I have a piece of deck furniture that I'm making out of well-dried douglas fir.
I'll probably finish it with some sort of marine poly or SPAR varnish, but I
was wondering if it would be OK to douse it in something like Thompson's Water
Seal first. Would that help with longevity? Would the polyurethane or other
varnish still stick OK?
One way to find out, of course, but I just wondered if anyone already knew the
answer.
Thanks.
Jim Kirby
--
James T. Kirby
Center for Applied Coastal Research
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
phone: 302-831-2438
fax: 302-831-1228
email: [email protected]
http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby
On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 11:45:51 -0400, "James T. Kirby" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>I have a piece of deck furniture that I'm making out of well-dried douglas fir.
> I'll probably finish it with some sort of marine poly or SPAR varnish, but I
>was wondering if it would be OK to douse it in something like Thompson's Water
>Seal first. Would that help with longevity? Would the polyurethane or other
>varnish still stick OK?
>
>One way to find out, of course, but I just wondered if anyone already knew the
>answer.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Jim Kirby
I've read somewhere to put Spar on the ends of the wood that would sit
on the ground and use the normal stuff, primer and exterior paint, as
usual.
Thunder
James T. Kirby wrote:
> I have a piece of deck furniture that I'm making out of
> well-dried douglas fir. I'll probably finish it with some
> sort of marine poly or SPAR varnish, but I was wondering if it
> would be OK to douse it in something like Thompson's Water
> Seal first. Would that help with longevity? Would the
> polyurethane or other varnish still stick OK?
>
> One way to find out, of course, but I just wondered if anyone
> already knew the answer.
Jim...
Just finished a quick look at your home page at
http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby and confess amazement
that you'd feel a need to ask that particular question here...
The options you listed are are designed to prevent water from
penetrating the exposed surface. I think I'd be inclined to avail
myself of the boat builders' experience and go with multiple
coats of a good spar varnish (I like Minwax Helmsman's) - with
the first coat(s) thinned to achieve maximum penetration of the
wood; and the final coat(s) uncut.
My Iowa experience would lead me to conclude that fir treated
with Thompson's might be more inclined to produce splinters where
you'd enjoy them least...
I'd guess that, as with a boat, it'll be a good idea to check the
finish at least anually; and to sand and re-varnish as made
necessary by sunlight, environmental conditions, and youngsters.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
David Radlin wrote:
> Fluid mechanics and furniture finishing have pretty much nothing in
> common..... since you suggest otherwise.
Ok. I guess it was more of an expectations thing. I expected that
CEs would have some grounding in hydology (in general) and
interactions (if not in the chemistry) between wood and water
(specifically); and that persons involved with marine studies at
the PhD level would have some familiarity with watercraft and the
hows/whys of their construction and maintenance.
Jim's credentials are /impressive/ and it struck me that he would
be a good resource for many of us, rather than the other way around.
No offense intended; and as I non-CE about as far from salt water
as anyone in the USA can get, I couldn't resist displaying my
ever-expanding ignorance.
I do have some slight experience in acquiring slivers. (-:
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
Thanks - despite what my web page says, most of the water I deal with is in the
form of electrons doing their thing in computer memory. (The wood in my
wavetanks is marine grade plastic coated plywood with epoxy paint. My "boat"
(canoe, actually), is Royalex.)
Thanks for the feedback.
Jim Kirby
Morris Dovey wrote:
> James T. Kirby wrote:
>
>> I have a piece of deck furniture that I'm making out of
>> well-dried douglas fir. I'll probably finish it with some
>> sort of marine poly or SPAR varnish, but I was wondering if it
>> would be OK to douse it in something like Thompson's Water
>> Seal first. Would that help with longevity? Would the
>> polyurethane or other varnish still stick OK?
>>
>> One way to find out, of course, but I just wondered if anyone
>> already knew the answer.
>
>
> Jim...
>
> Just finished a quick look at your home page at
> http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby and confess amazement that you'd
> feel a need to ask that particular question here...
>
> The options you listed are are designed to prevent water from
> penetrating the exposed surface. I think I'd be inclined to avail myself
> of the boat builders' experience and go with multiple coats of a good
> spar varnish (I like Minwax Helmsman's) - with the first coat(s) thinned
> to achieve maximum penetration of the wood; and the final coat(s) uncut.
>
> My Iowa experience would lead me to conclude that fir treated with
> Thompson's might be more inclined to produce splinters where you'd enjoy
> them least...
>
> I'd guess that, as with a boat, it'll be a good idea to check the finish
> at least anually; and to sand and re-varnish as made necessary by
> sunlight, environmental conditions, and youngsters.
>
--
James T. Kirby
Center for Applied Coastal Research
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
phone: 302-831-2438
fax: 302-831-1228
email: [email protected]
http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby
Tell that to the guys in Mechanical Engineering who get bucks from paint
companies to tell them how "low Reynolds number flows" behave on inclined
walls. Paint dripping is quite a science.
Getting finishes to do something like what I study (wave breaking, turbulence)
only happens on really bad days :^)
Kirby
David Radlin wrote:
>>Just finished a quick look at your home page at
>>http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby and confess amazement
>>that you'd feel a need to ask that particular question here...
>
>
> Fluid mechanics and furniture finishing have pretty much nothing in
> common..... since you suggest otherwise.
>
> Dave
>
>
--
James T. Kirby
Center for Applied Coastal Research
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
phone: 302-831-2438
fax: 302-831-1228
email: [email protected]
http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby
The general feeling here and in Consumer Reports is that Thompson's
Water Seal (TWS) is not very good at all. As far as overcoating with
varnish or polyurethane, it would not adhere to the TWS since TWS contains
wax. Do not use it under varnish or polyurethane.
Good Luck.
"James T. Kirby" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a piece of deck furniture that I'm making out of well-dried douglas
fir.
> I'll probably finish it with some sort of marine poly or SPAR varnish,
but I
> was wondering if it would be OK to douse it in something like Thompson's
Water
> Seal first. Would that help with longevity? Would the polyurethane or
other
> varnish still stick OK?
>
> One way to find out, of course, but I just wondered if anyone already knew
the
> answer.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jim Kirby
>
>
> --
> James T. Kirby
> Center for Applied Coastal Research
> University of Delaware
> Newark, DE 19716
>
> phone: 302-831-2438
> fax: 302-831-1228
> email: [email protected]
> http://chinacat.coastal.udel.edu/~kirby
>