish a Boat | Finishing a Wooden Boat Pt 2 - First Stage Varnish

[@mgmurray100]

The bow is stunning, masterful work, coming from an old Yankee woodworker.

[@rjwintl]

After all that , it’s a two-pint evening , one for each hand !!! … marvelous job on the varnish & caulking !!!

[@sadas672]

Bravo 👏🏻 I got only five on my sail dinghy I will build more looking on your finished job

[@craigkaschan4822]

You have done a beautiful job mate. Hats off to you.

[@enuik]

Bedankt

[@Captain-TBone]

Beautiful craftsmanship and patience.. well done....I'm restoring my 72 pacemaker and going to put in red mahogany flooring....thanks for the info

[@davidbradley3074]

WOW! Nice boat!

[@86OEd]

Excellent - I admire your patience!

[@ronin2963]

I'm all emotional. Its like watching the End of Old Yellow or a Dirty Dozen, but nobody has to die 😊😅😇

[@karaDee2363]

Beautiful work and see you pretty much varnish the way I do with exception that I do my wet sanding by hand. I see a lot comments saying they're surprised you don't wet sand between each coat but I found that doing so is not beneficial to the finish and a waste of time especially during the first 4 coats. The varnish has to build up some before starting to do any wet sanding. And I don't use straight water, because I found adding a few drops of liquid dish detergent mixed in the water works better

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thank you. Yes I don't see any benefit to wet sanding in the early stages unless you are having particular issues with clogging of the sandpaper. I generally only wet sand before the final coat or when flatting and polishing.

[@ReneMortensen]

fantastic beatuful boat, well done

[@cliffjamerson3107]

Beautiful piece of art

[@JasonPeltier]

Wow, amazing work!

[@arieloflameusa]

Your boat is badass 💪 .

[@philkey9341]

great job

[@fraforgt-350r2]

Wow that’s beautiful, great job mate. Looks like a french polished boat 😂

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks 👍

[@Farage528]

Beautiful work pal 👏👏👏👏

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@nikomakon2]

Amazing work great to see the combination of the stain and the epifanes. Chandlery guys were telling me that its not a good idea to combine stain and varnish but that looks absolutely great! Bring it on for my boat :)

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks! Yes I'm not a fan of combining stain and varnish at the same time but staining the wood first and then building just varnish on the top works very well.

[@heliboy8762]

Combining stain with varnish results in an opaque finish that tends to hide the grain and natural beauty of the wood.

[@ernie548]

I've done stain, then varnish and works very well for me needs.

[@lexnicolae]

Absolutely gorgeous! All my respect!

[@lancer2204]

Very nice!

[@ete4445]

Although my question does not pertain to this tutorial, may I ask what you used for caulking your seams and at what point did you do this? It looked as though there was no caulk but at coat 9 through 12 the seams were caulked. Thank you!

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

I used 3M 5200 and did it part way through the varnishing process although I probably wouldn't do it this way again as I didn't particularly like the results.

[@ete4445]

@DanLeeBoatbuilding It looks nice! Thanks for answering my question. Can you elaborate? What would you do different? I did subscribe and watched your caulking video. When you rolled the varnish did it not get into the seams before caulking? Did it cause any issues? Also, someone suggested 3m 4000uv but I have heard of "paint" cracking when the caulk was painted over. I think varnish flexes so probly would not Crack? Also I have rolled and tipped but it looks like your finish was superior just rolling and allowing to level? Thanks again!

[@Farmer2492]

Best video on youtube what color is that on the boat.

[@albertmyers7176]

Great vid thank you

[@alann7974]

Dan I've built quite a few pieces of furniture out of mahogany and after several coats of varnish, I use Deluxeing Compound with an electric polishing mop and I found it levels the surface and provided a brilliant shine. It's made by Behelen.

[@dreoneful]

You did amazing that thing looks like is made of glass

[@markpalmer5311]

Wonderful. Really enjoy your videos.

