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I did a search & really couln't find the answer. Do you stain then varnish? If so, is there a "Whaler color" AGAIN, thanks so much!

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Davbro,
no stain. just varnish.

Mike

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I use "Zar" (marine rated) dark Mahogany stain, I like the look of the "Darker" color on the Mahogany, I then seal it with "Polyurathane".

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davbro,
it's a matter of personal preference. A lot of times when your making replacement parts or refinishing older wood you will get different colors. Some folks don't like that, I personally do. if you want nice uniform color across all the pieces of wood, then your only option is to stain at least as dark as the darkest piece. once you have an even color across all pieces, then use a marine grade top coat.

If you have all new wood, test a couple pieces to make sure you like the color with just a top coat. if you do, then just use marine grade top coat like Spar or Captains varnish. With all new wood it's really just a matter of color preference. The exception to that is if you are forced to use different types of wood, which will all look different once finished. Again, personal preference.

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For the record, Whaler never stained any of their woodwork, but there is nothing wrong with doing so if you like.

Applying a stain *can* have the advantage of giving the woodwork a more uniform tone.

There are an infinite number of colors of stain that could be used from hundreds of different manufacturers. Take your pick.

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I like the extra protection from the stain, my boat gets "Moored" all summer long uncovered. As mentioned above, some of my boat's wood is new, and some is as old as the boat. The darker color makes it all look the same age "old", If I have to replace a piece of wood on the boat, I let the wood fall on the garage floor a few times before I sand and finish it, it put a few ding's and nick's in it to match the rest of the brightwork. That's just what "I" like to do, the "FUN" part about re-doing the wood on these boat's is that you can finish it in a number of ways, there are no rules, plain varnish, stain, etc., it's what ever "YOU" prefer. IT "ALL" look's "GOOD" !

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Davbro,

I would suggest also to seal the wood with West System epoxy. It's expensive but the wood will last much longer. I coated my wood with 2 thin coats of epoxy and 4 coats of marine grade varnish.

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Some might disagree with me but i don't varnish. I just sand and use Teak oil. I like the look better. If done right, the first time redoing it is a snap! But never use stain!, harder to toouch up little areas in mid-season. I've been just using oil most of my life and i love the look.

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Richard,

Yes I agree with you. I prefer to oil my Teak. But we are talking about MAHOGANY here, not Teak.

Mahogany must be coated with something, to protect it, whether you stain it or not.

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I prefer oil too, but I went with varnish on mine. Here's my Mahogany back seat with nothing but 3 good coats of Petit Captain's Varnish. It's pretty much in the same color range as the original teak that is varnished as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mgeiger72...0764958210

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If you plan on staining your mahogany it is probably best if you strip the previous finish completely off and then sand. I think that sanding alone may not remove the previous finish completely and the new stain may not "take" evenly.

When I redid my mahogany, I wanted to stain it the traditional "Red Mahogany" color. So I stripped everything down and then sanded before coating with new poly.

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I strongly recommend staining mahogany and teak before varnishing the mandatory 8-12 coats. I use ZAR #120 natural teak color stain with beautiful results.

As has been stated, BW did not stain, and only used sprayed-on polyurethane varnish, and in every new Boston Whaler I have purchased, the original Whaler varnish work did not hold up well at all. It turned yellowish-orange rather quickly, and re-varnishing was usually needed with a couple of years.

Staining gives the wood considerable UV protection (UV is the bane of all varnish work) and a highly UV resistant varnish is mandatory. Z-Spar Flagship (not Captain's) is highly recommended in this regard. Five years later, your varnish work will still be the color of brand new un-stained varnish work.

Take a look at the woodwork in this photo of my classic 19 Outrage, where all wood was pre-stained.
Both mahogany and teak are are shown here. The original BW rod rack assembly is mahogany, while the gunwale edging and shelf components are teak. In both cases, the wood turned out looking beautiful, and matches well.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v42...=R1-21.jpg

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I disagree with Larry (Finnegan). I never stain mahogany as I believes is covers the different colors in the wood, and makes it all too uniform. I always use
Z-Spar Captains varnish, and never could see any difference in the look to justify the extra cost of Flagship. What is the chemical difference? Here is a picture of my 13 footer console I built three years ago, that looks as good today as it did when built and varnished with 8 coats af Captains varnish. Of course I don`t let the boat sit in the sun for any length of time, and I bet Larry doesn`t let his Whalers sit around in the sun either.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c19...onsole.jpg

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Rich - According to Z-Spar literature, their Flagship varnish has 5 times the UV protection of the Captain's varnish, which is thinner and paler in color. Try some Flagship, you'll like it, whether you stain or not. It does have a darker, richer color in my estimation, and provides more film thickness with each coat.

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Larry, brightwork on your boat looks excellent.

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Does Varnish last longer than "Polyurathane" ? Is it "Glossier" than "Poly" ? I used it once on my "Oar's", it came out kind of dull yellow, of course it could have been an old can (I dug it up in the garage), or perhap's I applied it wrong.


Sorry, I should have started another "Thread" for this !