Sauce mixture for cracking (checking) wooden spars

[teddius]

I rebuilt a solid old growth doug fir bowsprit (12') on my boat... It's great, but I haven't yet painted it.. I have been giving it love with teak oil, but I need to sand it down a little and then paint it.. Before I do that, I need to fill in the small checks that have formed over time with some sauce mixture of teak oil, beeswax and pine tar. Does anyone have a recipe for the mixture? Preferably someone who knows what they are talking about.

Cheers!

[deniseO30]

I do think I know what your talking about, and having been around wooden boat builders I know that your going to have better luck with one or some of the Sikaflex products. Old pine tar fillers dont' last in the sun and heat. To thicken the mixture, silica would work. it's not too different then the filler used to fill canvas.. just sticky and icky and it never quite cures.

if you click on the blue words they will lead you to jamestown distributors. they are great supply for boat builders!


Pine Tar

Old Down East Deck Coating Formula

Wood has a natural beauty that many people wish to not only protect but enhance with either Oils or Varnishes. A good varnish applied to your boat will provide a barrier to protect against the elements that will attack the wood during the season--sea, rain, wind and sun.

Varnish

Varnishes have always been considered a mysterious blend of black art and science. They are generally made up of oil, solvents and thinners, resins, dryers, and additives. By varying these components, and by adding UV inhibitors and other secret ingredients each particular varnish will have different characteristics. Varnish can have gloss or matte appearance, can be extremely hard and durable, and can vary in color.

Oils

Wood or Teak Oils generally penetrate more deeply into the wood fibers and maintain the original look of the wood more so than other finishes that are a mere surface coating. Oils will range in color from clear to dark brown. As with any wood finish, multiple coats will result in a more uniform finish and greater longevity. Oil is probably the easiest to apply--but still requires an amount of preparation for good results and it has the shortest lifespan of the group. Clean, sanded teak with several coats of oil can provide 3-6 months of protection.

[klem]

The key is to get something that isn't going to crack either because it is too stiff or because it will dry out. What I have ended up doing is to put a wood preservative in the bottom of the checks (timbor or something else), and then use a flexible caulking. I have always used something that is easy enough to remove that it can be redone every 2 years or so. Since you are working on a bowsprit, I would recommend only doing this to the checks on the top and not doing the ones on the bottom since it won't rain into them and caulking them will only serve to hold water in.

[CalebD]

Denise knows her wood.

I probably don't know what I am typing about but I do know that I love the way oiled wood looks, any wood species.
I tried coating some of the teak on my '67 Tartan 27 with the clear hardener and can officially say I was not happy with the results. I tried keeping up with the varnish look and have given up on that too so I have gone over to the dark side and gone with Cetol Natural Teak for now. But you are not really asking about what finish to use.
We recently replaced some sections of our teak toe rail (always gets checked and broken). There were a few spots where there were divots where previous injuries were not completely replaced. We generated a mess of teak sawdust while milling up the slats for the toe rail so I saved some of the teak dust (you could say we had a 'teak party'). I mixed up a paste of epoxy and fine teak sawdust and used that to fill the remaining checked spots. Granted this was on a horizontal surface so it was fairly easy to do and would not be as easy with a bowsprit. The repaired sections look just ok and I have no idea how long it will look just ok as it is likely our launch will bang into it again this season. I'll let you know in 5 years if I am happy with this approach.
I wonder if a eurathane glue like gorilla glue would hold up if mixed with some sawdust? Otherwise pine tar and black magic I guess.

[poopdeckpappy]

I don't get the Teak oil and pine tar, the beeswax part I do get, I've done this with my spruce spars, but you lost me on the oil and tar part

[KeelHaulin]

Paint it with epoxy resin? The resin would soak/fill in the cracks and strengthen it while protecting it from drying out further. For sun protection you could sand lightly after painting on a few thin coats and then top coat it with Clear Cetol (Gloss).

[poopdeckpappy]

If he's painting the spar I don't get the pine tar and teak oil, beeswax alone will fill & waterproof the cracks, plus it won't shrink and it's paintable

[deniseO30]

I can't imagine the work involved in upkeep of wooden spars on any kind of larger to very very large boat. I'd paint it. Doug Fir isn't all that pretty anyway.
I once took a walking tour of a 4 masted schooner at the sea port Museum in Bath Maine. The size and amounts of wood are staggering to the imagination. Another time At Mystic seaport watching the Replica Amistad being planked in 2" white ok was quite interesting also.

I guess mast painting/varnishing could be fun... after all you do it as you have great views of the harbor! (even though you better be working your way down to deck level)

[ottos]

These guys may also have some info - The WoodenBoat Forum

[hellosailor]

Is it that you want a traditional appearance? Or else why stick to a cosmetic filler, when you could make a structural repair to the spar by using an epoxy or urethane to fill and bond the cracks?

Once you paint, the appearance will be the same. But paint will never stick to the wax or tar the same way that it would stick over epoxy or urethane glues. I'd fill the cracks with the structural adhesive of choice, apply "tourniquets" and tighten them down until it dried, and make the repair the newfangled way.