Refurbishing companionway external teak handrails

[Escapade]

My next project is to refurbish the companionway external teak handrails on my B35E -1997, after 20 years under the mediterranean sun.
I am planning to remove the stainless steel handrails, clean and brighten the teak with teak wonder (or any similar product) and sand a bit to remove the deepest grooves and traces of previous treatments by the old owner.
But I have doubts about how to finish, just teak oil, a woodstain or what else?
Any suggestions?

[Symphony]

Woodstain such as International Woodskin. That is what I will be doing mine with. Teak oil (or any of the potions that claim to soak in) will disappear in weeks and will need constant replenishment.

[Odysseus]

I agree wood skin is the right way to go, I have used it for years on my exterior wood and it's the best. It used to be called something else but now international wood skin.

Odysseus
Bav 38

[Escapade]

Tank you both.
I always had reservations in using products which leave a film, as it is bothersome to remove and re-apply.
However reading the specs i understand woodskin film is somehow micro porous and prevent ingress of water while allowing wood to breath, and it can be reapplied without removing the older coat!!
The pictures Odysseus has posted show exactly the kind of finish i am after.
As you have being using it for years I may give it a try.
Incidentally, are you degreasing teak with thinner n.1 as they recommend or have just applied woodskin after cleaning/sanding?
Cheers.

[Odysseus]

I just sanded it down and applied 2 coats.

Odysseus
Bad 38

[Yngmar]

Teak oil is bullshit. Woodskin/Sikkens Cetol is okay and easy to use, but a bit ugly due to orange tint and dull look.

What I've used is good quality traditional (tung and linseed oil) varnish - can strongly recommend Le Tonkinois Vernis No.1. Bit more work, but excellent results and after the first time you just add annual maintenance coats on top. It protects wood better than anything, as it soaks in deeply and small dings are easy to repair.

Your trim parts look identical to mine and are plenty thick to sand down to healthy teak. If you want to get into carpentry a bit more, get a cabinet scraper and scrape after sanding to really bring out the wood grain

[Escapade]

Yngmar, your work looks really great.
How long ago you have done it? Is it aging well?
Cheers

[Jeff Jones]

Yngmar, thanks for the photos.
been scratching my head as to what best to do with the same, so really good to see the end results.

[Yngmar]

Yngmar, your work looks really great.
How long ago you have done it? Is it aging well?

Done it a bit over a year ago. For maintenance (once a year, depending on location, use and number of coats you initially applied) you sand it gently with 600 grit (wet) to key and simply apply another coat or more on top, which I've been doing this winter. The cockpit coaming trim only needed it where rope had abraded some varnish (need to add some stainless rub rails there), but the teak seat on the bow was kind of sandblasted from when we were anchored downwind of a sandy beach in a near gale and needed a few coats more to restore it.

With a harder synthetic varnish it would probably last a few years, but then it would flake off and you'd have to scrape it all off completely and restart from scratch. I much prefer the small annual task of applying another coat on top over that. Plus the varnish smells nicer

You can find a lot of advice on applying Le Tonkinois here: http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/varmain.html

[buttonfreebie]

The vast majority of all the advice that I have read is that external teak should be left untreated. It will weather to a beautiful silvery colour and will only need an occasional wash with water and a gentle soap if necessary.
Internal wood I agree looks better and performs better varnished. Which varnish to use is personal preference.

[Symphony]

Whether to varnish teak or not is a personal choice and my choice is to use a porous woodstain such as Sikkens, Cetol or more recently International Woodskin.

The problem with leaving teak bare, particularly modern plantation grown stock is that it erodes because the grain is soft. While it is acceptable on teak decks where you need to retain the non slip properties (and accept the limited life) it is not good on trim like handrails and cappings which are protected. Traditional varnishes are not ideal because they do not adhere well to teak and require constant maintenance so woodstains are a good compromise once you accept that you will not get a glossy cabinet finish.

[Yngmar]

+1 what Symphony said, except I've never had any problems with getting varnish to adhere or find it particularly high maintenance. But the amount of exterior teak trim on Songbird is quite manageable. If I had a wooden cabin top like a neighbour a few rows down the pontoon, I might feel differently

Just doing the restoration of the remaining bits in the cockpit area (the sealant there needed fixing up first, which was a lot more work). This time I finally remembered to take a before photo, so you can compare. That's only 3 coats of Le Tonkinois so far, but it's starting to look like something. I find it transforms the cockpit. See for yourself:

[Salty]

+1 what Symphony said, except I've never had any problems with getting varnish to adhere .
.
.
............... I find it transforms the cockpit. See for yourself:

It certainly does Yngmar, that looks amazing.