"Honey" is an award-winning 32' 1952 Chris Craft that was rebuilt and finished by North Vancouver, BC, Canada refinisher Joe Kolbus. Joe finished Honey with TufShield™ Base Coat and Top Coat Satin.

Honey's owner Phil Hall was kind enough to allow us to take pictures of Honey and to display the results. Phil is a big wooden boat enthusiast and is a big fan of TufShield™.












To the left is shot of Honey's stern finished with TufShield™.

















Here is a starboard shot of Honey while being moored.
















To the left is a shot of Honey's stern which shows the deck, door, frame and windows which have all been finished with TufShield™.














Here is a closer shot of the stern from inside the boat near the cabin entrance.



















This picture is from inside the cabin looking out at the stern.

















To the right is a closeup shot inside the cabin of the helm which has been finished with TufShield™.
















Here is a photo of Honey's bow taken from the dock.



















Here is a closeup shot detailing some of the awards that Honey has won over the year. This picture shows some of the awards won at the 2005 Sunshine Coat Wooden Boat Festival.


















Honey was immortalized during the 2007 Sunshine Coat Wooden Boat Festival when it was featured on the cover of their magazine.

Labels: chris craft, honey, tufshield

Native Brightworks of Seattle, WA is a company dedicated to high quality marine wood finishing and they love TufShield™. They are currently finishing a boat with TufShield™ and were kind enough to provide us with some photos of this project as its being completed.

Specifically, you'll see some closeup shots of the window trims and doors as they are being finished.

To the right, you'll see a side shot of the boat itself which is being finished with TufShield™ Base Coat and Top Coat Gloss.









Here is a photo of Paul who is the shop manager and finisher at Native Brightworks working on one of the window frames.





















To the right is another shot of a window frame being finished with TufShield™.























To the left is a closeup shot of an onboard window frame that has already been finished with TufShield™.



















To the right is a closeup shot of a smaller window that has already been finished with TufShield™.







As always, you can click on any picture to blow it up and view it in greater detail.

Labels: native brightworks, railing, tufshield, wooden doors

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of blogs related to a wooden home project in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™.

You can refer to the first blog entry regarding this project on January 9 to learn about the project background and to see some pictures of the untreated wood and the home itself as it's being built.

As mentioned in the first blog on this project back on January 9, we said that antique wood was used in the building of this home and in this blog, we're going to see some of the antique wood with the Base Coat already applied.

To the right, you'll see an example of an antique door being used in the new home that has been treated with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat.











To the left, you'll see a set of two antique front doors that have been treated with 4 coats of Base Coat.

In a future blog, we'll see what the doors look like after receiving the final 2 coats of Top Coat Satin to finish them off.

















To the right is another antique door after receiving 4 coats of Base Coat.

The home owners particularly liked the fact that while using TufShield™ would help protect the wood from the elements, it didn't take away from the antique look of the wood such as the antique door shown here.








As an FYI, the Base Coats were drying quite quickly, in around 30 minutes, due to the warm temperature they were being applied in. Drying times will vary based on drying conditions of course and the conditions in this instance were very favourable.

To increase the drying time if the Base Coat is drying too quickly, you can always use the TS Reducer thinner to increase the wet edge, as per instructions on the product labels.

For our next blog entry, we'll show wood on the home after being treated with TufShield™ Top Coat Satin.

Labels: antique, door, thailand, tufshield

This is the second in an ongoing series of blogs related to a wooden home project in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™. You can refer to the first blog entry regarding this project on January 9 to learn about the project background and to see some pictures of the untreated wood and the home itself as it's being built.

In this entry, we're going to see pictures of the wood being treated with a wood stain. As mentioned in the first blog, almost all of the wood in the project is being treated with a dark rub stain to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood.

TufShield™ Base Coat will then be applied over top of the stain once it has dried and TufShield™ Top Coat Satin will be applied as the finishing coat.

The first picture to the right shows the dark rub stain being applied to one of the doors.











Here is a doorframe that has been treated with the dark rub stain. Notice how dark the finish is compared with some of the untreated wood that we saw back in Thailand Wooden Home Project Blog #1 from January 9.



















Here is a closeup picture of a wooden doorframe that has been treated with the dark rub stain.





















Here is a picture of a teak window with the dark rub stain already applied.

