Which Paint For A Mahogany Rudder?

andyatos

Well-Known Member
I'm making a vertical rudder for my Sunfish. It's made out of mahogany. I don't plan to varnish it because I don't want it the dark, varnished wood color. I want to paint it white so I can easily see if I have weed on it.

So, what kind of primer and paint combination do you guys recommend? Obviously, I want to completely seal it so it doesn't soak up water.

Thanks,

- Andy
 
Rustoleum flat white, spray or can, works great. If you can get their Marine paint, even better. Wet sand when you are done for a nice, slick finish.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I'm making a vertical rudder for my Sunfish. It's made out of mahogany. I don't plan to varnish it because I don't want it the dark, varnished wood color. I want to paint it white so I can easily see if I have weed on it. So, what kind of primer and paint combination do you guys recommend? Obviously, I want to completely seal it so it doesn't soak up water. Thanks, - Andy
Interesting problem from my perspective, as our lake weeds are white! :p

Agreed with Rustoleum flat-white.

No worries that the factory's chemistry of Rustoleum flat-white would change as much as the selection of one's long-forgotten finish: deck, spar, marine, oil, or polyurethane. :confused: (?)
 
I bought a Sunfish with boards painted blue. It took forever to sand down to a clear grain—and might have compromised their strength in doing it! :confused:

There's that possible occasion when you won't be taking up domicile near waters having dark weeds: to preserve the beautiful finish that mahogany gives, I'd first fill the grain with a clear varnish (or epoxy). Just a thought...
 
And what LAVW said as well. Rustoleum sells a Marine Primer and Spar varnish as well, thin the first varnish coat with mineral spirits, then add a second coat. It will help fill the grain. My current favorite is Jamsetown Distributors TotalBoat Marine Spar Varnish, flows well and is reasonably priced. You can thin it first coat or they sell a Wood Sealer as well, which is what I am using on our Penobscot 14 build for the seats. Then paint over that with WetEdge. All the JD products can be ordered online or over the phone. Jamestown Distributors

Penobscot 14 knee templates.JPG


All that said, if you like West System, use that and then pretty much any epoxy paint goes over the top of that. This is Rustoleum Marine Oyster White over West System.

turnover cradle.jpg


....or any top line alkyd enamel house paint (oil based) works great as well, use 3-4 coats. I like Valspar Ultra, found at Lowes. Lots of color choices there as well, Swiss Coffee Satin is what went on Barbashela over cypress,

Barbashela wreath.JPG


Oh, did I mention Interlux Brightside Fire Red and Pettit EZPoxy Semi Gloss White over Pettit Z-Spar on Merci's rudder?



Her hull is EZPoxy Ocean Blue over EZ Prime and EZFair.

Merci stern.JPG


Builder's decision time, it will probably come down to what is available locally factored against price and time to acquire.

Cheers
Kent
 

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And what LAVW said as well. Rustoleum sells a Marine Primer and Spar varnish as well, thin the first varnish coat with mineral spirits, then add a second coat. It will help fill the grain. My current favorite is Jamsetown Distributors TotalBoat Marine Spar Varnish, flows well and is reasonably priced. You can thin it first coat or they sell a Wood Sealer as well, which is what I am using on our Penobscot 14 build for the seats. Then paint over that with WetEdge. All the JD products can be ordered online or over the phone. Jamestown Distributors

View attachment 22304

All that said, if you like West System, use that and then pretty much any epoxy paint goes over the top of that. This is Rustoleum Marine Oyster White over West System.

View attachment 22305

....or any top line alkyd enamel house paint (oil based) works great as well, use 3-4 coats. I like Valspar Ultra, found at Lowes. Lots of color choices there as well, Swiss Coffee Satin is what went on Barbashela over cypress,

View attachment 22306

Oh, did I mention Interlux Brightside Fire Red and Pettit EZPoxy Semi Gloss White over Pettit Z-Spar on Merci's rudder?



