I have a Kevlar canoe with new ash gunwales I'm installing, and I would like to stain them darker to match the walnut decks, if my goal was to finish everything with something like a Watco, what could I use to stain them darker prior? I would prefer not to varnish them because I really don't like the finished look of varnish vs oil, but I could go this route if it's the best with a stain/finish process.
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New Ash Gunwales
- Thread starter bmac
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I have been using Watco for over 50 years. It comes in lots of flavors, including walnut. Use the oil to match the color.
I've used Watco walnut in the past and I never had it approximate anything close to the color of walnut.
I don't have any stain recommendations other than I personally think it's more trouble than it's worth and that ash and walnut make an attractive contrast.
Alan
I don't have any stain recommendations other than I personally think it's more trouble than it's worth and that ash and walnut make an attractive contrast.
Alan
Ash is hard to stain. You can add multiple coats.
I think Alan is right. The contrast is better than a bad match.
I think Alan is right. The contrast is better than a bad match.
Maybe another thing to consider is that a walnut deck will lighten with time, the stain may not ...
Another vote against staining.
Jim
Jim
I have several flavors of Watco teak i will take a look and see how they look on a sample piece, my gunwales are in place now and decks soon, so I still have some time to decide. looking around I've noticed finding Watco exterior finish is not easy.
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I'm not sure where you live but, around here, any of the local hardware stores carry Watco Teak Oil. If yours doesn't, ask if they can order it in (you may very well need to special order if you want stained oils... all I've seen locally is the clear)
I stained all the ash trim for on of the canoes I was building, used a cherry flavour, then covered the trim in epoxy and varnish, looked very sharp. The canoe has long since gone to greener pastures, but the trim lives on, I have cannibalized almost all of it for other canoe builds.
I remember watching Dave apply oil to his gunwales 2 years ago and he did an “eyeball” mix of watco teak regular and watco teak walnut.
Staining is hard work and hard upkeep.. I'd go with Watco.
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