Which Varnish for small projects?

[Nige52]

I am about to delve into the making of traditional fishing floats and other small projects over the winter I have heard so many conflicting reports on the various lacquers, varnishes etc that my head's spinning reading them. I'm looking for....
An odourless high gloss, quick drying, crystal clear varnish that comes in smallish pots, as the amount I will be using will be small.

Some people say Yacht Varnish, others say yacht varnish yellows with age, some say don't use this, don't use that.....I will be turning the bodies on my wood lathe and possibly the stems too all out of various materials and none of the woodturning finishes will do, it has to be a clear high gloss product...any pointers to my perfect finish? :shock: :mrgreen:

 

[deema]

Well if your dunking it in water, yacht varnish would be my preferred route. True, after a few seasons in the glaring sun yacht varnish does take on a yellow tinge which is the 'traditional' look of a varnished craft. However, for a fishing float that won't spend that length of time in the sun, I don't think you need to be concerned. It's the only varnish I'm aware of that's happy to live submersed in water for any length of time.

 

[beganasatree]

+1 for yacht varnish,that is what I used years and years ago.

Peter

 

[custard]

There is no perfect varnish. If there was it would be the only version available as everyone would have abandoned all the hundreds of "compromise" variants that exist today!

Off the top of my head,

-if you want crystal clear you need a water based finish, any oil based finish will always impart an amber tinge, some light, others heavy, but none of them are "water white". If I'm finishing Sycamore or Ash furniture and want to prevent it looking as if a cat has peed on it then I'll generally use a water borne finish and accept the other shortcomings that brings.
-if you want a finish that will withstand sunlight (or need a touch up coat in a year's time) then be a bit suspicious about polyurethane which is vulnerable to sunlight and struggles to bond to to itself once it's fully cured.
-Yacht varnish, or Spar varnish, is nothing special, it's certainly not the hardest; it's just formulated to have loads of UV inhibitors in it and to readily accept touch up coats even years after the first application. It may also be more flexible to accommodate timber movement in a marine environment (at the cost of being even less hard), and some variants will offer quicker drying for late autumn or early spring application in northern latitudes (others will be slower drying for application in the tropics).
-if it's hardness you need (to withstand your floats being dragged through abrasive reeds or being cast onto rocks) then the obvious choice is a two pack varnish.
-you might think that Flooring varnish would be the toughest, but it's not, Flooring varnish is primarily designed to be less slippery underfoot.
-high gloss isn't a difficult thing to achieve, manufactures actually have to add ingredients to achieve anything other than high gloss! In fact you'll get a gloss finish from a matt varnish unless you stir it properly before application as all the "dulling" or "flatting" agents will have settled to the bottom of the can.

The moral of the story is that when choosing varnish, or any finish, think hard about what's really important for that particular job. Don't produce a long list of vaguely desirable attributes because you'll never fulfil them all, just identify the one thing you most want, and then find a finish that truly delivers against that objective. It's a difficult call, as no finish will give you everything you want, the best you can hope for is to get the one thing that's at the very top of your list.

Good luck!

 

[Nige52]

Thank you for all the help and advice,
I think I've found what I'm looking for....Acrylic Lacquer. It seems to fulfill most of the needs required and as it's water based, the fumes won't give me a high on the kitchen table :mrgreen:
Nige

 

[DennisCA]

I've been reading up on finishes for outdoor furniture and what I come to was Phenolic resin based spar varnish is the best, better than poly based. The product in particular I went with is Epifanes. It is thick and expensive.

I diluted mine with mineral spirits (50/50) so I can apply with a rag rather than brush, and will use it on my first project soon. So my recommendation should be taken with some salt, it's merely the aggregate of opinions I've found online that I based my purchase on. A lot of people seemed happy with it.

It was said it yellows a lot, but is very UV resistant.