Deck caulking

I know these permanent markers vary a lot and are convenient to use.
My experience (labels on storage boxes etc) is they can fade, some completely, even when cupboards. 'Pentel Pens' are the best I've used; where used they are just as bright 30 years on. The 'Sharpie's' fade very quickly in any kind of light.
 
PatrickS said:
When planking the deck I run a brown or black Sharpie marker along the edges rather than painting.
I find it much quicker and have never had a problem with staining or adding poly to seal.
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Hello Pat, Your post is rather a statement than a question, and posted in the help area, Do you need help with caulking suggestion or?
 
For caulking I use black cotton thread laid between the planks. Effective, doesn't fade, gives a subtle texture when sealed in with matt varnish. Sometimes a little fiddly for the butt plank joins, but great result.
 
I also use a pencil for caulking. Sharpie to my eyes is to pronounced for such a small scale. I find the pencil is also a bit pronounced but is the lesser of the two evils. I can also control to some extent the amount of darkening on the edge I want.
 
epicdoom said:
I also use a pencil for caulking. Sharpie to my eyes is to pronounced for such a small scale. I find the pencil is also a bit pronounced but is the lesser of the two evils. I can also control to some extent the amount of darkening on the edge I want.
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I think that with the soft artists black pencil you can vary how much graphite is embedded in the wood grain by controlling the amount of pressure that is used as well as the number of repeated rubbings over the same edge area. Just some thoughts for consideration and trial. Art stores are the shopping place as they have ranges of pencils and willingly will usually let you try some out before purchasing. Rich (PT-2)
 
I actually have a set of artist shading pencils never thought to use them Next build I will try them. I do pretty well with a carpenters pencil sharpened to a good point but getting consistency is tuff takes a bit of work.
 
Deck caulking designs/materials varied/varies dramatically. The French frigate L'Hermione' (that visited the US 5 years ago) , a recent reproduction full sized vessel, has caulking (Stovkholm tar) that looks like it was applied with a very fuzzy foot wide cotton mop. The new caulk job (along with redeck job) on the Star of India in San Diego (new being 4 years ago) looks like it was applied with a paint caulk gun (very neat). Caulking was meant to keep water out, not to impress the enemy who is trying to kill you. In general, I think you can apply the rule, "if you like it, so be it"! I also think this was probably the rule 250 years ago; at least for those who lived to tell about such things. I have no recall of ever reading about any Captain being promoted, (say, after he lost his ship) because he had the neatest caulk job in the fleet. Results counted (ask Admiral Byng), aesthetics "be damned".
 
bill36 said:
Deck caulking designs/materials varied/varies dramatically. The French frigate L'Hermione' (that visited the US 5 years ago) , a recent reproduction full sized vessel, has caulking (Stovkholm tar) that looks like it was applied with a very fuzzy foot wide cotton mop. The new caulk job (along with redeck job) on the Star of India in San Diego (new being 4 years ago) looks like it was applied with a paint caulk gun (very neat). Caulking was meant to keep water out, not to impress the enemy who is trying to kill you. In general, I think you can apply the rule, "if you like it, so be it"! I also think this was probably the rule 250 years ago; at least for those who lived to tell about such things. I have no recall of ever reading about any Captain being promoted, (say, after he lost his ship) because he had the neatest caulk job in the fleet. Results counted (ask Admiral Byng), aesthetics "be damned". I realize no ship is withing flaws in the caulking
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bill36 said:
Deck caulking designs/materials varied/varies dramatically. The French frigate L'Hermione' (that visited the US 5 years ago) , a recent reproduction full sized vessel, has caulking (Stovkholm tar) that looks like it was applied with a very fuzzy foot wide cotton mop. The new caulk job (along with redeck job) on the Star of India in San Diego (new being 4 years ago) looks like it was applied with a paint caulk gun (very neat). Caulking was meant to keep water out, not to impress the enemy who is trying to kill you. In general, I think you can apply the rule, "if you like it, so be it"! I also think this was probably the rule 250 years ago; at least for those who lived to tell about such things. I have no recall of ever reading about any Captain being promoted, (say, after he lost his ship) because he had the neatest caulk job in the fleet. Results counted (ask Admiral Byng), aesthetics "be damned".
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I agree no ship would have had perfect caulking joints. For me though I don't want my build to have wavy caulk lines or visible caulk between some planks and not others or even half a plank caulked. I do my best to keep things uniform because it's far more pleasing to the eye.
 
bill36 said:
Deck caulking designs/materials varied/varies dramatically. The French frigate L'Hermione' (that visited the US 5 years ago) , a recent reproduction full sized vessel, has caulking (Stovkholm tar) that looks like it was applied with a very fuzzy foot wide cotton mop. The new caulk job (along with redeck job) on the Star of India in San Diego (new being 4 years ago) looks like it was applied with a paint caulk gun (very neat). Caulking was meant to keep water out, not to impress the enemy who is trying to kill you. In general, I think you can apply the rule, "if you like it, so be it"! I also think this was probably the rule 250 years ago; at least for those who lived to tell about such things. I have no recall of ever reading about any Captain being promoted, (say, after he lost his ship) because he had the neatest caulk job in the fleet. Results counted (ask Admiral Byng), aesthetics "be damned".
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From what I have been informed by WmRussell who is a walking encyclopedia on the Ships of War during the Napolionic era, if an English captain or any crew lost or had damaged any of the equipment aboard or the ship itself, as it was the Kings property, they would have to pay the cost of the loss back to the King. That is not to say that the captain or admiral could or would choose the colors of their own choice at any particular time or place. Happy coloration!!!! Rich (PT-2)
 
