Here is Part II of the crew blasting through the bleach-stain milestones as we apply Wood Kote Products Jel’d Wood Stain on our 1957 23-foot Old Style Lyman Runabout.
Part I’s narrative focused on the how, why and advantages of jel’d over filler stain in these applications. Yes, it is far easier to apply and delivers an incredibly uniform color. It, goes an incredibly long way; we used about 12 ounces to stain everything we stained today. But it is not a filler stain, which translates into a surface that retains most of its cross-sectional declivities – hills and valleys – post staining, especially compared to a filler stain, which is designed, well, to fill these selfsame valleys.
Bottom line even following three full coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer, filling these valleys and thereby achieving the truly flat surface we thirst for requires at least 3-5 additional coats of varnish.
We are not ready to jettison our Interlux Interstain Wood Filler Stain yet, but the ease with which we achieved an absolutely uniform color across all these surfaces makes it truly difficult to hide the Wood Kote in a deep corner of a dark cabinet!
Our 1957 23-foot Lyman Runabout conservation project blasted through two milestones today. We bleached her decks covering boards, toe rails, king planks and helm station bulkhead earlier this week. Today we stained all of the same surfaces and components.
We have long standardized on Interlux Interstain Wood Filler Stain, but have recently been seeing dramatic and superior results using Wood Kote Products Inc.’s Jel’d stains – dark and red mahogany mixed in equal proportions for our Lyman products, and a bit more red relative to dark mahogany for Chris-Craft.
Jel’d stain is not a filler stain and it is not meant to be applied and let sit until it flashes. Instead, it is applied in a circular motion using a terrycloth or old T-shirt rag and then wiped – not scrubbed – off immediately with strokes that follow the grain.
The uniformity of the result is dramatic and easily attained compared to the sweat and blood required to achieve a similar result with a filler stain.
One of the advantages of jel’d over filler stain is that those nasty, light “Oops!!” events we all experience when sanding too aggressively after the first few coats of varnish are easily repaired with a rag and a bit of the jel’d stain. That offending light spot or area disappears, at least in our experience with it thus far.
Part II follows John and RJ as they stain the balance of these surfaces.
After a long winter of scrubbing, scrubbing and scrubbing the bilge and the hull’s related interior surfaces; spending endless hours applying Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan Bilge paint to all those surfaces, it is time to deck.
We are installing ribbon cut mahogany plywood that matches that Lyman originally used in its Sandusky, OH factory.
We use 3M5200 to minimize the need for fasteners. In fact, in for foredeck, other than along the rub rails, where they will be covered by the toe rails, down the middle where they will be covered by the king plank and the stainless finish nails driven along the dash, there are no additional fasteners driven anywhere through the surface.
Bending the panels over the framework produces all the down pressure needed to ensure significant squeeze out, which indicates the substantial downward pressure being generated there. The covering boards are also bedded in 3M5200 and secured with stainless finish nails driven in using a pneumatic nailer, which is also consistent with Lyman’s methodology.
We employ 3M5200 in three colors. White is used along the rub rail, which produces a white seam between the top strake and rub rail.
Mahogany is used along the top of gunwale framing so that the interior seam between it and the covering board complements the stain and brite finish being applied to these components.
Tan is used atop all of the deck framing, which, along with the undersides of the deck panels, has been painted Lyman Sand Tan. The tan seam lines melt into the surrounding tan surfaces.
As will all other 3M5200 applications, we employ Interlux Brushing Liquid 333 and terrycloth shop towels to clean all squeeze out aggressively and completely. Left behind is the tiniest seam line we can attain.
Once we install the toe rails on the foredeck and the king planks, both fore and aft, her decks and covering boards will be ready for bleaching, staining and, yes, varnish!
John and RJ grow weary of me asking, “Well, is she ready to float yet?” As of today, and save for installing the strut, prop and rudder, the answer for the 1957 Lyman 23-foot old style runabout is, “Yes!”
We have broken through the exterior topside and bottom painting milestone. Four coats of Pettit EZ-Poxy Hi-Build Varnish on her transom, leaving only eight to ten to follow.
