varnishing - final coat

[grahama]

Just completing the final coat of traditional varnishing later today - wash board and sliding hatch which are at home in a dust free (ish!) garage. Done all the usual - stripped right back - p600 grade rub down between coats etc. My question is prior to the rub down with p600 grade wet and dry the surface always seems a bit rough to touch, once lightly sanded with p600 it feels very smooth but what should I be doing to the final coat to make it feel smooth?. Will a rub down with say p1500 leave 'white' sanded marks in the final coat, I suspect it will in which case how to I remove the 'whitening' marks?.


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[greatspirit]

How many coats? It usually needs 6 or 7 to get a good shine. Gave this up years ago howeverand now use a good (self-levelling) coat of epoxy follwed by 2 or 3 coats of 2-pack polyurethane... lasts indefinitely

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[mirabriani]

Good idea!
Even then you might need to polish out any blemishes
Progresively finer paper followed by finer grades of polish
I believe its how these showroom finishes are produced at boat shows.
I love to listen to elderly gentlemen wind up young salesmen at boat shows
"Whats the good of a finish like that son, 'snot practical"
Regards Briani

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[tcm]

Re: varnishing advice

if it's rougher at the end of varnishing than at the start you have either

1 . Bits in the brush: use a very very clean brush, or a new brush. Soak the brush overnight to swell it and avoid leaving bristles on the workpiece.

2. Bits in the air. In the garage, this is almost a certainty - about the dustiest place you could find, i imagine! Use a spare room that you can seal. Lay the dust the night before varnishing by turning any heating off (which causes air circulation) and using a water squirter to damp ceiling, walls, floor.

Check that you have a dust-free environment by filling bucket with water, leaving it the room where you plan to varnish and then seeing if there's any dust (which will sit on the surface on the water) a few hours later. There'll be loads in a garage - try it!

3. Bits in the varnish. You should transfer varnish from the tin to a disposable paintpot and close the tin - a sawn-off bottom of a evian water bottle will do for this. Otherwise you'll have lots of bits from the workpiece put back in the varnish tin. If you have already done lots of coats using the brush into the tin and the tin open - chuck the varnish and start again.


You should do at least three MORE coats from the point at which the workpiece "looks good". Each coat must be thin, and the result should be a smooth flat surface that uyou can nearly see you face in. The thinner the better - otherwise it will be look thick and gloopy, especially over the corners.

You can use finer and finer paper, certainly finer tha 600 grade. The white streaks are either due to

a) not "warming" the paper by folding and rubbing it against itself to knock off sharper bits on the paper
and/or
b) not leaving the varnish long enough between coats to harden - so there's a drag of varnish and bits (se above) through the varnish as you sand it.

hope this helps!

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[LittleShip]

Try using a sponge/foam brush for the final coat!!!

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I wish I'd been born rich instead of good looking ?

 

[grahama]

thanks to all that have offered their advice - I'll be off to buy a foam brush - I think part of the slightly rough finish appears to be tiny trapped air bubbles in the varnish - even though I've used a good brush

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[aitchw]

You might be interested in this link.

http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI...&since=-1&sort=3&rows=25&userid=newriggedship

You'll probably have to paste it in. Haven't got used to the 'tinyurl' service yet.

Howard

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