Avoiding edge build up when varnishing drawer fronts.

[John Brown]

I recently made some drawer fronts out of beech. I had hoped to use Osmo Top Oil to finish them, as I had some already, but I was also trying to colour match with existing units, and the Osmo didn't darken the wood as much as I'd hoped.

So I bought some Ronseal "Beech" varnish. Too red. Finally bought some Ronseal "Antique Pine". Now I have a great colour match(for now, who knows what will happen as the wood ages...).

Anyway, this is all beside the point really. My question is this, and is probably an extremely basic and stupid question, but when brushing this stuff on, how can I avoid getting a build up of varnish on the edges?

I only really care about the visible front faces, but obviously want to coat the edges and the insides as well, but if I brush the faces from the edge to edge, I'm left with a build up on the side edges.

It's probably my brushing technique, should I be starting at an edge, and brushing to the other edge, staqrting at an edge and brushing to the middle, starting at the middle and brushing to the edges(this one causes landing marks in the middle). Or should I simply have applied with a cloth?

It's too late now for this job, as I've put it all to bed, but I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong for next time.

Incidentally, the unit I'm endeavouring to match with here is made by Ikea, and the drawer fronts are veneered chipboard(although up until I got half way through this project I would have sworn they were solid wood, and we've had these for 8 years. The edge banding is very well done).
The irony of trying to hand make stuff that matches Ikea is not lost on me, although it is the Varde range, which is probably the Rolls Royce of Ikea kitchen stuff.

 

[ED65]

You can prevent this with good brushing technique, one of the key tips being not to brush onto an edge but always in the opposite direction. So instead you start each stroke close to an edge, say a hand width away, brush the whole way across and off the trailing edge, lifting the brush away like a plane taking off. Then you go back to the start, brush outwards from the start of the stroke. Finish by 'tipping off' in the direction of the grain.

There are some other ways of dealing with this if applying by brush, including a two-brush technique where the second brush is ready to help brush out heavier buildups.

Or you could avoid the hassle, and save all the time and effort of brush cleaning, if you take to using a wiping application instead of brushing. Wiping on solves this and just about every other application defect, including completely preventing runs and sags and greatly reduces the problem of dust nibs when applying the varnish in a less-than-ideal setting as most of us are forced to.

 

[John Brown]

OK. I'll try wiping next time. Thanks.

 

[will1983]

If you are getting landing marks in your varnish try thinning the varnish a bit, I usually do this when varnishing anything as I find it a lot easier to get a consistent thin coat.

An alternative to straight forward thinning is to use a paint conditioning additive like Owatrol. This usually has the same effect without reducing the film thickness but can be a little pricy if you have a lot to do.