I am looking for information on wood screws. Screws made of wood for wood. How can they be made? Sand flush and finish. Speaking of ‘Finish’, Those mid (last) century "Chris * Crafts’. What was that finish? Reminds me of burgundy shoe polish. Or was it Oxblood? Any info appreciated.
Spar Varnish, over Honduran Mahogany planks.
The varnish could be acquired, not so lucky on the planks here though. I am going to attempt to emulate that finish. My alaia avatar pales in comparison eh?
Miller Dowels are not quite screws but they might work for you...
There are several wood tap and die sets but they are mostly large diameter.
Use a red mahogany stain prior to finishing........
Hi Dlock, You might want to look at: www.raptornails.com for your needs. They also manufacture staples as well. Easily sanded/planed/chisled off and I believe I heard some will accept stain. These are often used in wooden boats nowadays. Of course, you will need a brad nailer or nail gun but there are cheapies out there for limited use. Also, look into gel stains for filling in grain before laquer or spar varnish.
All good information above. If you are doing an alaia and not a Chris-Craft; Break down and buy a quart of the really good spar. The kind that they won't ship to Calif. Don't remember the names, but there are usually adds for various spars in Mags. like Wooden Boat or Cruising World. Mckloskey is OK if you can't find any thing else. Funny thing about Mahogany is that no matter what stain you put on it; it almost always comes out the same. The Mahogany stains you buy at Home Depot and Lowes don't have enough colorant in them to emulate the Mahogany look on anything other than dark woods like Walnut and Cherry. I've done alot of Mahogany and Cherry look a like stains on cheaper woods like Birch and Oak(closed grain) used in custom homes. I usually start with a mahogany stain and add magenta, burnt umber and a little raw sienna. Just did an Oak door frame around a Mahogany door using that formula last winter and it matched puuurrrfect. Adjust the formula by "eye" and in small increments.
I've had good luck with aniline dye stains to replicate that color but of course it's better to start off with good wood.
IMNSFHO There are plenty of good varnishes, it's all in the application.
I avoid buying any wood finish products from big box stores; you are better off searching out boatbuilding and woodworking suppliers.
I've spent way too many hours refinishing bright work on boats, teak, mohog whatever....all a pain in the ass.
Varnish is all in the application. I might even argue that the new stuff is just as good or better than the old. But that's a discussion with you turds over a beer and campfire.
When laying down varnish to get that wet glass look, the first coat of product is cut 50/50 with thinner. You want the material to penetrate into the wood, grab and seal...(no pun on the seal thing) The next coat is 80/20...then you sand and flatten out any fuzzys, or raised grain etc. Then you proceed to lay down (if you want it to look glassy) about 7 to 12 coats of full strength varnish. You sand between coats with 220 grith to take out any bugs, zits, or ash etc. Use Japan drier, colbalt to speed up drying process so you don't have to wait around to 'watch paint dry". Once all done you block sand to 500-800 grit and polish out like a surfboard.
The seal slayer 2000 is all teak covered in 13 layers on Mcklosky. I did it about 5 years ago, and it still looks great. Needs a bit o touch up once in a while where a gaff slips out of a blubbery seal and hits wood, or where an errant deckhand slams a Tady 45 jig into the wood. But all in all the new stuff is pretty good.
Wood Ogre, Is right the traditional fastener for wood boots is a bronze countersunk screw with a wood plug glued over it.
I had a yacht refinishing business in San Diego for almost 20 years. if you plan to finish with a deep glass like finish this is what we did.
start with sanding the wood with 220 grit paper. Get as smooth a finish as possible. Seal with Z spar clear Acrylic sealer, lightly re sand 220, now use a quick dry thinner with Z spar 1015 Captains Varnish thin about 15% and no more then 20% sand with 220 between coats. Do this for coats 1 to 3. Now start with full coats of Captains using a varnish from Holland called Epifanes. It is expensive and well worth the extra cost.
Some tips for application are one use a very good brush. I liked The Corona Europa brushes. next Thin coats do not over load the brush with the idea that a thicker coat will be better. Varnish is slow drying and will produce an Alligator skin if applied to thick! Thin varnish just enough to get a good flow on all coats over the fist few. again sand 220 between coats always brush into the wet line. The last step is to open a good quality hand crafted beer of your choice and admire the deep mellow gloss finish
Want to know about Chris Craft try here.
http://www.classicboatconnection.com/boat_supply_catalog.htm
The Chris Craft used bronze Woodscews and the screw was counter sunk and plugged with mahogany plugs. The stain colors and varnishes are all at the above catalog.
The first time I saw a Chris*Craft I was a wee lad. Fishing the shallows with my faithful brittany spaniel. Our daily summer routine was to work the shoreline and docks. We had gone quite a way and there it was, sitting low tied with bumpers. I can’t remember how long I took it all in, from bow to stern, I was soaking the lines up with a clear and eager mind. Something was perfect about it in it’s design. Astounding and incredible weren’t yet active words in my vocabulary. None the less, they were both what I was feeling inside as I admired that wood boat.
Thanks for the great input. Time to process.
Mahogany is an open grain wood, and to get a truly smooth finish the grain needs to be filled. I can’t give specific names but look for a product called paste wood filler. It’s a stain and paste filler that is applied with the grain and removed across the grain filling all of the voids. A good paint supplier should know what to look for. DO NOT GET COLORED WOOD FILLER. Some experts think that that is what you are looking for.
I was apprenticed as a shipwright and boatbuilder 40 something years ago. My first job was in a small boatshed on the river building clinker plywood ski and racing boats. The tradesman I was under had a fine examlpe of that style of boat , that he had build years earlier and kept in storage. It was an older style ( current style when it was built) 18 ft skiboat , built with mahogony , cedar and silver ash. The clinker planked hull was built using traditional square copper boat nails and internal roves. They were the only metal fastenings used on the boat. The rest was done completely with tapered wooden dowels ( with wooden slot and wedge for the larger , more structural fastenings)..the glue was urea phemaldahide......after a lot of use and years in storage , the boat was still in pristine condition when I was there . Those days , you made your own dowels , which is not hard to do, just time consuming. If get a square wooden rod ,at the required size and twist them on a disc sander or a linisher , to the correct taper , then dock them off at the required length , before you know it you'll have a box full !.......as for the finish , mahogany is mahogany and IMO , modern spar varnishes of good quality are more advanced these days , and will out perform the older ones , but you still need liberal amounts of elbow grease !........