NICE work on that windshield brace Terry! I'm sure Moesly would have done it the same way if he had used wood for the frame! Does that piano hinge provide enough clearance between screw head and center section when windshield is open or will you have to recess the screw a bit? Would hate to see it ding up the finish after it's done!

Are you planning to paint or varnish the windshield? I saw an article on Jamestown Distributors/Epifanes web site recently that convinced me that epoxy + varnish is best way to finish bright work. It said that many varnish failures are due to water getting under the varnish, which would eventually lift the varnish. (I suppose the same thing could happen if you were to paint it!) It recommended using 3 coats of West Systems epoxy to completely seal the wood, followed up by 3 coats of varnish to provide UV protection for the epoxy. I think Dave/Blue Heron used the epoxy/varnish finish on the cherry wood windshield on his Seafari, and it looks gorgeous! Denny

Oh don't worry there will be a lot of pictures...:D


Denny to answer a few of your questions, yes there is clearance on the screw head...however I will recess the washer to give a cleaner look.

Pros and cons on the epoxy seal. The pros is everything you said.

The cons are (and this happened to 2 people I know) your varnish wears down and everything still looks good, and all of sudden every thing turns creamy...cause! varnish has lost its uv protection and the epoxy has none. The result you have to sand all the epoxy off :eek:

Epifanes recommends the 10 coat layup, starting with a 50% dilution and working up to the final 3 coats of full strength.

The other alternative, is Imron makes a clear coating that can be sprayed on.

So we will do a bit more reading before I decide.

Terry, that's a significant con! Human nature is to let stuff go until it obviously needs attention! Touching up ratty looking varnish is a nit compared to sanding off epoxy!

A neighbor gave me a nice solid mahogany front door with a cut glass window that I'm fixing up and was planning to varnish. It will face north so shouldn't see much UV, but the epoxy would add significant expense. Thanks for the feedback - I think I'll stick with plain varnish and just use plenty of it! Denny

Joey said that even if you recoat the epoxy every year w/ varnish, after about 5- 7 yrs. the epoxy starts to yellow.

That makes sense to me. I'd stay away from clear coating over epoxy. Epoxy is great for a barrier coat under paint.

strick

Finally got some stain on the window frames...now on to the varnish work :p

Attachment 3428

Looking good

I see a lot of love in those window frames :)

Looking great Terry. What else you got going on with that boat? any closer to paint?

strick

It is a love hate relationship...mostly HATE right now :D...the hull is in the blocking primer stage. So progress is being made.

beautiful work
 

Absolutely beutiful work. I've built curved stairs for 25 years...strait square woodwork is easy, but put a compound and a few curves in it and the game changes. Very sweet work on the hull...I just spent over an hour reading each entry in your saga. Very cool.
-John