Re finishing the tiller

[BALANCE]

When I got my boat, the tiller was delamintating. I brought it down to bare wood, did some filling with resin and some filler and then varnished it. I always intended to make a sleeve for it but I never did.

Now I have to do it again.

I've often heard and read about how some people in this scenario might cover the entire tiller in epoxy resin and then varnish. How exactly does that work. How does the wood take on the color of the varnish. I'm guessing that the resin coating would eliminate any future delamination?

[Quetzalsailor]

Coating a wood surface with epoxy does a number of good things: the coating is quite proof against water intrusion so that the underlying wood is more stable in size; the coating makes a good base for varnish. And, of course, a number of bad things: the epoxy must be protected against UV, that is, with varnish; the inevitable refinishing or repair is more difficult since it's hard to achieve perfection in the thickness of the two different coatings. One neutral thing is the color shift: essentially no effect.

If you have failed or failing laminations, a useful repair would be to bed a lightweight layer of 'glass into the epoxy. It won't show very much, particularly if you're meticulous about wrinkles and laps. Butt the 'glass on the bottom so that it crosses and reinforces the laminated joints. The 'glass also makes the coating a bit more resistant to dings, but with the trade-off of more difficult repair.