Acorn to Arabella: Sealing and Varnishing Wood With TotalBoat

Finally, it’s time to begin preparing wood for the installation of Arabella’s knees and the clamp. Steve reached out to inquire about the best finish for the interior wood down below on Arabella, and we know satin finishes are pretty standard for use below decks. We also heard that Steve could use some varnish lessons before applying the bling coats that will be needed on deck, so we set him up with TotalBoat Wood Sealer for the first few coats, followed up by Gleam Varnish – first using gloss to build coats, and finishing with a top 1-2 coats of Gleam Satin. The result should be a silky smooth finish that accentuates the grain and doesn’t glare at you with high gloss. It disappears into your interior and looks great! Check out their progress in the latest video and make sure to subscribe to follow this build all the way to the ocean!

Wood Sealer Varnish Primer

One-part clear gloss marine wood sealer fills the grain and seals wood fibers.

Gleam 2.0 Spar Varnish

Classic Tung oil marine spar varnish creates a radiant, durable finish.

7 responses to “Acorn to Arabella: Sealing & Varnishing Wood”

I loved seeing the process.

Thanks

I hope that is not the final finish. It looks like craters on the moon. It’s time for a good wet sanding with a sandpaper block and the application of several more coats with wet sanding in between. I would never let something looking like that out of my shop

That’s not what a good varnish job looks like. Do film the corrections, they will be instructive for many folks.

Looking good. A lot of work to seal the wood and it came out very nice.

Bright work ifinishing is an Art all in itself.
I like to sand to #100 then apply 3-5 coats Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealant followed immediately while the CPES is slightly tacky, with 2-4 base coats of 2-part amber urethane varnish. Later sand down to # 220 and apply an additional 3-6 coats. I like to lay up at least 12-coats total. This systems has lasted me for 8-years so far.
The key is to not allow water to get under the varnish. #220 sand and apply 2-3 maintenance coats to what ever area that looks suspicious BEFORE it fails. I never have to refinish all areas and have not had to “Strip” any of my bright work in over 12-years. I have had my wooden 1966 OWENS Granada for 40-years. Lots of mahogany and teak.