To sand or not to sand?

gnephew511

gnephew511

New Member
Apr 18, 2011
58
Plattsburgh,NY
Boat Info
270 Sundancer 1987, Lowrance HDS-5 Gen 2 Chartplotter/ Finder
Engines
Twin 165 Mercruisers w/alpha one drives
I am about to redo the teak inserts on my swim platform and have been told by some people to sand them before cleaning and oiling, but other people tell me you should not sand teak. They have not been done in a long time and there are uneven spots that could use some sanding. What is the prevailing wisdom on this and is it ok to soak them in teak oil for some time as I'm sure they will need many coats? Thanks.

Greg
 
Greg, depending on the thickness of your teak and how uneven it is, will dictate how aggressive you can be. People that say "don't sand "are suggesting you'll be be sorry down the road , because you'll eventually have to replace [it]when there's no material left to sand. If you want that new fresh look, have at it... But be warned that there is an art to it. Power sanders & DA s are as good as the person using them. # 80 paper for the swim platform and DON'T go any finer. If you want to go slow, use a blocking bar w/ # 80 paper. If the teak, not " faux teak, is really grainy you'll need Advil when the job is done !!! Teak has its own natural oils, but due to the exposure the { platform } gets, I'd oil it AFTER you sand. IMO ,There's nothing more classy looking, than well maintained teak... Good luck !
 
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The teak is pretty thick, a little over an inch at least. It has some pretty deep spots on the ends where it is solid across but no cracks or splits anywhere. Was thinking about a DA sander then finishing with a block. It is the original teak and is a little grainy, what do you mean by Advil when finished. What brand oil is recommended?

Greg
 
The teak is just a decorative vent in the platform. Teak has both hard and soft grain in it. With a lot of exposure to the elements and regular cleaning, the soft grain in oiled teak will eventually wear away. If the surface is very uneven, you can even remove the teak inserts and run then thru a planer to level the grain. The key to sand or not is how uneven the surface is. With planing or aggressive sanding, you remove material, so after you get the inserts level and clean, you might have to shim underneath the edges where the screws attach the inserts to the platform so you end up with the teak level with the surrounding fiberglass. The inserts are something like 1-1/8" thick so as long as you are prepared to shim them, you can plane/sand them down to about 3/4" before they become too thin to walk on.
 
Greg, when using sander, make sure to keep it flat to the surface so you don't create ruts...... RE : Advil... Aleve , I probably have a " few " years on you. Joints get a little sore....more then they use to!
 
I have removed them and was considering running them through a planer because they are so uneven. Taking off 1/4" I think will do the trick and then shim underneath. Thanks for the info guys, now I have some work to do.

Greg
 
Sounds good....
 
I did mine this season. I wanted to plane them but I didn't have one. The grates were not looking pretty so what I did was sand the bottoms nice and clean and flipped them over. Worked out well.
 
I thought about that also, but had to many blemishes on the bottom. The planeing is done now just a little sanding and routering the edges. What did you use for finish? They look great.

Greg
 
My spring project this year was to redo as much wood as possible. I removed the wood rails on the bow, all trim around the stern of the boat and the pulpit. The pulpit I used a pure teak oil, not sure the brand and no erothane. The rest, including the swim platform vents I sanded until they looked clean and used one coat of a cherry stain and three coats of erothane. What's yet to be determined is how long they last. I hear all these stories about mixing thinner and stuff, but I went simple and we will see what happens
 
Finally finished my teak swim platform inserts and they look great. I needed to take almost a 1/4 inch off them because they were so badly weathered and uneven. Started out with a plan to plane them down first and them sand but quickly learned that the staples they use to assemble them are very close to the surface. One time through the planer was all I could do without ruining the blade. So sanding was the solution. I have to say I had no idea how soft teak is until I began this project but overall it wasn't that bad. I only used teak oil to finish them and I love the way they look, so much so that the rest of the teak on the rails and cockpit will also be done. I'll get some pics up when I get a chance. Thanks to the guys for the advice earlier in the process.

Greg

P.S. I also needed to shim under them in order to keep them flush with the platform because I took so much off. I used 1/4 inch plexiglass for the shims and they fit perfectly.
 
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I wound up sanding all of mine before cleaning with the Teka A & B. There was some coating of something on the teak that needed to be sanded off. It worked out great. I put the Sikkens on after I got it all real nice, now I just scuff it every year or so with 150 grit, wipe it down with a tack cloth, and put a fresh coat of Sikkens over it and the teak looks new.
My swim platform inserts look great from the top, but there are a couple of bad spots on the bottom. I'm going to have to do something about them next winter. Not sure if I'll replace them completely, or try to repair them somehow.
A couple of years ago there was someone on here that posted pictures of new ones he made up with the Sea Ray logo in them. They looked awesome. I wish I had those kind of skills with wood.
 
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