Hi y’all. I cut the planks to size the bundle 10 or so together and hold with a few small clamps. A light sanding followed by a thin layer of yellow glue. Then set the bundle down on a strip of black Pantene paper, remove the clamps and hold the bundle down for a minute.
After a few minutes I take a single edge industrial blade ( excel) and slice each strip away from the bundle. The result is a plank with a black edge. Pantene paper comes in a large sheet and is water proof.
A little scrapping with a sharp blade or piece o glass after the deck is laid and a fine result.
I’m not sure if this paper still exists as mine is 35 years old. One sheet will probably build 50 decks so I should be ok for a while
Hope this helps
Bill
 
Further to caulking with Pantene paper it’s actually Pantone paper that I bought at an art supply store
 
Billkent said:
Hi y’all. I cut the planks to size the bundle 10 or so together and hold with a few small clamps. A light sanding followed by a thin layer of yellow glue. Then set the bundle down on a strip of black Pantene paper, remove the clamps and hold the bundle down for a minute.
After a few minutes I take a single edge industrial blade ( excel) and slice each strip away from the bundle. The result is a plank with a black edge. Pantene paper comes in a large sheet and is water proof.
A little scrapping with a sharp blade or piece o glass after the deck is laid and a fine result.
I’m not sure if this paper still exists as mine is 35 years old. One sheet will probably build 50 decks so I should be ok for a while
Hope this helps
Bill
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The paper should give a more uniform presentation than my use of a very soft graphite artists pencil which I rub onto both edges of each plank. That should average out any irregularities in how much graphite/darkness is along any portion of the plank but may interfere with glue absorption which I have encountered in somewhat more loose/floating deck planks with POB and about 3 inch spaces between those. I think that your paper is more adhesive friendly than using black plastic which I saw in SoS a few months ago. I may try it in the future. Thanks, Rich (PT-2)
 
decking and caulking is a matter of personal taste. for me i do not like the look of stark white decks with black stripes. like this

image003.jpg

decks in reality are not snow white they are gray or shades of tan and grayish browns and the caulking is not clean sharp black lines.

image007.jpg

after trying every idea from black paper to paint i came up with this idea.
i brought simple crayons to the job.

crayons.jpg

i take my deck planks which in this case is natural pearwood clamp them together and color the edges. At this stage it looks as ugly as sin with crayon all over the planks. i have warmed up the crayon just a little before i coated the edges of the planks.


caulked planksa.jpg

then i go ahead and lay the deck, really ugly isn't it! you would never think this would look nice

planking unfinished3.jpg

i made a scraper from a broken razor blade and scrape the deck


scrapinga.jpg

and here is the deck after i scraped off the excess crayon. What happens is the wax has a slight stickiness to it and because it is soft it works down between the planks, filling in any tiny gaps.

final scraping.jpg


getting down really close

very closea.jpg

this is as realistic as i got to caulking a deck like the image below caulking is not even sharp black lines they fade in and out and in some cases the caulk lines almost blend into the planked deck.

like i said there are different strokes for different folks, some like stark white decks with sharp black lines, some like it more realistic, others just don't care one way or another.

P5300033.JPG
 
Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) said:
decking and caulking is a matter of personal taste. for me i do not like the look of stark white decks with black stripes. like this

View attachment 198532

decks in reality are not snow white they are gray or shades of tan and grayish browns and the caulking is not clean sharp black lines.

View attachment 198533

after trying every idea from black paper to paint i came up with this idea.
i brought simple crayons to the job.

View attachment 198534

i take my deck planks which in this case is natural pearwood clamp them together and color the edges. At this stage it looks as ugly as sin with crayon all over the planks. i have warmed up the crayon just a little before i coated the edges of the planks.


View attachment 198535

then i go ahead and lay the deck, really ugly isn't it! you would never think this would look nice

View attachment 198536

i made a scraper from a broken razor blade and scrape the deck


View attachment 198537

and here is the deck after i scraped off the excess crayon. What happens is the wax has a slight stickiness to it and because it is soft it works down between the planks, filling in any tiny gaps.

View attachment 198538


getting down really close

View attachment 198539

this is as realistic as i got to caulking a deck like the image below caulking is not even sharp black lines they fade in and out and in some cases the caulk lines almost blend into the planked deck.

like i said there are different strokes for different folks, some like stark white decks with sharp black lines, some like it more realistic, others just don't care one way or another.

View attachment 198540
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Very Nice and the caulking isn't bold, exactly as it should be at the scale we build. I will try this method. Thanx Dave
 
Nowhere do you see more variation than in how decks are handled. Do what you like...it’s your model!

I’ve used boxwood and holly for decking and acrylic paint pens to color the plank edges for caulking. I’m going to try hornbeam for my next deck. It has a grayish cast to it. We’ll see!
 
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