Her hull is EZPoxy Ocean Blue over EZ Prime and EZFair.

View attachment 22307

Builder's decision time, it will probably come down to what is available locally factored against price and time to acquire.

Cheers
Kent

Excellent info. Thanks!

- Andy
 
All that said, if you like West System, use that and then pretty much any epoxy paint goes over the top of that. This is Rustoleum Marine Oyster White over West System.
With the new rudder I'm making, I've decided to go the above suggested route. That is, cover the entire bare mahogany with West Systems epoxy resin then cover that with Rustoleum paint.

Here's a question. Is this Rustoleum product an "epoxy paint?" I'm assuming that when referring to epoxy paint, that is paint that is designed to be used, for example, over bare fiberglass where epoxy resin (as opposed to polyester) is part of the laminate. Correct? And I do not need a primer, right?

Thanks,

- Andy
 
Rustoleum Topside is a Acrylic Enamel. It needs a fiberglass primer over epoxy/gelcoat. As
a one part paint it is only about 20% as hard as a two part paint. I sprayed it on my Sunfish
mixing with Valspar Acrylic Hardener to greatly reduce the drying time and harden the paint.
I believe I used a 1:4:8 ratio of Hardner, Naptha and Paint. When brushing on your paint reducer will
be much less.

When it comes to wood I always stick to Spar Varnish. I you build up enough coats
the wood is pretty much maintenance free. Adding a few coats when needed is
simple. If the wood was going to stay immersed in water for months at a time then
epoxy may be a more durable solution.
 
I wasn't very clear. Rustoleum Topside is an oil based alkyd enamel. I primed first with a 50/50 mix of Rustoleum Topside Wood and Fiberglass primer mixed with the Oyster White.

I have also used Pettit EZPoxy over West System with success, with and without EZPrime.
 
Not sure why you are mixing the White with the Primer. Usually the only thing you
would need to mix the Primer with is a reducer, maybe. The Primer being white in color does
not bleed through the Top Coat. You should be using one coat of primer and two or three
coats of Oyster White.
 
Not sure why you are mixing the White with the Primer. Usually the only thing you
would need to mix the Primer with is a reducer, maybe. The Primer being white in color does
not bleed through the Top Coat. You should be using one coat of primer and two or three
coats of Oyster White.

You are right that the color wouldn't bleed. That's how I chose to do it on that particular project, the primer is thicker and gave the "base" coat a little better fill over the plywood, and I wanted to get the top coat going on the next coat so I could only do one maybe two coats after that. You can watch plenty of videos where they tell you exactly how many coats of everything that they like, 3 coats of CPES followed by 3 coats of primer followed by 5 coats of topside paint. I can't imagine what their finishing bill looks like.

The 50/50 mix of primer and topside color came in handy when I painted the ocean blue on the Sunfish "Merci." Someone in Europe liked that restoration so much that they mad a scale RC model of the boat, she just finished first in her first regatta :)

Merci regatta 3.jpg
 
Well that's interesting, I've heard of using a reducer in primer to act as
a filler in open grain wood. Guess you can go thicker or thinner depending
on your needs.

Paint company's seem to develop a "multipart system" that probably maximizes
their bottom line as much as the effectiveness of their products. I think most
of us bypass show quality for something "good enough."

I like you're Pre 1941 Sunfish theme, a Italian Spanish Civil War theme would
be cool but probably take a lot of airbrushing. Rising Sun theme is a no-brainer
but WWII German markings would probably cheese people off in todays climate.
Maybe a Sopwith Camel theme or Red Barron?
 
How about a WWII Navy dazzle camo theme? Our next boat will be the US Navy VF-84 "Jolly Rogers" fighter squadron with a pirate sail.
 
Good Pick! Stars and Bars with the orange and black diagonal band across the deck
is spot on.

Dazzle Camo is going to take some serious sewing skills making the sail.
 

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