Interior Woodwork - Refinish

I am on a quest to bring some life to the interior joinery, which is a bit sad as compared to the recently-refinished sole.

I tested a polyurethane but found it too much...too glossy. 

I have now settled on the following technique:

1.  I clean the wood with mineral spirits and a microfibre cloth. 

2. I apply at least two coats of a hard furniture wax (Briwax).

3. And here's my secret...I buff the wax once dry with 0000 gauge steel wool  ***(Now synthetic 18/7/13) with the grain, not a rag or bonnet. 

The finish is very subtle but very refined and deep. 

Before

Wax

Waxed and dried

Ready to buff  **SEE UPDATE BELOW - STEEL WOOL NOT GOOD FOR BOATS - SEEMS OBVIOUS NOW...

Finished - 2 coats

The alternative is a tremendous amount of varnishing and sanding, and frankly this treatment yields a beautiful result. 

I'll photograph the process as I go, but as all of my work happens in the middle of the night (2.8 young kids and a demanding career), the photos won't be great. 

UPDATE! 18/7/13

The preponderance of evidence would seem to indicate that 'real' steel wool is not a good idea inside a boat, as the tiny shards of wool will eventually rust and could make a mess wherever they end up.  For this reason I am switching my technique to use ultra-fine abrasive pads, which mimic steel wool

Bronze wool is simply not available in New Zealand, all of our sheep are steel.

With the new "fake steel wool" in hand I applied 4 coats of wax to the large bulkhead panel facing aft, and two coats everywhere else from the companionway to the head door along the aft starboard corner. 

The finish is a curious but wonderful blend of satin and deep gloss and the effort is made less with the pads to both apply and buff. 

21/7/13 - UPDATE!!

The waxing continues up the starboard side toward the forward cabin.  The interior surfaces of the head an shower, as well as the woodwork around the galley and tops of all shelves will be done with a satin polyurethane/varnish.

4 coats of hard paste wax

UPDATE 24/7/13

The waxing is complete!  3 coats on most surfaces, with 5 coats on the main panels.  I plan to let them cure for a day or two and then give them a light go with my one of my three power polishers (I'm not sure which yet, I have a HD angle polisher, a random-orbital polisher, and a simple car polisher).

I am really happy with the decision to go with wax, it reminds me of my old baseball glove, well worn, but always treated with a bit of lanolin...that uneven but striking gloss.

Next? ~ On to the comparatively-small amount of satin varnishing required around the galley, and in the head/shower interior.



Update 27/7/13 - Galley area completed

Big stove polish...to pretty to cook on.

UPDATE ~ 1/8/13 - Refinishing the liner battens

I am beginning the final (?) phase of the internal joinery refinishing...the rehabilitation of the horizontal battens/slats that line the hull in 3 places.  The main reason to remove them is due to the severely-corroded bronze screws that have discolored the wood.  

2 interesting facts:

1. The battens are western red cedar...not teak.
2. You can tell a corroded screw is bronze because it goes pink.

Step #1 ~ Removal & cleaning of the liner

Before removal, showing stained timber, rotten bronze screws, and grubby liner behind.

At least 6 screws broke at the head and required drilling out...

Step #2 - Sand the battens down to bare wood

Rough sand

Final sand & clean up the screw holes as best possible, but some of the black stain is deep

UPDATE 10/8/13 ~ Final works on battens

While these battens have yet to be cleaned and varnished, you can see a comparison of the old versus new fasteners

I am using 316 SS screws with cup washers to both bind the cedar better and to hide some of the staining around the screw holes.

Forward berth battens, screws changed but not yet varnished.

...And the final product!

Sanded bare, 2 coats of maple stain/varnish, and 2 coats of satin polyurethane.



Bottom 2 battens not installed (I need to find my stubby square drive screwdriver~too cramped for cordless driver)

UPDATE ~ 14/8/13 ~ Companionway trim & grab rails

The last wee bit of interior joinery refinishing is the trim around the companionway and the two single grab rails.  All of this teak is badly weathered and grubby.

I was really worried about sanding inside the cabin and making an unholy mess, so I bought myself a heat gun and a few scrapers.  This has been an excellent purchase as the work has gone very quickly.  It takes very little time to peel away the varnish (I do think it's marine varnish in this location).

I intend to clean the stipped teak and lighten it with a teak cleaner/brightener kit I purchased, then apply 4-5 coats of marine spar varnish.

Before any work was done

During the stripping process



Post stripping with heat gun

Done 21/8/13

Aside from ongoing additional coats of wax, this concludes the interior joinery 'refresh'.  I can now move on to various other projects.

I may well be re-installing the cabin dining table in days/weeks to come, but I will be painting the bilge first (obviously), and perhaps putting a coat of satin polyurethane on the table while I have it at home.