[@scottwooster4102]

The closed word I can think of that describes what I see is beautiful. \

[@Enuik2]

great video ! What can't be emphasised enough is the use of the tack cloth to get rid of sanding dust. On my next job, I am going to even use an air compresor first to blow away sanding dust. This dust is almost a bigger threat than dust in the air, because you think it's gone and after applying a coat it floats up. Can I ask you a question about staining: what about including a little bit of stain (red gloss paint) in the Epifanes varnish. Maybe only in the first coats. Would that be a good idea to get a more even color on my new mahogany (model) boat which I am working on right now. Same question for an older real mahogany boat where I am going to work on this spring. The varnish is fine but turned a little bit mat and the wood has become brown instead of red, so I'd like to refresh this with 3 new coats. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. BRW: beautiful boat !!

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks, one thing to consider if you are going to use an air line to clean up first: do it the day before and not on the same day as application. All of that surface dust becomes airborne with an airline and then proceeds to settle back in your finish over the following 24 hrs! I don't personally like adding stain to varnish, mainly for the reason that you have to maintain very good control over film thickness when doing it. Otherwise you will see streaking or patching in the colour. Consider that this applies to both application AND sanding. If you sand slightly harder in one area then you reduce the film thickness and consequently start altering the colour. I much prefer to do all of the colouring in the stages when I am still "in the wood grain" so prior to varnish, perhaps coats 1 and 2 at a push.

[@heliboy8762]

Dan - regarding applying multiple varnish coats with no sanding in between. Manufacturers typically recommend sanding between coats. Have you had any adhesion issues? Also, why did you thin the first 2 coats and not the subsequent ones?

[@messenger8860]

Incredible job.. can you tell me what type what will you need to do to keep this look on the boat for ever? Will you have to coat it every year and will you ever need to completely strip it back to the timber every so many year? I'm really interested to know as I'm getting a wooden boat, thanks

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks. There are quite a few variables that will effect that. It's very unlikely that it would look that good forever! I would imagine after the final stage of varnish it may need refinishing in anywhere between 5 and 10 years time but that probably wouldn't be back to bare wood. Storage is a big factor, I keep this inside and out of sunlight (in a shipping container). Water and sun are probably the things that will deteriorate the finish most quickly, if this was left outside uncovered I think it would start looking tatty after about a year. That being said it depends on the type of wooden boat, some are designed to be left outside or moored in a harbour year round and finished with that in mind so different rules apply.

[@messenger8860]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding thanks for reply and info, incredible job

[@doug462001]

What type of foam roller do you use?

[@Hotzenplotz1]

Which stain were you using here? As it was slightly lifted by the epifanes it would be nice to know. Nice colour though.

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

This video shows the process of staining that I used: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpzcm3WjjbCKmKs

[@paulbriggs3072]

The building and building with more coats of varnish to get a smooth texture without the coarseness of the grain showing through is done with a filler stain, applied once, and rubbed away at an angle to the grain. A fine sanding and then a mere 3 coats produces a mirror smooth finish. More coats can be added for depth but back in the 30's and 40's 3 coats were often all they needed thanks to filler stain. Chris Craft filler stains are available from Sandusky Paint and Varnish company as well as Interlux.

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

I know they are widely used but I'm not personally a fan of filler stain. As it essentially adds a film of colour over the top of the wood I think you loose a lot of the grain definition. Thats why I prefer to get the colour in the wood and then build with just clear (or amber) varnish as it seems to give a much more natural look that interacts with the light better, it does take longer of course. That being said many of the professionals and boat manufacturers do it using the method you have said.

