Finishing a Fishing / Fighting Chair

[William Miller]

I'm in the final planning stages of building a small fishing/fighting chair for my 290AJ.
This is NOT a trophy class chair and it won't have a foot board.

It will be a very simple design where the pedistal, seat bottom and seat back can easily be disassembled and put away when the boat is put into family / cruising mode.

I have not made a final decision on wood, but it will likely be Jotaba (Brazillian Cherry) with some Holly accents inlayed in the layup of the seat bottom.

I'm intrested in thoughts about putting a really tough finish on this chair.
Because it will be somewhat portable, it will likely get dinged up a bit.

I've always wondered about this clear resin that they put on tables in restaraunts.
Is that a bad choice? How is it done?

Thanks for any advice / ideas!

 

[tobnpr]

Aahhhh...finally, a post about fishing!!!

The tabletop resin you mention is cool stuff- I built an outdoor bar by my pool a few years ago and used it. Problem for your application is that it's only for horizontal surfaces. For the bar top, I used oak veneer plywood and oak trim at the edges with about a 3/16" reveal above the top of the plywood to act as a "lip" to hold the resin in place. Since it's self-leveling and must be done in one pour, it's CRITICAL that the top be perfectly level in both directions. I can't see a way to use this for your application, but maybe you can be creative and figure it out.

I purchased mine from Fiberglass Coatings:
http://fgci.com/

I'd recommend what I did for my teak covering boards. Several coats (or more, depending on how deep a "mirror finish" you're looking for) of West System epoxy with the special clear hardener (207, I think). The epoxy gives a quick, thick buildup with far fewer coats than traditional varnish. Because epoxies are not UV resistant, they must be overcoated, I used traditional varnish. The epoxy makes it virtually indestructible, and the varnish can be quickly overcoated as needed to cover surface scratches and UV damage. In MD, you'll probably only need to mess with it once a year.

Sounds like a cool project- keep us posted with some pics as you get into it, I'd love to see the finished project. Do you have access for a substantial backing plate for the pedestal?

 

[William Miller]

Picked up the wood today.
Jotaba and maple for the white accents.
The Holly that they had was in pretty bad shape.
I don't know much about the properties of maple, but it is not like I need wood for below the water line.

For the most part the chair will be stored inside the garage or under the cockpit cover.

My brother knows a lot about epoxy. He may have enough on hand for this project.
What prep is needed for the top coat of varnish? What did you use?
I guess it should be resistant to UV and also inhibit the rays from getting to the epoxy?

Thanks!

 

[tobnpr]

I opted to use Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss. Mainly because it can be overcoated (24-72 hours) without sanding between coats. I hate sanding! Any good quality spar varnish will work. I've not used them before, but two-part clear polyurethanes (Awlgrip, for example) are supposed to have exceptional durability and lower maintenance.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|296162|10952|311505&id=13041

This is good reading from West System. Read Chapter 7, which explains UV resistance,and removing the amine blush from the epoxy before overcoating with your topcoat. You need to wet-sand and rinse your final coat of epoxy until water no longer beads on the surface to remove the amine blush (results from the epoxy curing process) so that your topcoat will bond properly.

http://209.20.76.247/ss/assets/howto-pub2/Wooden Boat Restoration and Repair.pdf

 

[William Miller]

Thanks!