Interior stain

curriernh · **Joined:** 14 Jul 2011 07:14 **Posts:** 60

I read somewhere on this board the interior stain that matches the T37-2 but darned if I can find it again. Does anyone know the best match?

Thanks,
Tom Currier
s/v Dulcinea
1983 T37-2 k/cb

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Tom,
I believe the interior finish was Watco Danish oil, or similar and I would guess that they used the neutral color. I know that Tartan did not stain the teak.....when I sanded all of my interior down, there was no indication of any stain. I finished off my interior with a clear, gloss varnish that really brightened the interior and made the whole boat look like a brand-new boat! The effect was nothing short of amazing....makes for a nice winter project!

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

I've found on my T-37 and T-30 that the interior wood appears to be stained a reddish hue. I don't know if this is actually stain or a combination of Watco Teak Finish and exposure to sunlight but it is quite uniform throughout my boat. I recently added some cabinetry to my boat and had a difficult time matching the wood color. I used a combination of Minwax stains (Ipswitch pine and very red stain I don't remember color of). If you just want to keep up the finish of the wood then Watco Teak Finish is what you want. If you are trying to color match then you're going to have to mix and match to find a suitable stain. Here is a picture during my last project and you can see the difference in the wood color below the shelf where the fiddle was removed.

curriernh · **Joined:** 14 Jul 2011 07:14 **Posts:** 60

Howard Restor-A-Finish Mahogany is a damn close match. I'm waiting for it to dry out but so far, it looks pretty much like an exact match to the current finish.

http://www.howardproducts.com/restora.htm

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

So are you applying the Howard's on bare wood or restoring the finish of the pre-oiled teak? I used this product on some wood at home with good results but the left over is the wrong color for the teak on the boat.

curriernh · **Joined:** 14 Jul 2011 07:14 **Posts:** 60

I've tried it on both. I stripped down the companionway stairs (not the side rails) and stained them and it matched the rails close enough so you can't really see any difference. I lightly scuffed/sanded the the engine cover behind the stairs and used Howards and that came out very well too.

I won't be able to tell for sure until I bring those pieces back to the boat but in my garage, it looks nearly perfect to me.

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

Well that would sure be easier than mixing stains and trying to get a match. Thanks for doing the "research".

chepakatov · **Joined:** 28 Sep 2015 23:39 **Posts:** 11

I've read conflicting things on the interior stain. The original owners manual mentions a combination of teak interior surfaces and 'cherry', and from what I can see of the Howard restor-a finish cherry colour online, this looks like it might be a fair match. But in the Tartan 37 'a history and celebration' published book, they mention the interiors are 'Mozambique veneer'....?

Many years ago I played around with some stain-colours on a piece of marineply to try to match. The stain was an Australian brand (https://www.feastwatson.com.au/products ... /prooftint), so probably not available across the pond. But I found, rather than directly mixing, an undercoat/s of 'golden teak' followed by a top wash of 'maple' (it's important not to simply mix the stains) worked really well to bring out a depth of colour that matched the cabin-- the yellow in the undercoat glowed through the top wash of red. I experimented with different numbers of coats of each layer to find the best match, but can't recall now how many coats of each worked best... Maybe two 'golden cedar' with one 'maple'?

Zoombats · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2019 08:52 **Posts:** 106

I am presently attending to my neglected interior. Mine has been neglected for many years with obvious staining from water egress in various spots. I have done a lot of refinishing in my past and fully expected a nightmare. I thought I would have to bleach to a neutral colour and then usen stain. I did just use Starbright teak cleaner after using a scotch bright pad and washed the teak cleaner off with a damp rag and applied starbrite teak oil and it worked great sometimes with a second coat of oil. The white stains took the oil very well and darkened down to a comparable finish. I might try Epiphane teak stain on the lighter spots to see if it is a good result. I think the technique will be further enhanced with a little oiling every so often which is not a horrible task in the scheme of things. hull #337

Tartan37.com

Interior stain

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