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RPS Finish
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ContinuousWave Whaler Moderated Discussion Areas
ContinuousWave: Whaler Repairs/Mods
RPS Finish
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| Author | Topic: RPS Finish |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-01-2010 08:50 AM ET (US)  
Looking for some opinions here.... I just bought a "new to me" slightly used RPS. Of course the mahogany needs to be refinished...Ive started sanding and as it looks now, Im going to disassemble it to get all the hard to reach places. My question is...what is the consensus....Oiled Mahogany or Varnish? Flat or high gloss? or perhaps CETOL or some other marine finish.. Im leaning toward a flat finish varnish... Your thoughts please... |
| Tom W Clark |
posted 03-01-2010 09:53 AM ET (US)
There is no consensus; folks use different finishing techniques and they all work. You must have a rare Newport RPS, because all the other RPSs have a TEAK seat back. My personal preference is oiled teak. If the seat back really is Mahogany, then you would varnish it, not oil it. Mahogany does not hold up well without a varnish finish. |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-01-2010 10:47 AM ET (US)
Its a Montauk RPS...must be an early version the Z Legs are black instead of brown...I think Im going to go with a matt finish varnish....the high gloss is too tough to take care of down here in the sun and humidity of South Florida.. I just hate the thought of taking it all apart to do a good job of sanding...Yuk!.. Do you know of any chemical treatment I can use to clean it up and get rid of all the grey matter that will leave a nice natural finish that I can sand lightly and then varnish...Im having to really sand alot to get this cleaned up. |
| Tom W Clark |
posted 03-01-2010 10:54 AM ET (US)
The early Z-legs were aluminum. Black plastic was not used for the Z-legs until the mid 1990s. You must have replacements for that time frame. DO NOT use chemicals on your teak seat back. Chemical teak cleaners are bad, bad, bad and will accelerate the deterioration of the wood over time. It takes me about an hour to completely sand a terribly weathered teak RPS seat back. It is not a big deal. I use a combination of belt sanders, random orbital sanders and hand sanding with blocks. |
| Tom W Clark |
posted 03-01-2010 11:01 AM ET (US)
Here is the last teak seat back I anded down. It was extremely dirty and weathered from the Florida sun when I acquired it. With only two base coats of teak oil on it: |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-01-2010 04:30 PM ET (US)
Tom, Mine is definitely Mahogany...I tried teak cleaner on it first thinking it was teak..didnt do anything but get some of the dirt off...Ive taken it apart..and am sanding all the slats and the ends. The bottom was rotted so I replaced that with some mahogany I had left from my old interior..wish I could have found teak or at least a piece of Starboard...I sealed the bottom piece with poly urethane as soon as it sets up, I ll screw it all back together...Im adding drains in the corners to help keep the water out. Been sanding on this thing now off and on all day...luckily I remembered to wear a respirator...the dust is everywhere. What is the opinion on PolyUrethane finishes?? I know that they dont stand up to UV as well as a spar varnish but they sure are easier to work with... Ill probably go with a Matte finish spar varnish... |
| dfmcintyre |
posted 03-01-2010 08:18 PM ET (US)
Fred - The technique of applying varnish over epoxy in order to quickly build up a good base can be found here: http://www.westsystem.com/ss/varnish-over-epoxy/ Regards - Don |
| Tom W Clark |
posted 03-01-2010 09:13 PM ET (US)
Fred, If your seat back is Mahogany, then it is not original. The originals were all Teak, with the exception of the bottom piece and the sub-top, both of which did not show. The originals also had holes drilled in the corners of the bottom of allow drainage. I suspect what you have is something somebody may have made themselves, based on the Mahogany, lack of drain holes and the mid 1990s or newer black Z-legs. |
| dscew |
posted 03-01-2010 10:43 PM ET (US)
Tom, my 1974 Katama has a mahogany RPS seat back. It's definitely original (nothing was ever replaced in my boat, except for the canvas windscreen). I'm told that BW used the RPS only the last two years of the Katama's run, so some of them were made of mahogany. I wonder if ANY of the Katama RPS seat backs were made of teak? |
| Tom W Clark |
posted 03-01-2010 10:48 PM ET (US)
Dennis, Yes, you are correct...on both counts, but Fred has a Montauk not a Katama. |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-02-2010 07:44 AM ET (US)
BUT...since I just purchased this RPS used, I cant say what kind of boat it came out of....Im putting it into a 17' SuperSport that I'm converting to a Montauk. I've installed a Montauk Console...and was going to go with a big cooler seat till I found this RPS for sale...the guy didnt know what he had...Only problem so far has been the bottom piece had some rot so Ive replaced that piece. |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-02-2010 07:46 AM ET (US)
In the process of sanding....the sanding dust created by the DA, is reddish brown...it seems that the only thing so far that might be teak are the two pads on either side where the swivel pipes connect. The sawdust there was a yellowish color...Ive found no other teak on the seat back...of course the sub piece at the top may be but it appears to be in good shape with only some minor cleanup needed where the rod holders touched the wood and held moisture.. |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-02-2010 01:12 PM ET (US)
Tom, What teak oil do you use??..the photo looks great... The RPS I bought came out of a 1986 Montauk. I called the guy I bought it from and he confirmed the year. SO perhaps the seat IS teak... Believe me..Im happy about that...its alot easier to care for than Mahogany for sure... |
| Tohsgib |
posted 03-02-2010 02:25 PM ET (US)