In future posts, we'll see some of the teak windows after they've been finished with TufShield™ too.












Just to recap, the dark rub stain was applied to give the untreated wood a dark rich brown colour. TufShield™ products will then be applied over top of the rub stain to protect the wood. Since the house is located in Thailand, it will be subjected to a number of elements not the least of which will be the beating sun (UV rays) as well as rain (especially during the rainy season).

For our next blog entry, we'll show the wood being treated with TufShield™ Base Coat. The wood being treated is going to get 4 coats of Base Coat and then 2 coats of Top Coat Satin to finish it off so stay tuned for pictures of the ongoing progress.

Labels: rub stain, teak, thailand, tufshield, wood house, wooden home

This is the first in what will be a series of blogs regarding a wooden home being built in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™. In this entry, we’ll introduce you to the project, show some preliminary pictures of the home being built as well as some pictures of TufShield™ being applied.

Check back frequently as we’ll be adding more pictures and updates regularly as the home is being built and finished. In future blogs, we'll include pictures of TufShield™ being applied as well as pictures of the dark rub stain being applied to most of the wood (to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood) before TufShield™ is applied over top.

Needless to say, a wooden home built in a tropical climate like Thailand requires a wood finish that will protect against the elements, namely UV (Ultra Violet) light, humidity and rain among others.



In Thailand, day temperatures stay fairly consistent year-round between 28°C-34°C (82°F-93°F), but humidity drops from November to February and morning/evening temperatures can be between 15°C-20°C (59°F-68°F) during this time of year.

Most of the new wood being used in the project is teak, except for the floor which is made of maka. Maka is a rare wood that is considered more economical than teak and is known for its sturdiness and durability. The home also features old teak pillars on the outside which are on average between 30 - 80 years old.

The home also features a number of antique wood components all of which are also being treated with TufShield™. The antique doors are about 90 years old and the Base Coat was applied over top of not only the teak wood but also over all the iron fixtures to give added protection at the joints. It applied just fine over these areas and will no doubt protect against the weathering.















All exterior wood on the home is being protected with TufShield™ due to the extreme UV exposure, as well as rain (especially during the rainy season) and thus mildew/mold potential.

As mentioned above, almost all of the wood in the project is first treated with a dark rub stain and then treated with the Base Coat over top - to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood.

In terms of the TufShield™ application itself, the Base Coat was applied at various times during the day and drying time seemed to be fairly consistent around 30 minutes tops. This is quite fast but given the high temperature and warm conditions during the application this is not surprising. Some parts of the house will be shaded conditions so they won't be in direct sunlight but much of the house will have the sun's rays beating down regularly.

All exterior teak was treated with 4 Base Coats and 2 Top Coats ratio which is the standard recommended TufShield™ application.

Check back regularly as we’ll be adding new pictures of the project as it’s being completed. Our next update will show pictures of the dark rub being applied to the wood prior to being treated with TufShield™.

Description of pictures in order of appearance:

1. Scaffolding including untreated wood sunscreen
2. Untreated wood sunscreen
3. Untreated outdoor teak pole
4. Untreated indoor stairs and railings
5. Untreated outdoor teak doorframe

As always, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

Labels: thailand, tufshield, wooden home

One-page, double-sided color glossy brochures are now available for TufShield™ distributors as well as those interested to becoming distributors. Current distributors are using the brochures in a variety of ways including leaving the brochures in their stores for customers to take home with them while others are mailing the brochures to their customers with monthly statements to let them know TufShield™ is available in their store.

If you're interested to receive TufShield™ brochures for your business, please email your name, company name, mailing address and desired number of brochures to:

sales@tufshield.com

Labels: brochure, sales, tufshield

Back in 1980, TufShield's founder Jerry Fijalkowski had his classic wooden boat Gatsby - which of course was treated with TufShield™ - used in a major Hollywood movie called The Final Countdown, a film about a modern-day aircraft carrier on patrol near Hawaii that travels back in time to 1941 shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Gatsby was featured in one of the pivotal scenes of the film and you can see that famous scene by checking out the video below.

WARNING: this is a war movie so the particular scene below that shows the TufShield™-treated boat does contain violence.

Labels: final countdown, gatsby, hollywood, movie, tufshield

TufShield™ products are once again shipping after a 2+ year absense from the market! For an interesting history on the TufShield™ line of products and late founder Jerry Fijalkowski, please click on the picture of Jerry at the bottom of our homepage.

