n.

Metal parts or fixtures made bright by polishing.

Painting wood: the sensible road that’s not often taken
The word brightwork usually means exterior varnished wood these days but, in fact, it defines all metal objects on a boat that are kept bright by polishing. It also includes wood that is either left untreated or is oiled or varnished but not painted.Fortunately, few small pleasure boats have metal objects on deck that need regular polishing, although stainless steel stanchions and pulpits usually benefit from a yearly polish to remove brown salt stains. Bronze cleats and port-surrounds develop a patina that most boaters regard as pleasing, and aluminum spars are never polished anyway.That leaves wood, which is always a problem. Boatbuilders use teak for exterior trim, decks, coamings, caprails, hatchboards, and so on because its natural oils resist rot. Teak looks shipshape even when it’s not maintained at all. It mostly turns an attractive silvery gray, except in polluted regions, where it soon turns a murky brown. When teak is oiled or varnished, the effect is magnificent. Thus, few boaters can bring themselves to paint teak, which is really the only sensible thing to do with it.Untreated teak needs to be

Choosing the FinishThere are countless variations on the varnish and oil themes, and an ideal “finish program” can be formulated only when one understands not just what is in the can, but how the contents of that can relate to the wood being finished.

• Varnish brings out the beauty in wood and is the strongest protector of all the bright finishes. Beauty arrives by the third coat, but protection does not come into play until after the eighth. Eight to ten coats of varnish provide the best finish foundation for follow-up varnish management.

• A true oil finish also brings out the beauty in wood but affords exterior wood little if not completely transient protection. Oil finishes require the same amount of prep labor as varnish, then disappear in a matter of months without constant (read: monthly!) refresher coats. I have another name for “oil finish” on exteriors. It is “full-time job”.

• A “sealer” is not a finish. It is a thin, solvent-intense formula meant only to deliver a “seal” to the deepest reaches of the wood’s grain, in preparation for a subsequent application of an oil or varnish. That seal will last fully intact about a week when exposed to the weather.

• Bare wood is the “no-finish” finish option. It looks easy, but it demands initial prep similar to that given wood slated for a finish: properly bleached and sanded, and faithful, appropriate cleaning to forestall mildew. The decision to leave wood bare first requires that it be a wood that can survive without a finish. Teak, with its natural storehouse of oils, is an ideal “bare wood.” So is iron-wood. Mahogany fares best—and shows off its most beautiful self—with varnish protection. Veneer of any kind should never be left bare.

— Rebecca J. Wittman, in The Brightwork Companionscrubbed regularly, preferably with salt water, and bleached occasionally. Oiled teak calls for frequent attention and also needs to be scrubbed down periodically to bare wood. Varnished teak demands considerable attention and many protective coats.It’s the sun that makes varnish deteriorate, of course, so exterior varnish is loaded with filters that trap the damaging ultraviolet rays. However, it’s still necessary to give most varnish a rubdown every few months and apply another coat or two.The more solids there are in the varnish, the better the wood will be protected from the sun. But some longer-lasting wood finishes are so loaded with filters that they take on an orange or brown hue that begins to look like paint.There is still nothing that emphasizes the natural beauty of teak more than multiple coats of deep, glossy, clear varnish. Thus, despite the drudgery, some boaters continue to apply it . . . and apply it . . . and apply it.See also Teak Finishes; Varnishing; Varnishing Details

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