Thank you for all the great questions on this project. Here is a summary that I hope answers the vast majority of them:
In order, reaching this milestone involved
Stripped the entire hull to bare wood from gunwales to keel and stem, including the transom planks, to stern using Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint and Varnish Remover
Released all fairing compound from all fastener countersinks • Refastened and/or reset strake clench and rivet nails
Sand bottom and topsides fair
Sealed strake seams with 3M5200
Sealed the entire surface with three generous coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES)
Faired above and below the waterline using 3M Marine Premium Filler – six applications with sanding between each pair
Sanded all bottom and topsides fair again using 80 grit followed by 100 grit
Applied another three coats of CPES
Primed bottom with Pettit Tie Coat Primer 6627 – three coats, sanded between coats two and three
Applied four coats of Sandusky Paint Company Lyman Copper Bronze Antifouling Paint
Primed the topsides with four coats of Interlux Pre-Kote Primer For One-Part Finishes
Applied four coats of fire red TotalBoat Wet Edge Topside Paint to boot stripe
Applied three coats of semi-gloss white Interlux Premium Yacht Enamel
Splash rails o Stripped, cleaned and sealed the rails with three coats of CPES
Coated the rails’ mating faces with TotalBoat Thixo 2:1 Fast Cure Epoxy and installed them temporarily against wax paper taped to the strakes – produced perfectly fitting mating surfaces
Installed the rails bedded in white 3M5200 and masked off from strakes o Primed – three coats of Interlux PreKote
Applied three coats of topside paint
Applied three additional coats of topside paint hand-sanded with 120 grit between coats
Transom o John fabricated two small Dutchman repairs to splits radiating from the exhaust port o Sanded fair using 80 grit
Stained with Wood Kote G’eld Stain o Sealed with three coats of CPES
Applied the first four coats of Pettit Easypoxy Hi-Build Varnish, hand-sanded between coats two and three, and very lightly after coat four.
The bilge is ready for a final coat of Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan Bilge Paint. Installing her decks and covering boards are next.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, on Saturday, March 17, 2018!
At the end of the day yesterday, John and RJ teased me with, “You might find a surprise when you come into the shop tomorrow morning.”
Right they were. We’ve shared several videos recently in which this Lyman was upside down. In fact we stained and sealed the topsides and transom, and John and RJ applied the initial eight coats of Pettit Easypoxy Hi-Build Varnish with her flipped. She has also been flipped while RJ and I stripped, sealed and finished her interior surfaces with a combination of Sikkens Cetol Marine Varnish, and Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan Bilge Paint.
They must have sneaked back to the shop last night. When I walked in this morning, there she was, upright and standing proudly on her boat dollies. What intriguing lines. And the combination of coamings and planked decks adds so much to her design.
Facing me now is stripping what is left of ancient varnish from her decks and coamings with a heat gun and BAHCO scraper, and cleaning her deck seams with a reefing hook. Yes, using Circa 1850 chemical stripper would likely be faster, but doing so risks dropping the stripper onto finished surfaces unless I protect all of them with masking paper, a task that would be both hugely tedious and terribly time consuming.
I have been searching for Lyman material and research that will help me nail down her model. Tossing the question out to the membership of the New England Lyman Group spawned a lively conversation and also a 1941 Lyman brochure that answered the question.
She meets all the criteria of the “15-foot Custom Inboard Yacht Tender.”
Here is an excerpt from that brochure: The 15’ Yacht Tender has been the answer to many a yacht owner’s problem of procuring a practical tender, light in weight, fast and smart in appearance. It is being used on some of the finest yachts in the country today. Because the carrying space for a tender on many boats is limited, the Yacht Tender can be built on special order within the limits of 14’ to 16’. The steering wheel is mounted on a special bracket in the forward cockpit and the engine controls are handily located. The motor is installed admidship (SIC), fully enclosed and freely available. The seat in the other cockpit faces aft.
Susan satisfies the following criteria stipulated in the brochure:
LOA – 14’ to 16’. Susan’s LOA is 15’8”.
Beam – 5’4”. Check.
Planking — edge grain cypress or Philippine mahogany. Susan’s topside strakes are edge grain cypress. She is planked with Philippine mahogany below the waterline.
The outside of the hull is painted white or finished bright (varnished). Susan is varnished.
Decking, seats, motor compartment and all other trim are of Philippine mahogany. Check.
A spray shield, in place of the windshield (as shown above) is optional equipment at no additional cost. Susan is outfitted with an absolutely flat-across-the-deck spray shield.
