Thread: Another OZ MK2 PDRacer build in Sydney "Wood Duck"

Hi Alex, is Le Tonk a soak in oil/varnish type product? I thought it was?

Like Varnol, where you multi soak coats into the wood and eliminate all air. That's their secret, the complete saturation of the wood.

Just not sure how a soak in type product will work over multi sealing layers of previous varnish, even if sanded off, the wood is sealed below the surface.

Sorry if I am talking out of turn, just concerned.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your concern :).

This is something of an experiment for me (like the entire build, in fact ;). You are right about it having an initial soak-in mode of action, but after the first coat or so, it is going to behave like all other varnishes in the respect that it is going on over itself. Goldspar could also be said to behave in exactly the same way.

As it stands, the Goldspar has gone on over the top of BoteCote (and in some small instances WEST) epoxy resin: le Tonk will be going on over the Goldspar, so in the sense of coating types, it is sort of going on over itself (sanded). This isn't a precise comparison as le Tonk is closer to Inter's "Schooner" tropical varnish than it is to Goldspar. The latter doesn't contain tung oil although from the smell of the stuff it does contain linseed oil: le Tonk and Schooner both contain linseed and tung oils (plus unspecified "resins"). The Goldspar won't have soaked into the epoxy, either. In theory, at least! The rationale behind using varnish on top of the epoxy is as a UV filter/quencher for the latter (i.e., a semi-permanent sunscreen lotion ;).

What I'm hoping for from le Tonk: that le Tonk is more tolerant of the high humidity in my building swamp than Goldspar appears to have been; and that le Tonk becomes harder quicker than Goldspar in that environment. Goldspar does eventually harden (never fully as it is a spar varnish - like le Tonk) here, but it appears to take around three months to get to a stage where it will at least stand up to "hangar rash", let alone the rough and tumble of actual sailing.

I hope that explains what my expectations are; and thanks once again for your concern. I've been thinking of you lately in this context as I acquired the stuff from the UK and that you probably knew of both the varnish and the chap selling it, even possibly from direct experience as he is a supplier to the wooden boat building trade in your neck of the woods (and you both share a name ;).

The trick now will be to get the varnish on before the temperatures start to drop too low - I haven't been doing too well there so far, but have still have a bit of grace.

Cheers,
Alex.

I've hit another speed-bump: or, to be more accurate, the same one that plagued me recently, i.e., my back. An hour or so spent finishing off the sanding and starting the final cleanup (using a new, fully rinsed 3M ScotchBrite pad) yesterday resulted in my not doing anything at all on the boat (or much else) today. Very frustrating and annoying.

I'm going to need to get cracking on dhgomm's loader/carrier system fairly shortly if my back is going to continue to cause this level of discomfort. I'm hoping to get back to the final washing tomorrow - but will decide that on the morrow itself.

Leaning over plywood, unsupported back, is what brought on my sciatica. Then the same leaning over and marking out sail cloth made it miles worse.

My son Edward also has the same problem with leaning over plywood. It's really bad for the back.

Could you stand her up on her side and always sand in a vertical stance, back nice and straight?

Building boats and then sailing them seems to be specifically designed to hurt backs!

Brian

Hi Brian,

Funny you should mention putting the boat on her side - I'd done that, and was still bending over to sand! This is largely due to the undersides of the side-decks, which I find slightly more visible and accessible when I'm above them. I've pretty well finished with that, and am now onto the less arduous task of washing the various surfaces to remove residual sanding slime and washing-up detergent (the latter used as an anti-clogging additive while wet-sanding).

The Boss has been advising me to take frequent breaks within a session, and to do stretching exercises: and I suspect that she's right. I will be implementing her advice in the coming days :). When it comes to the actual painting though, I find an unbroken session necessary: but I'll try to insinuate the stretches in where possible. Otherwise a visit to The Physio will loom large on the landscape ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

I did a lot of the finish work of the two OzRacer/PDRacers I built in Queensland with the boat on its side. The other way was to sit on a very low stool that Peter happened to have as part of an architectural project he had done in the past.

MIK

Perhaps if I ask really nicely Peter will email the thing as an attachment ;).

A.

Originally Posted by AlexN

Perhaps if I ask really nicely Peter will email the thing as an attachment .

A.

He can't.... he is in France on a boat.

Not to worry - France has the internet; he could send it via his wifi or Skype ;).

On a slightly more serious note, I've finished the first stage of the muck removal, using the SctochBrite pad. One of two more rinses (depending on how many bubbles apear in the rinse water) should see that stage complete - then I'll start the varnishing process up again after several days of drying the boat and the air (it has been raining a bit here of late, which will delay things somewhat as well).

I've decided to go back to doing things at my own pace, rather than at one that I think is going to please others, then repeatedly failing with. The former approach will allow me to focus more carefully on what I'm doing, and may put some of the enjoyment back into the process, too.

Originally Posted by AlexN

Not to worry - France has the internet; he could send it via his wifi or Skype ......

Yes it does but.... I bet he didn't take it with him.

He is pretty careful about his backups - he might have some copies on his travelling backup drive.

MIK

I'm feeling the back pain. Spent most of the day bent over sanding the floor in this today. The good thing is I'm not going for a show quality finish since it's going to be a race boat.

Wow - Brad - Fantastic to see the Sabre!

MIK

Originally Posted by BradLH

I'm feeling the back pain. Spent most of the day bent over sanding the floor in this today. The good thing is I'm not going for a show quality finish since it's going to be a race boat.

Hi Brad,

Nice boat, lovely finish!

Cheers,
Alex.