Mine was teak in my 89 and I used Cetol in a semi-gloss finish..looked awesome. With the certain "tints" you can buy from Cetol, you can make it look like any kind of wood you want. They usually have a block of woods with different tints on display so you can choose what you want. The clear however is NOT clear, it has a mild orangy tint that looks great but...you need to use a base under the clear or it won't last long. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS on each can before buying. You have to make it over to this coast soon Fred, I want to see how my console looks. The wood in the console is TEAK and should clean up nicely as it was not too weathered although grey. No matter what you choose, you will need to keep it covered, FL sun will ruin any finish quickly. Since you are redoing the entire hull, get a full cover and keep it looking fresh. |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-02-2010 02:54 PM ET (US)
Ive used Cetol before on my sailboat...wasnt real happy with the Orange glow that it produced..IMHO its a bit plastic looking...Im going to go with a good quality Oil...I keep the boat under a portable enclosure...mostly to keep the leaves from my neighbors black olive tree from staining everything... I took the short cut on the console and covered the panel with Black Starboard...that came out nice...Next Im going to cover the top deck of the console with another piece of Starboard or Teak if I can find a piece without having to give up my first born. I relocated the battery box to the console...and am in process of moving the gas tank to under the RPS...now that I have one to mount under.. I ll take some pics after the hull gets painted. I think Ive decided on Fighting Lady Yellow for the hull...Below the waterline, my bottom has lots of dings and scratches from the trailer...so thats going to be black bottom paint, mainly to hide the defects. Last on the project list will be to try to patch all the screw holes and cover them all with Gelcoat..Ive got most patched with epoxy resin but they all need to be faired and then gelcoated to hide them... Its a journey for sure.. |
| dfmcintyre |
posted 03-02-2010 05:28 PM ET (US)
Fred - Regarding moving the battery box to the console; did you cut a hole in the console floor and mount the box to the hull floor? If you didn't, you'll need to brace up the space between the hull floor and the bottom of the console floor. Otherwise the battery weight will collapse the floor. Don |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-02-2010 05:52 PM ET (US)
That battery is in a new battery box tied down to a 3/4" piece of plywood...its plenty strong...I considered the weight but didnt want an opening in the floor of the console..When I bought this console, it didnt have a floor in it..I beefed it all up added brackets to hold it in place.. primed, and sealed the wood and then screwed it down with 5200 around the edges to make SURE it wasnt going to move. I hear ya though...in my old configuration as a supersport, I had the battery mounted in the storage box behind the seat...that wasnt nearly strong enough to support the battery so I did cut that one out and strapped the battery box to the deck. |
| Mr T |
posted 03-07-2010 11:09 AM ET (US)
I spent the better part of a summer building a console and RPS seat back for my Nauset, and used varnish. I did it by the book, light sanding, thin seal coats to start and many many many coats. (10-12 on the console). Two years later, it needs mucho recoating. for what it is worth, try oil. I'm going to this year. now I get to tear it all apart again.... |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-14-2010 05:50 PM ET (US)
Well I gave in an used WATKO teak oil....came out a bit darker than I wanted...but still looks good...have to give it a light sanding yet as some of the grain is still standing up through the oil finish...just going to hit it lightly with some 200 or 32O and then rub in the oil on more time... The teak on the console came out much lighter...Im wondering if BW used a different variety of teak for the RPS back or perhaps someone at sometime may have stained the one I have... Soon as Im done I ll post some pics... |
| elaelap |
posted 03-14-2010 09:32 PM ET (US)
I used several coats of SeaFin oil on my Outrage 18's very, very weathered 20-year-old RPS after some serious sanding. Turned out okay: http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/elaelap/teak001.jpg Once done, oiled teak is very easy to maintain. Just wash down with fresh water after every salt water use, and every two or three months wash down extra well with fresh water, dry, and rub on a light coat of oil with a rag. No need to disassemble the RPS for maintenance as I had to do with its first restoration. BTW, I used SeaFin (is it Daly's?) oil on the sound recommendation of Tom Clark. Here's a shot of one of the console hatch covers: Finally, you're going to have to buy a very long medium Phillips screwdriver to get those rod holders out. They're each held in place by two downwards-facing Philips screws at the very bottom of the rod holders...hard to spot without a flashlight. Have fun ;-) |
| fredbrillo |
posted 03-20-2010 12:53 PM ET (US)
Hey...yours looks great...as I said...mine came out alot darker than the console teak...but its still very acceptable in color....and as for the rod holders....they come out easy when that bottom piece that they are screwed into is rotten...they just pull right out...actually, on each rod holder is a small set screw that fastens the rod holder to the teak plug at the bottom of the holder...that teak plug is what is screwed to the base of the rps seat back. Once you get that little set screw out, the holder comes right out...of course like I said, mine was all rotten so they came out easily with only minor amounts of swearing... |
| PeteB88 |
posted 03-25-2010 07:36 AM ET (US)
If you oiled it you can always apply spar varnish over an oiled finish anytime. In fact marine oil is often used as base coats for varnish by old times. If you apply varnish the rule I learned for boats is high gloss w/ UV additives. Theory is high gloss reflects sunlight. Makes sense to me. There is nothing wrong with a few coats of high gloss marine spar varnish and it is super easy to maintain if you follow the rules. When it loses 50% of the original gloss simply scuff sand and apply a coat or two. Nothing to it. Problem is most people let the finish deteriorate past the point of simple scuff sanding and a couple of coats. OR they think they have to strip when they do not. Epoxy base coats are great too - just don't oil first and expect epoxy to stick. Good luck |
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