Sole care

[Lance Jones]

I just spent the last week refinishing my cabin sole using Ron's method. There are 6 coats of min-wax topside and 2 underneath on there now. My question is, what is the best way to maintain that new look? Does anyone use things like floor wax or other materials or do you just keep it clean?

[Ron Hill]

Lance : To keep the nice finish and make footing more secure, I have some LL Bean "water hog" rugs/doormats.  

One by the galley and a runner by the mast. A thought

[Lance Jones]

That's what we're doing too. As I'm still looking for a job, the sole gets vacuumed 3 times a week and mopped once a week.

[Ralph Masters]

Make that "swabbed" once a week.

Ralph

[Les Luzar]

The best way to maintain the new look is not to walk on it! (just kidding) So using rugs is your best bet. Before I refinished my interior sole, I contacted Epifanes to ask about what would be the best varnish solution and they suggested 8 coats of high gloss varnish to fill the grain and build up a base coat, followed by two final coats of "Rubbed Effect" varnish. They said that the Rubbed Effect varnish was a harder finish, as well as a matt finish that would not show scuff marks, scratches, etc. It is a softer look. Then put down your preference of ruggs on the main walk paths and your will be good to go. I found that six coats of varnish filled the grain well and then I added two additional coats of Rubbed Effect and my flooring looks great.

[Hawk]

Oops, I dropped a heavy clamp on to the cabin sole and have a nice sized 1/2 in dent at least 1/8 in deep.

Has anyone filled something like this on their sole?

Thanks
Hawk

[scotty]

Ouch.  An old trick (my grandfather told me this one) is to build a damn around the spot (clay or tape or something) and fill it with water.  Let it sit overnight.  The wood swells to some degree.  I've tried it with some success on various wood projects.

[Footloose]

In a similar vein; I have had some luck placing a wet towel over the area and then putting a hot iron on it to steam the dent out.  It can raise the finish so you may get yet another boat project.

[Bobg]

same thing happened to me, i tryed all the methods to raise the dent, nothing worked, so I trowled in a little wood putty and it has held up great

[paule]

Lance,
I use a runner and a mat to protect the sole.

And Hawk try this take a damp rag and an iron (don't let the captain know) and place the rag over the dent and the iron on top. This will make the fibers of the wood to rise allowing you to sand the area down and then refinish.
Old shop teacher trick used it many of times on kides projects to get dings out.

Paul

[RV61]

We use Murphy's Oil soap to clean al the wood including the sole

[Les Luzar]

Since I recently refinished all my interior floorboards with six coats of Epifanes High Gloss to build up the coats and fill the grain, then the final two or three coats were Epifanes Rubbed Effect (matt finish) varnish. The Rubbed Effect Varnish has a harder finish and does not show scuffs and blemishes as pronounced as high gloss varnish. Also, the Rubbed Effect look is softer than the high gloss on the interior. Epifanes said that the high gloss varnish is not recommended for flooring because of the propensity to show scuffs and scratches, due to its softer finish. I asked them what they recommended for regular cleaning and they said all you need to do to maintain the flooring is to simply wash the sole with a mild soap.And that if any particular sole board needed additional care, simply apply an additional refresher coat as needed. However, since these are interior applications, this will not be necessary very often, depending on how hard you are on your sole.

Les