Refinishing Wood Boat

[stauter99]

I have a a small wooden boat(bosarge) and it is stained on the inside with a plyurethane finish. It isnt peeling but in some spots it is scratched and need refinishing. Can I sand the poly down(not all the way to the wood) and refinish? Will it look good(It wont show scrathes from sanding etc)? I painted it but have never redone it before. The finish is 2 years old. I appreciate it.

 

[bayman]

Re: Refinishing Wood Boat

If there are any finish removers that would work on polyurethane (similar to Formbys wood furniture finish remover) you might want to look at that. I don't know if there is such a product but I have done some refinishing where that was much better than sanding. I actually used that Formbys stuff on 100 year old finish and it pulled out the old varnish very well. The end product looks great.

 

[stauter99]

Re: Refinishing Wood Boat

Well, what I really want to know is when sanding down the old (clear)polyurethane will the scrathches from the sander show up after 2 or 3 coats. I was palnning on sanding it down a little till all the surface was the same level and then refinishing with clear polyurethane.

 

[John Carpenter]

Re: Refinishing Wood Boat

If you just need to get out a few scratches and the finish is otherwise intact and in good shape, just give it a light sanding with 200 grit paper and recoat. Should come out fine. If you want to be extra sure give it a final sanding with 320 grit before re-coating.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Refinishing Wood Boat

220 grit is usually fine enough for a final sanding before applying polyurethane. Formby's and similar refinishing formulas will not work on poly, just the old varnishes. Poly needs to be sanded or stripped to remove. If your finish isn't lifting but is just in need of a brightening up due to scratches, just sand the worst spots with whatever it takes to get them smoothed then go over the entire surface with 220 grit and apply a coat of poly then sand lightly w/220 and recoat. That's good enough to seal the wood, you can repeat the 220 sanding and re-coating if you like several times to build up the surface. Clean up all dust before coating, and never shake a can of polyurethane, stir only!