teak finishing

[papasailor]

I received some good tips earlier and have decided to plug and finish my teak onboard. There are some pieces I have finished on shore though and would like to share something.

In discussing the Natural teak, someone said it was rough with bubbles. Having finished furniture type wood off and on for years, let me offer my experience. I have always used OOOO steel wool between coats of polyurethene followed by a tack rag. This smooths out each layer of varnish.

Using steel on the teak is a no-no because a tiny fleck might stick in the teak and rust. There is brass wool, but using a plastic scotch brand pad does a good job of smoothing without taking off too much finish. It is important to get the dust off between coats. A tack rag is best for this. If your clothes are all dusty, you might want to change too.

Of course, you should also be using a decent bristle brush. Use the tack rag on the brush bristles and minimise dust where you are working. Don't do it out in the direct sun, even if it is cool. I did mine in my garage and closed the overhead door to keep the tree polen and stuff from blowing on the wet teak. I didn't do it this time, but back when I painted cars, I ran a hose to wet the floor down and further eliminated dust.

Using two coats of Natural and two of gloss clear makes it look really good.

[T37Chef]

Thats all fine and good for the teak you can remove from the boat
lol

[papasailor]

I wil be doing essentially the same for the teak I finish on board. My main suggestion is sanding with a scotch pad, using tack rag in between coats and to keep dust to a minimum. If you have a canopy or sunshade, to eliminate direct sun, that will help too. On the plus side, if the boat is in the water, you don't have to wet the lake down.

[camaraderie]

PS...all good suggestions. The scotch brite is all you need for touchups to the gloss along the way too.