Need help with varnishing

Hello. I need help. Lots of help.

I purchased a 1959 MFG 12' runabout. It has a fiberglass hull but the seats, dash and bow deck are wood. The boat is in excellent condition, but the varnish on the bow was beginning to crack. I was told by an old-timer to simply sand it and apply a couple coats of spar varnish, and it would look super. Well, I read up on woodwork and decided that if the varnish was cracking, it was best to strip it and start over.

My life my never be the same.

So I stripped it and proceeded to use a mahogany colored wood filler. So far, so good. Then I put on a layer of Interlux Spar Varnish, thinned 10% with Interlux Brushing Liquid 333. Additional coats I did not thin. I let each coat dry for approximately 24 hours between sanding and varnishing. My deck now has 4 coats of varnish and I thought it was dry until I turned each piece of the deck upside down to scrape the varnish off from around the edges. (I removed the deck from the boat for this job - two pieces.) I scraped the congealed drips of varnish from the underside, and when I flipped my deck over again, I discovered that I had destroyed the finish. It was awful. The varnish was so soft it had become dented and dinged and ripped and torn and...well, you get the picture. It was destroyed from sitting on the saw horses. I'm frustrated beyond words - and the thing is, I really want to become good at this type of work. I read everything I could get my hands on and I thought I'd done everything right. I've read since that spar varnish remains tacky. But I think my project was beyond tacky - the finish isn't even functional, being so suseptible to damage. What have I done wrong? I'm planning on stripping it all off and starting over - but I can't afford to keep buying spar varnish, so if anyone out there can be of assistance, I sure would appreciate it. Thank you!
Travis Wallace

 

travis this is what I do ,,strip and sand down to wood ,,use duco wood sealer to fill in the pours of the wood ,,apply 1 coat of varnish ,,let stand for 24 hrs ,,sand with 200 grain ,,apply 2nd coat of varnish ,,let stand for 24 hrs ,sand with 4 or 5 hundred grain,,aplly 3 coat of varnish ,let stand for 24 hrs ,,then take fine steel wool to it ,,let stand for 24 hrs ,apply final coat of varnish,,then use paste wax for final finish ,,looks good on boats ,,use a uv varnish,,I use exterior house varnish ,,because waethering happens and it only cost 50 buck a gallon as opposed to marine varnish that cost 150 a gallon ,,and you should do it evey 4 or 5 years anyway,,longliner

 

one more hint ,,when you sand ,,save some of your sawdust,to use for filler in minut crevases ,,mix the sawdust with duco cement,,,and show us some pics ,,longliner

 

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Varnishing can be very difficult and time consuming especially when staining because you have to avoid sanding through to the stain.
I will take a different tack here. I don't know whether the wood was dented or you only scratched the varnish. Option one, you only scratched the varnish. All over? Some places? Often decks have segmented areas, and if the damage was limited to areas delineated by plank seams or margin boards, tape off the good areas and work only on the affected ones. Scratches can look bad and I would suggest laying some varnish on the scratches--- to melt in and darken them. Add coats until level with surrounding area and see.
This may solve you problem (pictures would be nice).
Option two is to wood the piece (s).
You did exactly as you should have, except the #333 would only be used to allow bubbles and lines to flow out, and the amount used would not always be 10%. In fact, 10% is quite a bit, and appropriate for high ambient temperature. 5% might be better (or none at all) unless it's pretty hot and dry, but I'm assuming you've experimented.
In any case, there's no way to take the finish all the way down without restaining and partially sanding is only possible if there are seperate areas as mentioned.
I recommend twelve coats on a deck. Decks get hit hard by UV. Get your method down and you can do two coats a day, no sanding except every other day. Do this only if you have a relatively decent coat to go over.
I've found that completely mixing the #333 in is the only way to keep it from rising to the top. Mix first and don't mind bibbles. Run through a filter into a new cup and the bubbles will not pass easily through the filter. Then let stand for a few minutes.
Whenever you get a really good coat, add another while it's still a bit soft (though not tacky). Saves time.
You can buy Captains varnish from Petit for under $80.00 per gallon, incidentally. It pretty good stuff.
Chalk it up to experience. Varnish hardens slowly, and I usually try to get it done in the fall so it can harden up good before i handle it in the spring.
I sand between coats with 240 grit until the last couple of coats. Then I use 320 or 400 on the last coats.
It's a lot of work, and although it looks fabulous when it's done, my own boat is mostly painted. If I have to varnish, I want to be paid for it!

Alan