I made Honduran mahoghany, louvered,companion-way doors
six years ago for my Commander. I finished them with 5 coats
of West System Epoxy useing their clear, special coating. hardner.
The doors are completely encapsulated in the epoxy, sanded
between coats and finished with three coats of varnish which I
re-do at the beginning and end of the summer and keep covered in the winter
No problems with this set up at all. Hot,dry,windless days on
the mooring are ideal conditions for varnishing. If the varnish is
rubbed through the epoxy shows through as matte, clear finish.
You can keep a nail polish bottle full of varnish to touch these
up mid-season. The pale, pinkish color of the wood goes vividly
red with the application. I like it alot. Cetol can look really gross
if applied to any thing but new wood, and on teak takes on an
unnatural orange cast that reminds me of fake car trim from the 70's.
Clearly useing Cetol does'nt make you a bad person, and if you see
examples of applications you like, let that be your guide. I recommend
epoxy/varnish because epoxy seals and sticks to wood better than
varnish and varnish sticks better to epoxy than it does wood. The varnish is really
just a nessesary UV coating for the epoxy.
Cheers, B.
Commander #215