[@jeffrykunkel5444]

I have been using Epifanes on my sailboat for the past 15 years, I thought the regular clear varnish required sanding between coats, but you seem to be applying multiple coats every 24 hours. I switched to the woodfinish gloss to reduce the amount of sanding between coats which makes things much easier on the old knees. Are you indeed using the Clear Varnish and not sanding between some of the coats?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Yes I am but I am somewhat "bending the rules" here. The timeframe for applying additional coats in this way is very particular. In truth there are better products to use within the Epifanes range that are designed specifically for doing this. Epifanes PP for example can be built without the need for sanding between coats if applied within 48 hours. I recently did a quick tutorial on this product which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIfNpZJ7ZbynotE

[@junepetr3481]

Great job. Patience I assume is key. Did you consider spraying this varnish? Is this possible?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks, very much so but also good planning of the job! I generally wouldn't consider spraying traditional varnish. I tend to only spray two part systems when I want to build a high volume in a short space of time.

[@junepetr3481]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding thank you for the reply. When you mentioned two part, is that a polyurethane? If so why varnish and not a traditional clear coat like poly?

[@jasper8598]

9 layers? Most say 3-4 is enough, what will be the benefit of adding so much layers? Currently on the second layer for the new floor in my boat.

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

There is 17 on this deck in total now 😃 a number of reasons for so many, depth of colour, gloss and shine but perhaps most importantly, UV protection.

[@jasper8598]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding That makes sense. So basically the more layers I'll add, the better protection it will have? Can't I add "to much" layers?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Pretty much yes. Although don’t try to build too many in a short space of time, allow enough time for things to cure and settle down properly. Particularly if you are using a single part product.

[@jasper8598]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding Thanks for the advice. What about the last layer, if it's not 100 percent smooth, do you polish it? Can I polish it by hand without a machine?

[@enuik]

Dan, can I ask you another question: what do you consider the best room temperature to work in ?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

I'd say a nice still day, around 20 degrees gives the perfect conditions... currently 9 degrees in my workshop which is not soo good 😞

[@enuik]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding yes indeed, same here ;-) Thanks !

[@dennismacwilliams196]

WOW your is so Awesome...

[@sheriframzy6372]

Gorgeous work and very nice shop tour, in the earlier video. but I have a question here😊 you said you left the finish 6 month to harden .. is there any finish that hardens faster than that for boats ..

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thank you! Yes there are many products that will harden and completely cure in a week or so but the rest period is really about the varnish settling into the wood. The new wood will continue to "suck in" the varnish for some time as it moves over the course of the seasons etc. Even if you use a hard curing two pack varnish it's likely that after several months you will start to see the wood grain re appear in the finish because of this.

[@tillmansr2002]

In the beginning you mention the first coat was 50/50?. What was the other half of the 50?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

It is brush thinner, shown at 0:15

[@alainpascalrouthier5827]

In the spirit of sharing information. Once all the leveling is completed rubbing teak with acetone is what I learned. We want the teak oil out. then I learned immediately a 70% thinner and 30% epifanes varnish. You want to be careful here, this is when the wood "drinks" the varnish you want thin coats applied so the varnish does to dry on top you could go 90%... while the previous coat is tacky, when the wood stops drinking it has reached the oily part in the teak. Maybe one more thin 70/30. At 50/50 , air bubbles are dealt with hair dryers. When your varnish is good (six inch deep) you can build, but I have never used 100% varnish.90/10 is as think i have learned

[@Hotzenplotz1]

@Alain Pascal Routhier: Nice tips. But you may think about your wording as it sounds very much like a teacher to school kids. I don't have to learn, I'm boatbuilder myself. And I don't want to do it the way you suggest. I know this is typical american wording but it sounds quite rude to others. Additionally there's been no teak and no oil involved here. Mahogany, stain and varnish. And your grammar doesn't make a lot of sense. What do you mean by "you want thin coats applied so the varnish dries on top you could go 90%" This is a no sense sentence. Why should I be careful here? I want the varnish the saturate the wood for good deep uv-protection and great adhesion. Indeed I'd also go for more thinned coats than Dan has been here. At last it depends on the type of varnish if thinner on the last coats is necessary or not. And on the charge of the product and the age of the can. Some might have been longer in stock than others.

