Varnish Question

[Rodger]

One more tip

One more thing that I picked up here. Drop your foam brush in the container and let it fill up with varnish before you start. that will keep a lot of bubbles from forming. I still think that you need to thin. You have been working out of an open can, and it's the middle of winter. what you are using is going to be thicker than you want. Try the glass test, stand up a clean piece of glass. Pore a bit of your varnish into a container. fill a foam brush and brush it on one side of the glass. Next thin the varnish about 10% and brush it on the other side of the glass. Let is sit for and hour. This will tell you two things. one, should you thin or not. Second, does your can have a bunch of crud in it.

 

[CalebD]

Hola, Morrie

I have a book on bright work by Rebecca Wittman and boy is it detailed in the origins and application of varnish. And boy, is it detailed in scope down to the brush and how to stroke the brush. She makes her money doing professional varnish jobs so I guess she has to be a kind of varnish nazi. I guess that I am growing tired of the umpteen coats that are recommended and about ready to try Bristol Finish or Honey Teak. I never seem to find the time for the 'desired' number of coats as I want to go sailing at some point, which probably explains why my varnish jobs do not last as long as they otherwise might.Edit to add: get the varnish strainers (they are cheap insurance) and follow most of the advice given here and you should be ok.

 

[Morrie]

Caleb - Honey Teak

Yeah, Rebecca Wittman really gets into it. I used a lot of her advice on interior varnishing, where 5 coats will last a long time with no sun damage. I like her stuff on prep work. In my experience she's right about "the more prep work you do the better your finish will be." I'm now using a lot of her prep advice on exterior brightwork but I'm thinking I'm going to try Honey Teak just for the longevity. Anyone out there used Honey Teak? It looks real nice in the pictures, but . . .

 

[RichH]

Morrie ....

Fake varnish, etc. including Honey Teak Bristol, etc. discussionhttp://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/pviewall.tpl?uid=73235649959&rid=2008011212008.65&sku=2008011181234.79&forumabr=as&fno=441

 

[CalebD]

I guess that should have been: "Aloha Morrie"

And yes, I would agree that for the cabin the techniques outlined in Rebecca Wittman work great there. I do not feel that exterior teak that is varnished makes out so well.I am currently channeling advice from a RichH who posts here and the cruiser's forum as well as possibly sailnet dot calm, although I read Practical Sailor and note their review on similar products. I like the traditional look of varnish on the interior and will gladly keep up with this as it does not get the direct sunshine that the deck work does.

 

[Morrie]

Rich - Thanks for the link

Yep - I'm sold too. I'm going to go with Honey Teak on the outside and we'll see how long my Epifanes lasts on the inside. I sure like the looks of it.