PotatoNavigator
Well-Known Member
Couldn't seem to find much information on peoples experiences with this on the forum, and all I could find online was 'It's too thick!' (from people who cba to read the back of the tin). So I thought I'd post mine and thought perhaps some of you might have had some experience as well.
I used a poly varnish on a boat once, and decided never to again. Since then I've always used Le Tonkinois, which I still like very much, but I needed to do some varnishing and there wasn't a boat jumble before when I needed to start, so I decided to try an off the shelf (traditional) varnish. I chose the gold because to see if it would benefit form the additional UV stabilisers, my only complaint about le tonks is that whilst it lasts, it loses its sheen quite quickly in the sun.
I applied the first coat thinned 50%, soaked into the wood quickly so no runs or anything. The second coat was thinned 25% I used a foam brush and found that with this coat I had to tip forward a couple of times to catch the odd run, but on drying it hadn't sagged at all.
Subsequent coats have been applied 15% thinned with a foam brush, with this amount of thinner it is a very similar consistency to most varnishes. It went on well with a foam brush, you have a little bit of time to go back and tip any runs, not as much as le tonk, but enough in my mind. It is different to other varnishes I've worked with, but not any more difficult once you get a feel for it.
Overall I'm happy with it, I'm not quite sure where all the negative comments online have come from. It smells quite nice too. Hopefully I'll remember to post an update to this in a years time.
I used a poly varnish on a boat once, and decided never to again. Since then I've always used Le Tonkinois, which I still like very much, but I needed to do some varnishing and there wasn't a boat jumble before when I needed to start, so I decided to try an off the shelf (traditional) varnish. I chose the gold because to see if it would benefit form the additional UV stabilisers, my only complaint about le tonks is that whilst it lasts, it loses its sheen quite quickly in the sun.
I applied the first coat thinned 50%, soaked into the wood quickly so no runs or anything. The second coat was thinned 25% I used a foam brush and found that with this coat I had to tip forward a couple of times to catch the odd run, but on drying it hadn't sagged at all.
Subsequent coats have been applied 15% thinned with a foam brush, with this amount of thinner it is a very similar consistency to most varnishes. It went on well with a foam brush, you have a little bit of time to go back and tip any runs, not as much as le tonk, but enough in my mind. It is different to other varnishes I've worked with, but not any more difficult once you get a feel for it.
Overall I'm happy with it, I'm not quite sure where all the negative comments online have come from. It smells quite nice too. Hopefully I'll remember to post an update to this in a years time.