Totalboat Lust marine varnish

[Tom King]

I like it.   https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/98160

Totalboat is Jamestown Distributors own brand name for their line of finishes, paints, and epoxies.  I've been dealing with them for boat stuff since the early 1980's.  They have always been my supplier of West Systems epoxy stuff.

I needed to refinish the entry doors on our rental/guest house.  It's the same one I just redid the garage doors on.  There are double Mahogany 3' doors, with carved panels.  The varnish in the carved areas of all the panels was okay, so I didn't want to get into getting all the old varnish out of those parts.  The doors were filthy, so I washed them with Liquid Sandpaper so I could just put one fresh coat of varnish over the carved parts.

I sanded all the old varnish off the stiles and rails, and flat areas of the carved panels.  I brushed this job because it was such a small job, and didn't want to put but one coat on the carved areas.

Epiphanes has been my go-to Marine Varnish for as long as I can remember, but I decided to try the Totalboat Lust both because it dries faster, and my trust for Jamestown Distributors.

It goes on very much identically to Epiphanes, and I could indeed recoat it even in something less than an hour between coats.  I put four coats on this afternoon, and that looks like enough, so I stopped there so we can be sure it will dry enough for careful handling to be able to put them back up late this evening.

I like a Redtree Badger brush.  2-1/2" is as big as you can get in a quart can, so that's the size I use.  I have one of the more expensive oval brushes, that I forget the brand name of, but I like this one best.  In your hand, it seems like it would be too stiff, but it's really ideal.  I holds a lot of varnish, and it couldn't be any better about spreading it out.   https://www.amazon.com/Redtree-Industries-10041-Natural-Brush-2-1/dp/B000N9LE80/ref=asc_df_B000N9LE80/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241982869883&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3983175837557865752&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009793&hvtargid=pla-584219041338&psc=1

I wash the brush after each coat.  First in mineral spirits, and then the tips only in Acetone.

I would never have been able to finish this job in one day by 4 o'clock using Epiphanes.

No longevity testing here yet, but so far, I'm very impressed, and recommend it.

 

[Isaac]

Wow, I love that color and the doors look beautiful. 

If that is the guest house door, let's see the real place! 

I've never heard of liquid sandpaper, how does it work?

[Tom King]

I have no idea what's in liquid sandpaper.  You can find it in the paint section where all the other solvents are.  It does it's job great, but I wouldn't get any on your skin.  Those doors were black when I started this morning.  Liquid Sandpaper is a great cleaner, but it will dull the finish on about anything.

They have a nice Baldwin full mortise lock.  I took that out, and need to polish it up another day.  I'll get a finished picture when I get around to getting the lock installed.  This evening, we're just going to put the deadbolt back in.

[BonPacific]

On 3/18/2022 at 1:23 PM, Isaac said:

I've never heard of liquid sandpaper, how does it work?

They're also known as deglossers.

There's a bunch of different formulations, so it's a bit hard to talk about how each variety works. Generally they're a blend of different solvents and chemicals that will break down the surface of a variety of finishes/paint (the bottle will list what finishes it is formulated to work on), while also eating up stuff like grease that will otherwise cause adhesion issues.

I've used Klean Strip a lot, and it has worked very well though I've never used a clear finish afterwards. It will leave behind a film residue (presumably the chemically altered or encapsulated grease/finish) that doesn't interfere with paint at all, but you'd probably want to clean off for varnish and the like.

[Tom King]

I stood the doors up, leaning against the ends of sawhorses, used a big chip brush with the Liquid Sandpaper, and washed them off good with a clean brush, and water hose.  I've done it before, and it works fine.   I'll have to look at the container to see which one it was.  This was the first time I had used one of the low VOC ones, but it worked fine.  It was the only one they had in Lowes when I bought it.

[Coop]

Tom, how did you know that the original finish was varnish? I have a knotty alder entrance door that could use a re-finish and it needs to be done in one day to secure our house. I could take the door down and do the prep work one day, rehang and do the finish the next to allow for more drying time.  The manufacturer is still in business and is local. Would it be advised to contact them for the finish they used or will your formula work on any original finish? Also, what kind of sheen did this give you? 

Your door looks great! 

[Tom King]

Marine and Spar Varnishes have their own look and feel.  Only polyurethane may be similar to the thickness, but the older it gets, the more difference there is.  When either starts to deteriorate from weather, the marine and spar varnish breaks down differently than poly that starts to come off in sheets.  This is before you even start sanding it.  Both also sand differently.

