Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Sticky Oil

I have 5 coats of 50/50 turp and boiled linseed oil applied to the interior of my Keith Steele boat restoration. There are places on the floor and sides of the boat where I applied thickened epoxy as spot repairs. The oil has not absorbed in those areas and is very sticky. It is already attracting dirt and dust after just a few days. I'm about to apply a couple more coats of oil but this time I'm adding Japan drier. Should I apply some more in these areas (will the Japan drier cause the stickiness to go away) or should I stay away from those areas. Will paint thinner or acetone on a rag remove the sticky oil? Advice is appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Bennett Yarbrough on September 10, 2018 at 9:21am

Hey Carl the oil obviously wont soak into the epoxied areas. Thus leaving you with a nasty sticky oil residue. Depending on their size and location you may be fine with leaving them bare. I would worry about UV breakdown though if they're very large and in direct sunlight all the time.

I doubt the Japan drier will keep the oil from getting sticky on those spots as its just a pool of oil on top of the epoxied area.

Hope it works out

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Permalink Reply by CWarmouth on September 10, 2018 at 10:58am

Hi Bennett. Thanks for the reply. The epoxied areas are indeed going to be exposed to sun. I'm thinking about hitting those spots with some flat spar varnish. I don't know if that will cure on the sticky epoxy or just make things worse.

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Permalink Reply by Mitchell Culbertson on September 10, 2018 at 12:38pm

Hi CW

Is your sticky mess the oil concoction your placed on top of the epoxy or is the epoxy uncured underneath?

Either way, I'd remove all the oil on those spots with a putty knife and rags. Then clean and sand the epoxy to roughen up so the varnish has something to bite onto over the clean dry epoxy. The varnish should adhere just fine over the epoxy. Many spots of my boat where that method worked fine.

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Permalink Reply by CWarmouth on September 10, 2018 at 1:35pm

Great question, Mitchell! The epoxy is hard as a rock and has been sanded. Has been fully cured for over a year. It's just the oil and it is more "tacky" than sticky.