[Public-List] varnish

[Jonathan Adams]

My serious thought is that any more than three beers and the quality goes down. You can keep the cigars though!!

People keep complaining about the work - I have three kids 10 and under. For me it is a holiday. I get out to the mooring with my three beers - about 1.5 beers for the sanding; 1 beer for the varnish, and the balance (ok sometime there might be a fourth beer in the box) watching the sun go down in SILENCE!

I use Bristol Finish. I like it, it seems to hold up well, and yes - it stinks. I also generally keep a boom tent over most of the varnish, which makes a huge difference.

I have not tried putting the epoxy under it. Does that allow for the wood to breath enough? traditional varnish actually breathes a bit, and this was one of the gripes about the Bristol Finish type varnishes - that it eventually some water got under it, and caused blistering. When I spoke to the Bristol folks about 2 years ago, they indicated that they had solved this problem somehow. 

Jonathan
197

----- Original Message ----
From: "FINNUS505 at aol.com" <FINNUS505 at aol.com>
To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org
Sent: Sunday, May 4, 2008 9:18:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] varnish

I saw the post on varnish, and just wanted to share my recent  experience.
 
After about 4 years, I had to re-do some of my hatches, and I wanted  to try 
a system which I had read about. It calls for sealing the wood in epoxy,  and 
then varnishing over the epoxy to protect the epoxy from UV.
 
I chose MAS epoxy over West, because there is no 'Amine Blush' to deal with  
with the MAS, so you don't have to scrub off the wax after the epoxy cures  
before coating with the varnish. A light rubbing with ScotchBrite is sufficient  
to give the epoxy finish a 'tooth' for the varnish.
 
The MAS protocol calls for the first coat of epoxy to be the Flag resin,  
with slow hardener, the entire mix then thinned 5% with denatured alcohol. The  
last promotes good absorbtion into the wood.
 
Two more coats of MAS, these with medium hardener, unthinned, and that part  
of the program is done. You don't have to sand between coats if you put on the 
 next coat before the previous coat has completely hardened.
 
If you are going for 'plate glass finish', then, obviously, more sanding is  
desired. I don't.
 
Choice of varnish is personal. Last season, I tried the Bristol Fashion. It  
is pricy, and it smells bad, but I wear an organic vapor mask anyway. It stood 
 up 'real good'. :) I put three coats on. I figured, with the wood sealed by 
the  epoxy, fewer coats would do, and it seems to have worked out. The Bristol 
 Fashion goes on thinner than conventional varnish, so a quart goes farther. 
If  it lasts multiple seasons without having  to sand and recoat, then the  
price will equal out. We'll see.:)
 
Varnished wood is pretty, isn't it? :)
 
Have a great season,
Lee
Stargazer #255



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