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I have used equal parts Boiled linseed oil,turpentine or mineral spirits and spar varnish with good results.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
I started using spar varnish about 30 years ago, after getting to know many of the top professional stockmakers in the business and finding they used it almost universally. They were also kind enough to explain why, and the reasons are the same you just listed, with a couple of other minor details.
Chic worthing used Tru Oil last I knew as did Jack Belk. Dennis Olsen of Plains MT used Varathane for years. All are better than just good at stock work.

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So gnoahhh and Mule Deer, an inquiring mind wants to know what is the best spar varnish? Or are they the same?


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IMO, the "best bang for the buck" is Helmsman Spar Urethane. Pretty commonly found in hardware/big box stores. Use the Gloss- better UV protection than semi-gloss- and besides, you'll likely be rubbing it out in the end anyway. Rub the gloss out so it's dull, then use paste wax to bring back a pleasing luster.

If you want the very best, spring for a can of Epifanes spar varnish. Be prepared to be shocked when the man wants paid for it though. But, it has very high solids content and excellent UV protection. It is the darling of the brightwork finishers locally. (Brightwork is the exterior wooden trim on sail boats and power boats.) No greater test of varnish exists in the world. Again with the Gloss, if you will.


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Many years ago my old Maine hunting guide refinished the stock of his well worn Winchester 94 .32 Spl. with spar varnish. This was a rifle that was out in all kind of weather every day during the deer season, a real testament to the protection afforded by a spar varnish finish.

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Should spar varnishes be thinned at all for the first couple of coats to get better "penetration?"

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I don't, some do. I think it's six of one 1/2 dozen of another. The first coat soaks into the wood pretty good regardless.


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Originally Posted by DakotaDeer
Should spar varnishes be thinned at all for the first couple of coats to get better "penetration?"


NEGATIVE!
NOT!
NO!
NEVER!

Wood is a dandy filter and when finish is laid on it some parties suck in more finish than others... the finish gets left on the surface while the solvent goes deep...

Test it yourself sometime by coating one side of a board with thinned finish and the other with straight product. After allowing a good long drying time cut the board in half. You will not be able to see a difference in penetration.


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I think we're saying the same thing, Art. Since there's no better "soakage" with thinned first coats, there's also no worse soakage (of the actual resins and solids). The end result is the same- it's just that it takes more coats to achieve a decent build when one wastes one's time thinning the initial coats. The "bite" of the first coat will be the same, what varies is the quantity left behind in/on the surface. That's pretty much why I didn't make an issue of it above. No harm, no foul, just more work. If I'm wrong about that, I would like to learn why!

I do sometimes thin the last couple coats on a many-coated project, but that's due to my brushing technique. I hang an object such as a stock and flow the varnish on in heavy coats, letting it flow down and collect in big drips on the bottom edge. I thin the viscosity of the last coat or two to get maximum flow to eliminate drips and sags as much as possible in those final stages. I dodge the drips away until the varnish sets up enough to stop flowing, usually around 20 minutes.

Marine finishers have a saying that there is no such thing as a "last coat". Boat guys are continually sanding and re-varnishing (or they should be anyway) as maintaining the brightwork on a boat is a never ending chore. Thank god it's not the same for gun owners.

Last edited by gnoahhh; 12/01/16.

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Like Gnoahhh I have spent a lot of time trying to keep up with the brightwork on boats. I have built a few, eaking out a living in boatyards in my '20's and have long owned a 35' cutter which I built in the late '70's. Teak decks, hatches, rubrails, bulwarks, etc, etc. require a huge amount of effort to maintain here in the northwest and it is even worse in the sunbelt.

A clear epoxy base followed by a dozen or so coats of a high quality spar varnish holds up well - far better than varnish alone, especially if the varnish is followed by a half dozen topcoats of a two part clear urethane such as Awl Grip (it is a bitch to remove though and I have moved away from this technique). I don't have a favorite - there are several really good brands although I believe the Epifanes may well be the best I have personally tried. I am a believer in thinning the first coat finding it does appear to improve adhesion - YMMV. Thinning the last couple coats will allow a smoother finish.

In years past some epoxy coatings fogged in the sun, ruining the finish. I have not seen this in recent years and there are several epoxy resins now built with this application in mind.

The absolute best final coat is a full boat cover (with a great deal of ventilation built in).

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Yeah, West System 207 or 209 (I don't remember the number) is formulated with a viscosity and slow cure time to make it viable as a "sealer" coat. We used a fair amount of it. But as OC said, you must put multiple layers of varnish over it as it has almost zero UV resistance. It's been a few years now since I left that game and indeed there may have been advances made that I'm not aware of.

Around ten years ago I finished a huge slab of redwood for a local client. Roughly 6'x 3½'x 4" thick, with its natural edge. I actually flattened it by hand, then applied 10 coats Epifanes top, bottom, and sides. He mounted it as conversation piece/table on the deck behind his house. I warned him about getting a cover for it but he ignored me. Sure as sh*t, three years later the finish was failing. I labored to restore it and again suggested a cover. (Hey, he paid me handsomely and I really didn't mind the side money, but still...) At that point we got a local sail loft to custom fabricate a cover made of opaque sail material, and now it still remains quite presentable. UV light is the enemy of all and sundry finishes.


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I have 6-7 rifles and shotguns here that I have made stocks for.I used Art's Spar Varnish and high grade tung oil method and they all came out perfect to me.Yes the saying is you are never happy with the final coat.You just get to the pont where you are satsified with it


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Originally Posted by gnoahhh
I think we're saying the same thing, Art. Since there's no better "soakage" with thinned first coats, there's also no worse soakage (of the actual resins and solids). The end result is the same- it's just that it takes more coats to achieve a decent build when one wastes one's time thinning the initial coats. The "bite" of the first coat will be the same, what varies is the quantity left behind in/on the surface. That's pretty much why I didn't make an issue of it above. No harm, no foul, just more work. If I'm wrong about that, I would like to learn why!

I do sometimes thin the last couple coats on a many-coated project, but that's due to my brushing technique. I hang an object such as a stock and flow the varnish on in heavy coats, letting it flow down and collect in big drips on the bottom edge. I thin the viscosity of the last coat or two to get maximum flow to eliminate drips and sags as much as possible in those final stages. I dodge the drips away until the varnish sets up enough to stop flowing, usually around 20 minutes.

Marine finishers have a saying that there is no such thing as a "last coat". Boat guys are continually sanding and re-varnishing (or they should be anyway) as maintaining the brightwork on a boat is a never ending chore. Thank god it's not the same for gun owners.


I was only referring to solvents to increase finish penetration. Solvents do wonderful things for making finish easier to apply some times.

Used with two-part epoxy though they seriously diminish water-proofing because they leave big pores as they work their way out through the finish.





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Tag. I know I'll be glad I did some day.


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