I've seen enough of both to be able to tell the difference just by looking at them.

It's Gloss.  VERY glossy.  While gloss is not my favorite sheen, it is the most durable.  Also, it's a bit different being on the water than in a city.  That picture of the door was after the first coat I think.  It hadn't started to build up like the later coats did.

Some finishes tell you that they can go on top of something else.  You can tell by sanding some of what's there how it will do taking another finish.  If the old finish is intact, and powders up nicely when you sand it, there are any number of things that can go on top of it.  It would be nice to know exactly what it is though.

[Tom King]

I said the Liquid Sandpaper was Low VOC just because it was milky white like the Low VOC mineral spirits, and it didn't have a smell, but I looked at it today, and there was no mention of Low VOC on the bottle.  It works just as good as the old stuff, whatever it is these days.

 

[Tom King]

I polished up the lock, and knocker this morning, so one more job finished.  No effort was made to match parts to same color wood, whenever they were made, but they look a lot better in person than in a picture.  Much better than peeling varnish and  black mildew anyway.

The Baldwin full mortise lock is a nice piece.  I took it all apart, cleaned, and oiled it.  For close to 50 years old, it still works like a new one.

 

[Ronn W]

Those look absolutely great.  Must weigh half a ton!  Nice work!

 

[Tom King]

Thanks.  Pam and I moved the first one, but she found another helper after that.  I took one end, and the two girls took the other end on the rest of the moves.  One of the little air bags made it easy to get them back on the hinges.  Start to finish in one day with the help of the Liquid Sandpaper, wind, and fast drying varnish. 

It took me as long this morning to buff the hardware as it did to prep the doors.  I don't know how many coats of lacquer the brass had on it.  I didn't soak it in anything, but just buffed it off.  The door handles felt terrible to handle before, but are a positive sensory experience now.  I didn't put any lacquer back on them.  I don't mind weathered brass as much as I do weathered lacquer.

[Mark J]

Really nice, Tom (& Pam).  Just needs a cute welcome mat.

[curlyoak]

On 3/18/2022 at 4:14 PM, Tom King said:

wash the brush after each coat.  First in mineral spirits, and then the tips only in Acetone.

I would never have been able to finish this job in one day by 4 o'clock using Epiphanes.

No longevity testing here yet, but so far, I'm very impressed, and recommend it.

 

Tom, Could you offer some details on cleaning the brush. And is the last thing the brush is exposed to is acetone? Is it needed to final cleaning is mineral spirits?Or is acetone compatible?

Thanks

[Tom King]

Acetone gets the last of whatever is left on the bristles.  It takes several cleanings with changing Mineral Spirits to clean a brush as effectively as Acetone.  The solvents don't work against each other, so one can follow the other.  Acetone is just a lot stronger solvent than Mineral Spirits.

If you have an old brush that looks like it's clean, but the bristles are stiff, Acetone will get out whatever is making it stiff.

I just use both to save time.  First it's dipped and worked in Mineral Spirits, followed by cleaning in Acetone. The Acetone also evaporates Much faster than Mineral Spirits, as well as dissolves whatever Mineral Spirits is still left in the brush, so the brush dries much faster while waiting for the Lust to get ready for the next coat.

If you only used Mineral Spirits, the brush would still have some in it when you get ready to use it for the next coat of Lust.  In mid March, the Lust was ready for the next coat in a little less than an hour.  As soon as I put on a cost, I cleaned the brush, and it was ready to go for the next coat.

This was the first time I'd ever used Acetone cleaning between coats, but it was also the first time I'd ever used any Marine Varnish that dried this fast.  It worked so well that I'll keep doing it for other solvent based finishes too.  I had used Acetone for renewing stiff brushes Many times before.

I don't let Acetone get up to the ferrule for fear it would dissolve the glue holding the bristles in.

[curlyoak]

Thanks Tom, I appreciate the detailed answer. All my questions are gone. Just to get back in the shop. I am building 2 cabinets that get matched grain panels. I like to put the first coat on the panels before I assemble the doors. Wednesday at the earliest. And Lust varnish Friday at the earliest.

[Tom King]

Do that brush cleaning with Acetone outside.  If you're not used to handling Acetone, the fumes are not something you want to breathe, or want in your house.

[curlyoak]

These are door panels for 2 cabinets I am building. 2 coats of lust. First coat had 20% thinner. I really like the varnish and the brush. Thanks Tom!