We will now sand her topsides flat, followed by applying 3 – 5 additional coats and sanding again.
Some of the clench nail heads are seated beneath the fair surface, but these declivities will continue filling as additional coats are applied.
Our goal is an absolutely flat surface and varnish that allows all those brilliant copper clench nail heads to shine through.
Yes, we’ve set another milestone free and watching it fade into our wake!
Her topsides were sanded to 80 grit, faired with 3M Marine Premium Filler, final sanded with 80 grit, and then received two coats of Interlux PreKote primer.
Her transom received two Dutchman repairs, was sanded fair using 40-, 6- and 80-grit paper, stained and sealed with three coats of CPES.
Her remaining mechanical components were released and readied for preservation.
All interior hull surfaces and all framing were cleaned, sealed with CPES and received an initial initial coat of Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan Bilge paint.
Her new foredeck and aft deck panels and her king plank were fabricated using correct ribbon-cut mahogany marine plywood.
Most of her hardware was packed and sent to chrome.
Her Iva-Lite returned fully preserved.
Once John reaches for surface putty and repairs a series of dings that the primer revealed, we will be applying Interlux Premium Yacht Enamel to her topsides.
We will shortly seal her deck and gunwale framing with CPES, and then we can move to installing her decks and covering boards bedded in 3M5200.
This update affords us an opportunity to remind one and all of us to take great care when we tighten lifting ring assemblies. You fail to do so at your peril, as is clear from this clip. Someone must have trotted out a long bar to have extra leverage while securing the assembly. The result is a concavity around the deck’s center rather than Lyman’s characteristic and elegant crown.
We will address the issue using vertical bracing between the keel and the two deck frame members just forward and aft of the lifting assembly. Carefully applying upward pressure removes the hollow, but we will go slightly beyond fair so that the deck is properly convex once the panels are installed, the bracing is removed and the surface settles slightly.
From now to her post-conservation review sometime in May, she will blossom, becoming ever so much more elegant day-by-day and week-by-week. Yes!
With only applying SANPACO Lyman Copper Bronze Antifouling paint to the jack stand paddle areas ahead of us, RJ and I lowered the 1957 23’ Old Style Lyman Runabout onto a pair of boat dollies this morning.
He’s totally cleaned the interior of the topsides and bilge of all old paint, varnish and what have you. Now it is time to attack replacing the foredeck, toe rails and aft deck, and to release and refinish the covering boards between them.
The starboard foredeck panel was replaced at some time, along with the toe rails on both sides. Rather than use ribbon cut mahogany plywood, which is correct, the new panel is what we call totally incorrect swirl-grain plywood. That it is thicker than the portside panel does not help at all. I express the hope that we can save the toe rail material in the video, but, having released both of rails now, it is clear that major plywood delamination has assaulted both of them. I quickly stripped a section of the king plank, only to discover that it too is fabricated from swirl-grain plywood. The one positive is that whoever did this work was super lazy, or just did not know. Nothing is sealed on the back sides. Nowhere is there any evidence of adhesive having been applied between the decking material and the frames. All of the delamination we have discovered is the “reward” for taking such shortcuts. We will seal aggressively, and will set everything bedded in adhesive. We have no choice but to replace the king plank and both toe rails using correct, and likely slightly thicker ribbon cut plywood.
The aft deck plywood panels will be replaced as well thereby allowing her to present uniformly from stem to stern.
Once the deck and gunwale framing is exposed, it will be cleaned and then sealed on all sides with three coats of CPES. Why?
We spend incredible money and time staining, sealing and varnishing exterior surfaces, but so many of the boats arriving in our shop present completely raw interior surfaces. That raw wood is like a sponge that continually takes on and releases moisture, causing the wood to expand and contract beneath the wonderful varnish we have so lovingly applied.
For a while the varnish is elastic enough to expand and contract with the wood, but as it continues curing, it also loses elasticity, begins breaking down and ultimately fails.
We seal every piece of wood on every side we can get to. Bilges receive three coats of CPES and then three coats of the best bilge paint we can buy. If the boat is outfitted with ceilings, that bilge paint is applied from keel to gunwales.
The framing is doused with CPES, as are the underside surfaces of all deck and covering boards. Once sealed, the wood becomes very stable and finishes survive much, much longer.