[@torstenbehrendt870]

Hi I love your boat finish. Did I get this right? You used the 1K Epifanes varnish and applied the third coat while the second was still tacky? How did this work out in practice? I'm asking because the application note says coats need to completly dry and even sanded inbetween. Thanks, Torsten

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Hi Torsten Yes that's right. This method does bend the rules a little and isn't as per the advice on the tin. Coats 2 and 3 are applied whilst the previous one is tacky but dry enough so as to not disturb it. The timeframe in which I managed to do that varied between around 24 to 6hrs based on temperature. It is a way of speeding up the building of volume, if you flat off between every coat you are removing a portion of each coat (100% on and then 30% back off for example) and therefore building volume more slowly. You also have all the additional clean up, with vacuum, tack cloth and thinners. Doing that on every coat increases the workload massively but doing it every third coat saves a lot of time, consumables and work. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with that but its the method that works for me.

[@torstenbehrendt870]

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding Dan Thanks for your reply. I was under the impression this was only possible with the 2K stuff from Epifanes. I'm glad to hear there is a way for 1K also. Sanding & Cleaning is what sucks the most. I will try out your method. If it works for me I will apply it next vernishing-season ;-) Thanks Torsten

[@flyer4965]

What sander do you use in the shop ? I like how compact it is an wondered if it’s an air sander?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

It's a Mirka CEROS, which is an electric sander but has about the same profile as an air one, very nice bit of kit!

[@labrat3687]

Hi I bought the mirka Deros and vac too, hell of a good piece of kit mate worth every penny ;) if you choose to join team mirka you won't be disappointed. Just my 2 cents

[@karlfriedrich7758]

Hi Dan, I might have missed it, but how are you varnishing the areas of the boat where it's sitting on the stand?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

The bottom is painted so I am only going as far down as the waterline.

[@tomskailes4296]

Dan, helpful video. A few questions - do you tip off when rolling the varnish, or do the grey superfine foam rollers apply with no bubbles/orange peel; do you thin the varnish a little for the rolling (how much?); how long do you leave between the three coats with no sanding between, touch dry or 24hrs? Thanks, Tom

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

I essentially use the roller to do the tipping off in this, I have used a brush before but this time around with those rollers I found I was getting a good enough finish/flow out without the need for tipping with a brush. Skip forward to 13:00 in the video and it's the part where I explain my rolling process. No thinning of the coats other than the first two. The time between coats can vary, when I first started the process and temperatures weren't very high (15 degrees probably) I was leaving around 18 hours between coats. By the end of the process the weather was a bit hotter (20-22 degrees) and leaving it this long would have meant that the varnish dried too much and would need keying up again before applying the next coat. These later coats were applied about 4-6 hours after one another, the timing of which meant I ended up doing a coat at 2am one of the days! Basically it needs to be dry enough so that you won't disturb or lift one coat with the next but it still needs to be tacky so it adheres properly.

[@ernie548]

20 coats total?

[@tillmansr2002]

Also, what color/type of stain was used?

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

I cover the staining process in another video which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpzcm3WjjbCKmKs that covers the product and colour type that I used.

[@michaelgavin7621]

Fucking awesome!

[@michaelgavin7621]

12:08 WTF!?!!

[@jamesstanley3513]

So beautiful, amazing attention to detail. What stain did you use? Definitely a masterpiece

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

Thanks! I used a Morrell's spirit stain called Plum Mahogany. I also covered the staining process in another video which you can see here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpzcm3WjjbCKmKs

[@gregorgman]

I find it hard to believe you didnt wet sand it between coats.

[@Charlies644]

yes.. ill boil the kettle!

[@colindobinson]

To those in the know, Epifanes is pronounced Epi-faa-ness.

[@justinreaume5515]

sexy beautiful amazing warm I hope one day I get to build a boat like this

[@cruzinoz8783]

Can’t stand the air bubbles

[@brucegelman5582]

43.00 dollars a quart.Definitely not a working stiffs hobby.😉

[@DanLeeBoatbuilding]

And I reckon I used about 13 quarts (if I've converted that correctly from 15L) on this!

[@per.kallberg]

It still only cost 1$/hour.... 😂