Building a boat tackfully

Posted on by David

With the booth built I started varnishing. I started on the deck, taping the edge to keep any drips off the hull. I let the finish dry for 8 hours then flipped the boat to do the hull. I let that dry overnight, then wet-sanded with 320 grit. This took off the few drips, and roughed up the finish for the next coat.

Some recommend using a scotch-brite pad just to scuff the finish before the next coat but I think it leaves a few too many swirls that wet sanding doesn’t.

Here I am wetting down the floor inside the booth before the next coat. Why? I’m glad you asked. Even though I swept the floor, it still has dust. So by spraying it with water, I can walk around the boat without stirring up any dust. It does work, even without the tent.
Tacking the surface. After each sanding, I used a tack rag to clean up the dust. Then I wiped down the surface with mineral spirits.
First of five coats
I used the wet edge method for finishing. I did a 12-18″ section on each side. I would brush horizontally 18″ from the previous section.
I would then do vertical strokes on that section catching missed or streaky areas.
Finally, I’d go back over the section with a horizontal stroke pulling the brush from the unvarnished section into the just-varnished section. Using the method allowed me to blend in the sections since I was always brushing and blending into the previously finished section. It’s much easier than I explained it.
Gettin’ shiny…