100 opinions = 1,000 toes to step on!
Here's a Florida based pro varnisher who works in humidity and heat.
Since most varnishing anywhere will be attempted at better weather moments,
Vicente Williams has some very interesting tricks to reveal...
google Varnish Teak
http://varnishteak.blogspot.com
He mentions, but doesn't quote, Rebecca Wittman, who wrote the book on the subject.
Doesn't need to, actually.
He prefers to work outdoors.
My caution is to professionally respect the volatile solvents
that are part & parcel of traditional corporate varnish products we have accepted into our life.
Thinners, reducers, driers, de-greasers can shorten your varnish days
- and bestow upon you, not only lasting gloss,
but quality of living problems.
There are 4 blogs in this collection, all interesting!
waterborne clear wood filler
Have Honduras for the coamings, want them done up in an oil varnish, enhanced
with a glow like one of those fabulous fiery red mahogany Interlux filler/stains the
Varnish-Love Club guys use. Sworn off petro now - no more volatile chemicals. The
mahogany has myriad grain lines to fill. Will not be using the dirty brown oil grain filler
- seen on the Furniture Masters site, way too gloomy for my taste - anyway.
Not as easy: AquaCoat waterborne clear gel filler on a hot dye may be the answer.
It's not an exterior product...but onsite photos show some woodworkers use it on
outdoor furniture projects. Doesn't prove anything - unless it's been there ten years.
There is no transparent dye/stain that will not fade in sunlight. Some of the best
metallic waterborne aniline dyes last longer than others, but still must consider it
'interior'. Sunlight through a window will fade and degrade any organic object inside
a room. Varnished mahogany on the water is pretty ridiculous anyway, thinking
about it. Never saw no outdoor grand piano....or varnished ChrisCraft swinging
on a mooring. We do it anyway - do it for the WOW! - if nothing else, ten frickin
coats will delay the mahogany from bleaching blond . Maybe...one more season.
Expect this new clear filler will do fine. Am also guinea pig for a 100% LeTonkinois
varnish job, which has no added material to make it more resistant to UV. Am
persuaded that waterproofing the coamings is the most important first step.
Epoxy encapsulation stays healthy under varnish as long as it's there to protect it
from UV. Waterproofing is the best protection we have for ALL exposed wood.
Clear coats: damned if you do, damned if you don't. "Time for another coat, McDuff!"
The 'tech' I spoke with second time, turns out he is proprietor of AquaCoat....Brian.
Cool! Good guy... fending off this curmudgeon. Ordered a couple qts of AquaCoat
filler, but have to wait until the weather gets above freezing for it to ship.
Want to play around with his red mahogany waterborne dye. He says the dye is the
best metallic aniline - we know waterborne dyes penetrate deeper than all others,
including alcohol. Couple qts UPS. Possible to add J.E.Moser powder to kick the color...
I asked.
Like this: After final sanding, want to dye the bare mahogany first, before anything
else. Asked what he thought, if I then seal with 2 coats of clear laminating epoxy?
{Lightly sand - then fill the remaining grain with AquaCoat clear filler. Sand again
for tooth to varnish....thinking that there'll be a few extra microns of separation
from the dyed wood thanks to the epoxy coats....for cautious sanding.}
Added, "Imagine that minor sanding glitches of exposed bare wood could be toucht
up easily by passing a damp stain rag over the surface. Rub it dry, nobody notices."
Brian didn't like the idea because it can create weirdness wherever it gets into pores.
( he didn't use the word 'weirdness') But if a retouch is noticed in a particularly clear
bright finish, it'll be a....disaster. {But I'm thinking, tops of tiny peaks, not lakes.}
This method assumes that in sync with water dye, epoxy will bond to bare wood.
He suggested a variation: after staining is completed, fill the grain with AquaCoat.
Filler is 'credit carded', flat as possible, in two or three coats, with the least amount
of sanding necessary. {Very hard to estimate that - and attaining a flat surface is
absolutely necessary for a fine finish. So, the step has to be included in the system.
The dyed wood surface is right there under, but not under, the filler. Scarey.
Even if the prep is finessed by an artist, there'd be hardly anything to sand...even
lightly. The surface legitimately needs to be prepared for the next step... Epoxy.}
BUT, more importantly, if epoxy sealer here is put on top of a 'lesser' coating,
it's unable to bond to bare wood. Main purpose of epoxy is structural, not cosmetic.
well, that's my argument, and it may have given Brian a moment to agree with the
first method. But he can't give his 'blessing', that's my hook. Have to experiment.
Problem with our coamings is that they are NOT furniture. Like hand rails, rub rails,
even the companionway trim and drop boards... they have work to do, & perform.
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"How long will Epoxy survive sunlight" http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Epoxtest.htm
Very well done study comparing 6 epoxies, by Vaclav Stejskal
............Anybody else think they might go the waterborne route??.............
'Traditional' varnish coating. No waterborne varnish No Bristol No polyurethane No
Cetol. (Clear coatings all burn in sun UV. Some get ugly - become a PITA to remove
or maintain. Ergo: oil varnish is not nice - except to look at - but more forgiving.)
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