Would you recommend oil or varnish and why?

Greetings. We recently bought a beautiful 32 year old Kråköcabin Mahogany boat. Being a beginner on the subject of restoring, I'd like to know the best way to finish such nice wood. Would you recommend oil or varnish and why?
What is the best way to do the job after taking old varnish off?
Also is there a particular brand you would use? I'd like to see this "jewel" look as it did in 1974 when new. Any related info is welcome. Thanks

 

Spin_Drift, I'm no expert, but
what you choose will have to depend upon the work and maintanence you are going to follow it up with.
In restoring my boat (which had been painted over all of its woodwork- the easiest way to maintain) I wanted to restore some of this back to wood.
After reading advice and talking to people I chose to go for the epoxy and varnish combo.
I did this for its (hopefully) lower needs of maintaining.
I found heat gunning and scraping to be the easiest and best method of stripping.
After sanding and cleaning you put down your first coat of epoxy.
You could use a penetrating epoxy for this first coat, but possibly even better, use a heated normal epoxy (that will penetrate while keeping the integrity of the epoxy).
Read this site for extensive information on epoxy use
http://www.westsystem.com/

I believe it has been advised to use three coats of epoxy (which I found a bit excessive), applied wet on wet (so you don't have to clean/sand between coats) and then,
after the epoxy has cured and has been cleaned of the blush and sanded,
at least three coats of a good one or two pack marine varnish, as normal sanded in between coats, or as instructed.

The aim of it is that the epoxy forms a very strong secure and waterproof bond and base to the wood, and the varnish bonds securly to the epoxy (procted from water from beneath) giving it the epoxy protection from UV that it needs.

As long as no cracks, chips or voids in the epoxy have let water in to the timber and underneath, then maintenence should involve a simple annual light sand and then fresh coat of varnish.

As to what is the best solution?
I don't know.
that would of course depend on many things,
your needs and wants (original/traditional etc), your skills, the time you wish to spend now, and in the future on it, money, etc....

The mahogany bits on my boat came out pretty nice,
but this has all been learned on the go for me, so I don't have much else to compare it to.
I am sure the other members will have a lot of other options for you.
Good luck,
Hans.
P.S. Post some photos,
it always helps to bring in the advice.

 

Hi Hans, Thank's for your reply.
Do you have a photo of the mahogany "bits" so I could see how it looks like.

I'd like original/traditional and durable, if such is possible...

 

Spin_Drift,
sorry, I don't have any photos of the mahogany at hand,
and I no longer have a digital camera.
Soon maybe.
Basically the epoxy under varnish looks very similar to plain varnish, except the whole coating is maybe a bit more "plasticy" and thicker.
For my needs it looks good enough. The other side of the coin is how bad the traditional methods can look if not maintained properly.

Hopefully someone else will chip in soon with some other advice,
but,
as far as I know, the original/traditional methods are probably likely to be less durable, in the sense that they will need to be maintained more often.
For your needs this might be ok, or not.

Hands on experience is probably what you will need.
You could go down to your local marina or boat yards and check out some boats with woodwork. As most boat owners seem to love to talk about their own boat and the work they have done on it, I think that you will manage to find and examine a wide range of methods and techniques.

Good luck.
Hans.