Red Lead

 

One of the great things about old boat shops is the smell. As soon as you walk through the door, the floorboards creak and you get hit by that smell of pine tar and varnish. OK so maybe I am romanticizing just a bit and those kind of boat shops are few and far between now and you are most likely to get hit by the smell of styrene of the latest Sundecker 42 being built as you walk through the door of an industrial unit that just happens to make boats. But the fact remains that there are boat builders out there that continue to use traditional materials. There are good reasons for this; on a traditional wooden boat the whole structure continues to move and 'work' as it travels through the water. Modern materials such as epoxy, fiberglass and two part paints are marvelous materials but they do not hold up when applied to something like a lapstrake or carvel cruiser. What is needed is something better suited to the substrate that can expand and contract with the changing seasons and the natural movement of the boat.

Years ago when I started building boats all the frames, planking lands and just about everything else that was sure to get wet was liberally coated with red lead paint. This coating was and still is the best defense against the ravishes of time and weather and for all those areas that would be impossible to gain access to once the boat was constructed. Environmental and other concerns have made many of these old time paints and compounds hard to come by but they are available I am happy to report from Kirby paints in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Red lead primer at $225 a gallon is far from cheap but the chances are that in many cases it will only be applied once after which it will be left to do it's job for years to come. Red lead can be used for all sorts of things, of course you need to be aware of the health hazards but it is unsurpassed for protection and as an undercoater on both wood and metal. It is perfect for steel keels and centerboards and the timbers in the bilge.

I need to add that I am not being paid to write this I am just enthusiastic about the products which come from a small firm that has been in the same family for the last 150 years or so and is today I understand run by George Kirby the forth. In addition to the red lead they make white lead paste and traditional boat enamels. Their website is basic by many standards but they do publish prices and have an on-line color chart so  you can see what they do offer. You can buy direct or you can order their products from Jamestown Distributors  who seem to be about the only other stockist of their products.

Comments

[Bill Parks]

You just had to mention the smell of old boat shops! Growing up in the fifties I spent a lot of time playing in my families marine store. I loved the smell. It was some time before I realized that the smell was from the pine tar in the oakum we sold. I've often thought of putting oakum in the air conditioner ducts of our current store. We sold bags of red lead powder that I think you mixed with linseed oil to use as a primer.

[Jennifer Edwards]

When i was young my father taught me the wooden boat building trade. We always used red lead paint for anything metal in the bilges. The effects of the lead on my brain was probably i was crazy enough to follow in his footsteps.

Now at 66 years old and long retired from the trade i was seeking a source of the stuff for my personal sailboat project. To read about the sound# and smells of the old school boat shop bought back a flood memories from my youth.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Jenny