varnish and a piece of cracked mahogany

NYGiants

Chief Petty Officer
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May 3, 2009
Messages
582
i have a centerboard for my sunfish sailboat, and theres about a 1' long crack running from the top down. i couldnt get wood glue inside of it without snapping of the piece. i plan on varnishing it, will that fix it? its about a foot away from the outermost piece of the board. ive already removed all of the old varnish from the board. im mainly varnishing it just to protect the wood from the elements and to stop any cracks from worsening.
 

andgott

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Sep 2, 2009
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801
Re: varnish and a piece of cracked mahogany

Is it solid wood or ply? Varnish is not going to add any kind of strength- It won't stop cracks or fix cracks, only make it look pretty...

Remember that the centerboard is going to have a LOT of stress on it- It needs to be good and solid. You can probably epoxy it all back together- But they are simple to build, too- So a new one might be in order.

-Andrew
 

NYGiants

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
582
Re: varnish and a piece of cracked mahogany

it should be okay, we've been using it as is for a while now, and im selling the boat so it dosent matter to me, just trying to get it nice and pretty to sell
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
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Re: varnish and a piece of cracked mahogany

Fill the crack with clear epoxy, sand smooth then varnish. Epoxy in the crack is better then any paint.
 

Plotus

Cadet
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Aug 15, 2010
Messages
23
Re: varnish and a piece of cracked mahogany

Well sir, I have something following in his story, having used formby low gloss after sanding and much effort. ......SO..... what do you finish with or will just varnish survive the elements? Thanks ...Rich
Is it solid wood or ply? Varnish is not going to add any kind of strength- It won't stop cracks or fix cracks, only make it look pretty...

Remember that the centerboard is going to have a LOT of stress on it- It needs to be good and solid. You can probably epoxy it all back together- But they are simple to build, too- So a new one might be in order.

-Andrew
 
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