Yes, all this sealing costs money and time, but once again, price and cost diverge. Just think of how much you save if your woody’s varnish fails in 3-5 years instead of 5 – 8 years!
Susan’s interior is varnished. Her bilge is painted. The respirator is back in the bag and on the shelf.
Most important the Sikkens Cetol largely erased the color differential between the mahogany and cypress planking, while adding an almost sensual honey hue to the interior. Yes, the strong lighting does distort and wash the color out, and I cannot wait to have her flipped right-side-up again.
RJ and I applied the first, and quite generous coat of SANPACO Lyman sand tan bilge paint at and below the floor line. A second and finishing coat will be applied once we are ready to install the driveline, seating and engine box.
We will install the floor panel support rail and intermediate topside stiffening rail next week, while we apply several initial coats of Pettit Hi-Build varnish to the topsides and transom.
Then, with cross bracing in place, she will be flipped and set on dollies, so we can begin working on the decks, coamings, and sprayshield. (According to its 1941 catalog, Lyman offered a tall, quite upright and flat sprayshield in place of the shorter sweptback windshield on the tenders of that era.)
Once prepped, all of these surfaces will be stained with Sandusky Natural filler stain, as this model was offered finished natural – bright.
It’s cost us the better part of three weeks, but the result more than justifies the investment of time, sweat and our BAHCO scrapers!
Obliterating milestone becomes more and more gratifying once a conservation project moves past repairing and sanding, and into applying stains, sealer and finishes!
And, with her topsides stained with Sandusky Natural Filler Stain 9805, and sealed with three applications of CPES, our 1940 Lyman Custom yacht Tender just crossed that Rubicon.
Once we complete the transom’s final niggling repairs and sand it flat, we will stain it with a 2:1 mixture of Wood Kote Products Inc.’s red and brown mahogany Jel’d stain.
Yes, after being urged to do so, and following extensive testing on scrap wood, this Lyman will serve as our first time staining with other than Interlux or Sandusky filler stain. While we will sacrifice the positive effects of filler stain and thereby likely need additional coats of varnish to achieve a flat surface, our research and testing suggest strongly that we gain a much more uniform result.
Time will tell.
Once finish “bodywork” and final sanding is behind us, we will stain her transom later today. We will apply CPES on Thursday, and be ready for varnishing soonest thereafter.
What a “wonderful” work environment! Not! I have enjoyed two weeks “down under” the flipped 1940 Lyman Custom Yacht Tender hull removing all traces of paint and varnish and then sanding all surfaces smooth.
Finally all surfaces have received at least one CPES application, and the bilge and transom have received three. I will next apply a second coat of CPES to the interior topsides, and all of it will be ready for finishing.
The bilge will receive three coats of Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan bilge paint up to the floor level. How the interior topsides are finished remains TBD at this point.
As is evident in previous videos, she arrived painted – blue, green and finally tan – up to and including the stiffening rail that runs longitudinally about halfway up the topsides inner face, and varnished from that rail to the gunwales.
Thanks to the New England Lyman Group, and the 1941 catalog a member shared, we know that Lyman offered a base configuration that buyers were invited to customize. The aft seat could face forward or, in very few cases, aft. The exterior could be finished bright or painted white. The interior was offered completely varnished from gunwale to keel, but owners could specify various combinations of bilge paint and varnish according to their wishes.
Susan’s original owner chose the completely-bright option based on what I found when stripping the paint. After an informative dialog with the NELG membership, and with the help of Ryan Koroknay, I confirmed that the inner-most, oldest layer, a bilious robin’s egg blue, had been applied directly over varnish. Very careful scraping yielded several paint chips with strong evidence of varnish on their inner sides.
Susan sports cypress topside strakes from her waterline to her gunwales, or so I thought. However, once I had everything clean inside, the strakes running between the stiffening rail and floor level are noticeably darker than those from the rail to the gunwale. And there is evidence of the speckled grain that we often see in early mahogany planking.
So … what to do? Finishing everything bright down to the floor is my preference, and my research, which informs me that bright is how she left the Sandusky factory.
We will do some test varnishing early next week once the final CPES applications have cured, and make a final decision then.
Any ideas or preferences you wish to share will be most appreciated! Time to go down under again, armed with a 3” chip brush, respirator, fan for fresh air and a pail of CPES!
