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Cedar Strip Basket Case: Advice Sought

How did it go with the rollers? Did you tip?
Sorry for the slow response, I've been out feeding bugs recently...

The rollers worked well but I did not tip. At most I'd say it has a bit of orange peel but I guess I'm just not that picky. It took a bit of a beating last week anyway as I tried to outrun bloodsucking helicopters so the orange peel is the least of the blemishes. :)
 
So maybe our standards are close. I just got the 4.5 inch roller with wool and poly rollers-that are suppose to not leave residue. and lay varnish out flat without tipping. So, I'll lightly sand with 220 or 320 by hand over that first coat (where I had a few daylights), wipe with my fake tack rag, and lay on another coat on Friday when its suppose to be sunny. No tipping. Only regret is not wodding the top of that horrid rip- still pretty ugly. Just picked up my dogs after a week in Maine and Philadelphia. Good to be home with the girls. B
 
So maybe our standards are close. I just got the 4.5 inch roller with wool and poly rollers-that are suppose to not leave residue. and lay varnish out flat without tipping. So, I'll lightly sand with 220 or 320 by hand over that first coat (where I had a few daylights), wipe with my fake tack rag, and lay on another coat on Friday when its suppose to be sunny. No tipping. Only regret is not wodding the top of that horrid rip- still pretty ugly. Just picked up my dogs after a week in Maine and Philadelphia. Good to be home with the girls. B
Gamma 1214,

So orange peel is when your next coat of varnish readily peels off as you last coat was too slick and you didn't sand to rough it up between coats? Or am I out to lunch?
 
Gamma 1214,

So orange peel is when your next coat of varnish readily peels off as you last coat was too slick and you didn't sand to rough it up between coats? Or am I out to lunch?

Orange peel is generally referred to as a slight texture, similar to that of an orange peel. It can happen with many types of finish applications but I think it often happens to us canoe builders when we roll on a finish without tipping it out and the finish starts to harden before it's had time to self-level.

Even with tipping out or brush application I rarely get a completely flat finish with spar urethane or epoxy. I usually sand the epoxy surface smooth after a few coats. As soon as you start sanding the texture is apparent as the high spots are sanded off and the low (still glossy) spots are still visible.

After the epoxy is sanded smooth I'll apply the spar urethane and I'm usually happy with what I get. If I'm really looking for a nice finish I'll sand the spar urethane after a few coats before applying one final coat. It's not often I take this extra step.

Alan
 
Orange peel is generally referred to as a slight texture, similar to that of an orange peel. It can happen with many types of finish applications but I think it often happens to us canoe builders when we roll on a finish without tipping it out and the finish starts to harden before it's had time to self-level.

Even with tipping out or brush application I rarely get a completely flat finish with spar urethane or epoxy. I usually sand the epoxy surface smooth after a few coats. As soon as you start sanding the texture is apparent as the high spots are sanded off and the low (still glossy) spots are still visible.

After the epoxy is sanded smooth I'll apply the spar urethane and I'm usually happy with what I get. If I'm really looking for a nice finish I'll sand the spar urethane after a few coats before applying one final coat. It's not often I take this extra step.

Alan
Thank You Alan. I think I have it. I'll let you know if the rollers mentioned above leave a flat surface without tipping.
 
I alway tip off after rolling.

Jim

Me too. I can't think of a reason not to. It's so quick to drag the brush over just after rolling it out.

Sometimes I have a hard time getting an even coat with the roller and in that case I'll brush it hard in multiple directions to help spread it evenly before a final brush with the grain. This is all done very quickly.

With varnish/urethane I normally skip the roller and just brush it on.

Alan
 
So today, Sunday August 11, I got my second coat on using Epfanes whose instructions read like they are for the lacky at J. Pierpont Morgan's boat house. They want you to cut it 50% on first coat, and cut on down as you lay on other coats with 24 hours in between. They want 4 plus coats. I rolled with the wool rollers and tipped with Gamma 1214's favorite brush. It's curing out in the sunshine today after a 24 hour power outage yesterday from the great storm. You can still see the old girls war wounds, but as Gamma says that is all in her story. Just got the plastic seating from North Haven and will fix the seats next. Truth be told, I was asking about 7 foot oars that don't weigh a ton, and dumb dumb (me) found them in the top of the garage. I had them as part of my Dyer Dough frost biting dinghy from back in the 70's. They are very light, need to repair a split, sand, and varnish- they will be perfect. Hopefully get next coat on tomorrow.
 
Coating over fiberglass you don’t need that many coats, heck you don’t even need to thin because it is not going to soak in anywhere. Two coats is fine and if the boat spends much time outside, one new coat each year sanding before of course. I built a strip guideboat for a customer and stared him off with two coats. The boat literally sat outside in full sun all summer long (till October) then went to inside storage. I sanded the hull and gave it another coat each spring. I took care of that boat for twenty years like that and it just looked better every year. No sun degradation to the epoxy.
Jim
 
Hey Jim,

This old girl sat out for many years neglected and abandoned. I figure she is good for three coats. The first was thin and sanded down. The second was today and looks great- no orange peel that I can see and high gloss. Today was a beautiful day-good drying. Of course most folks would not start sanding their ancient oars right next to the canoe two hours after varnishing. It was however dry to the touch and I easily wiped most of the dust off. Tomorrow the final coat. I doubt I will sand in between unless sawdust still clinging to it. Tried to attach picture but apparently blew it. Cheers
 
Unless you have some magical window for recoating I always sand but to prep for the last coat assuming no dust or runs to deal with I give it good rubdown with a maroon scotchbrite pad. It gives a very fine ‘tooth’ for the coat to adhere to but it also dulls the surface so you can see where you have been and what isn’t done. That is the biggest plus. Trying to brush gloss on gloss and not lose your place is almost impossible.
Jim
 
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