To find a TufShield™ distributor near you, hover your mouse over the Distribution tab on the TufShield.com homepage and select Find A Distributor to search by Zip Code or Postal Code.

You can also select Order By Phone also under the Distribution tab to find distributors who will take phone orders and can ship products to you by courier.

For more information on where to purchase TufShield™ products or how to become a TufShield™ distributor, please send an email to sales@tufshield.com and we'll be happy to point you in the right direction.

Labels: buy, purchase, shipping, tufshield

This past weekend, I took some 4-year old patio furniture that I leave outdoors all winter and coated it with TufShield™. In the past, I had used linseed oil on the furniture every spring but by the following spring, the sun and winter elements had turned the wood back to an old-looking, dingy and weathered mess. This time around, I decided to use TufShield™ on the furniture instead. Check out the "before TufShield™" chair on the left hand side of the picture and the "after TufShield™" chair on the right side of the photo to see what transpired.

On Friday, I cleaned off the furniture and wiped in down to ensure there was no dirt on the surface. As per the label instructions, I used a 2:1 Base Coat to TS Reducer solution and applied the first coat using a polyester nylon brush that I bought at Home Depot. It was an overcast day and the temperature was only around 13 degrees so the drying conditions were not ideal. Still, I figured it would be a good test to see what would happen! The first coat dried in about an hour so I applied the second coat shortly thereafter. It started raining so I decided to finish up for the day and continue my work on the following day. On Saturday morning, the weather had cleared up and the temperature was up to around 17 degrees, with a nice breeze and sun. I added the first top coat using a can of Top Coat Satin, again using a (new) polyester nylon brush. The first coat dried quite quickly as the drying conditions were pretty good so I added the second coat and waited for it to dry.

Here is a closeup picture of one of the chairs "after TufShield™" so you can see the result.

A few things that I noticed during the application process that you might find helpful:

1. Ensure that your Base Coat and TS Reducer solution is well-stirred before applying it. As per the label instructions, don't use the Base Coat directly out of the can. I used a spare empty can that I had but you might use a pre-tested can or container to combine the Base Coat and TS Reducer in the recommended ratio. Again, ensure the mixture is well-stirred before using. Properly close the Top Coat can and TS Reducer can once you've extracted the required amounts. The Base Coat is especially susceptible to moisture so close the can as soon as you have used it!

2. Always stir the Top Coat before using it. The Top Coat Satin in particular has ingredients that will settle over time so it's especially important to stir the can before extracting the required amount that you're planning on using. I stirred my can of Top Coat Satin and did notice some settling but the stirring quickly rectified the situation.

3. Remember that the curing time (ie. drying time) of the Base Coat and the Top Coat is a function of time and temperature. In other words, your weather conditions will greatly effect how long it takes for each coat to dry.

4. Preparation is very important. Remember to ensure your wood is clean and is properly prepared as per the TufShield™ label instructions depending on the conditions of the wood before applying TufShield™ products.

Labels: application, furniture, tufshield, wood finish

Welcome to The TufShield™ Blog which is dedicated to TufShield™, The Ultimate Clear Wood Finish. TufShield™ has been well known in the marine and architectural industries since 1979 and after a recent period of unavailability, we're happy to report that the TufShield™ line of wood finishing products are once again available.

On this website, you'll learn about what makes TufShield™ the best choice for your wood finishing needs whether interior or exterior; marine, architectural or furniture; professional or do-it-your-selfer.

You can view colour versions of all product labels and check out product tips and handy hints. Hover your mouse over the Products tab at the top of the page to view more information about the products including labels and MSDSs.

Our Find A Distributor feature will show you where you can purchase the TufShield™ line of products in your local area. Look in the Distribution tab for the Find A Distributor feature and search by Zip Code or Postal Code for a distributor near you.

If you're interested in becoming an approved TufShield™ distributor, hover your mouse over the Distribution tab and then select Become A Distributor to find out how you can apply.

The TufShield™ Blog will constantly update you on everything related to TufShield™ so you'll always be in the know. Please be sure to visit this site often and thanks again for visiting.

 

 

 

 

Labels: blog, find a distributor, instructions, labels, msds, tufshield