Clear Varnish

08/19/2015: Epifanes Clear Varnish (1000 ml (about a quart)) Ambient temperature for all dates = 65-75 degrees F. Humidity = approx 80-85%. August 15: First coat, 1:1 Epifanes high gloss and Klean Strip odorless mineral spirits (Klean Strip is $33.63/gal plus $27.50 shipping at Amazon or $14.63/gal and free in store pickup at Home Depot). Varnish coat was applied with a foam brush over finely sanded and stained mahogany on a 1962 Chris Craft wooden yacht. The mahogany was in poor condition due to exposure to several windy and rainy winters. Dry to the touch in 4-6 hours but still a soft/fragile feel (as with all subsequent coats. (Just about right for the next coat)). The first coat already showed signs of a superior gloss but the wood grain still had a feel that it should be filled with additional coats of varnish. August 16: Second coat, no sanding, 1:1 applied with a foam brush. August 17: Third coat no sanding, 1:1 applied with a foam brush. Now building a beautiful gloss. August 18: Fourth coat still no sanding, 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits (2:1) applied with high quality bristle brush. Wood grain now filling nicely and a high gloss is obvious. August 19: Light sanding with 320 grit wet/dry (wet) paper, wiped clean with damp cloth, wind dried. Fifth coat 2:1 applied with a high quality bristle brush. Gloss is now deep and far superior to any product I've used to date (I've used many over the past 30+ years). I will let these coats cure for 5 to 7 days, sand with 320 or 400 grit wet paper and apply coats six and seven. I will update this review at that time. Epifanes lives up to the many stellar reviews it gets and looks like many many hours of hard work went into this old wood (well, it did but it looks like many more than what was actual). This varnish spreads on easily and flows nicely to eliminate most if not all brush marks. I still have at least 3/4 of the first quart and I ordered a second can so there will be no interruption in the work. The only downside thus far is; I live with a Malamute Husky and he is blowing fur right now so keeping his hair off the wet varnish is a challenge. I can't blame him or Epifanes for that so I just live with it and have a hair picking session each evening. Good opportunity to drink a beer and admire the results of this great spar varnish Now if only it is as durable as folks claim,,, If the beer is nice and cold, I just may apply an eighth coat (or ninth). More later!,,,,, It's now later and as promised, here's more: 8/25/15: The first coats cured very well and I applied an undiluted coat of Epifanes. The overall result is a bit disappointing, not because of any real flaw with the varnish but undiluted it simply gels and leaves a wavy feel as well as visible texture on the surface. The varnish itself is quite thick. More like a high viscosity motor oil treatment than conventional varnish. I suspected this may be the result so I only varnished a small area. Now when this coat cures, I'll sand it smooth and re-coat with a mixture of 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits. 08/26/2015: I applied a mixture of 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits. The result is back to outstanding so I will not use this product undiluted in the future. The gloss really is great and tough. Remember that Malamute Husky? Well. he's still blowing fur. He jumped on the varnished mahogany when the coat was only 24-28 hours old. To my amazement, there were no scratch marks at all. When this fully cures, we will both be happy little boatsters!! I love this stuff!!! BUT, I strongly recommend that you use a 2:1 dilution for final coats. The application is much easier and the resulting gloss will make you proud! AND, SINCE THIS IS A RATHER PRICEY ITEM, A COUPLE HINTS TO HELP SAVE A FEW BUX: 1. If you don't use it all within a week or so, as you use this up, pour the contents into a smaller can. This will reduce the air space and help keep the remaining varnish from turning to gel. 2. If it does start to gel, thin it with mineral spirits and use one of those Mr. Coffee type fine mesh strainers and pour the varnish through it. This will filter out a large majority of the clumps and help insure a nice smooth finish when you go to use it again. I shouldn't have to say this but in case the hot coffee lady from McDonald's is reading,,, if you filter the varnish through the coffee filter, don't use that filter for making coffee. Thank you. AU //(~_~)\\

This is the best wood finish product but it is difficult to work with for someone like me who never painted or refinished anything. Lessons I learned: Always thin the product, even for the final coats. Otherwise it will "pull" off the hardened varnish from the table when brush strokes overlap. By the end of the table, the product is too thick to use reliably and thinning it a bit will prevent that from happening. Use a good brush (purdy > yachtsman, or whatever that brand is called) and stick to 3-inch size or smaller. Anything larger is too difficult to brush on smoothly without thick brush strokes needing sanding down later. Don't over sand the sides of a table. They sand down way quicker than the top and you will sand to the bare wood if not careful. Apply in the most dust free setting possible. Wet the floor if you have to. Then, if anything drops on the wet layer, wait till it dries and sand it off. Picking at it will worsen the surface more. Also, pull the brush hairs before applying the varnish to ensure no loose ones fall out while applying. Don't go over any layer a second time. Once there, it's done. Period. Missed a spot? Sand down most of the layer there and start over. I had to re-apply at least 3-4 layers cause of mistakes. Ensure your brushes and varnish containers don't touch anything dirty. Otherwise, you will find dirt in a layer and have to sand it off completely then reapply all over again! Get a good sanding block for between the layers. Once using fine grain (>220), fold a papertowel to the sandpaper and block size and use it in between the paper and the block to ensure a softer pad and better contact with the varnish surface. BUY THE BIG CONTAINER. I went through 3 small ones (500mL), not sure why, maybe cause I stopped thinning it and was using a 4 inch brush, but for a table that cost a lot and I shoulda saved by getting the largest size. I used generic mineral spirits, but probably would get the epifanes product retrospectively as the flow was not that great and I think it would of been better if their mineral spirit is as good as their varnish. Dip the brushes in the mineral spirit first, press out the excess spirit and then let it soak up the varnish like a sponge. Allow strokes to slowly pull out the varnish from the brush as the surface drags it out from the hairs. Keep the brush upright with very little pressure for less brush strokes to be left behind but enough pressure to ensure all hair tips are in contact with the table (I'm pretty sure this is what gave me the best results, comment if I'm wrong about that.) Do NOT press-out excess varnish into the varnish container you are using. Microbubbles will contaminate the varnish and leave spots in the layer, again needing deeper sanding and slower overall progress. A lot slower. Don't go over one spot twice, and when you are varnishing, brush from the dry surface into the wet surface so as not to leave the bristles ever exposed to surface when they have no varnish running down them. If you do, it will "pull off" the varnish you are brushing on and leave dry spots despite having plenty of varnish on your brush. The more layers the better. But don't get impatient and keep thinning (a little bit at least) the final layers. Get a small can of the rubbed-effect semi-gloss/matte varnish for the final one-two layers. The glossy clear varnish is over-board when it comes to the clarity and a final semi-gloss sheen looks more classy and refined than the overkill flashiness of the glass-like clear varnish alone. Get a lot of sand paper. 220, 320, 400, 600 if you have to. I'm just waiting for this final layer of rubbed-effect varnish to dry completely, hope the brush strokes I see in it are not so deep they reach the last gloss layer, and will sand and buff this baby table top with an electric sander equipped with buffing pad. That is, if I don't decide to take the small amount of remaining semigloss and paint on another layer before doing so. (it always looks better with one more layer, every time). Just not sure if I have enough remaining to do that. I'd have to thin it a lot. If the sanding takes out the brush strokes/dry spots without reaching the gloss layer, then I'll just buff and be done with it. Total time will be at least 6 weeks for me. But DAMN that is a nice table top. So nice I was gonna use it in the kitchen for the family but I think I'll make it my office desk instead.

The exact varnish you want to use for an authentic 1950-60's Gibson or Fender vintage style gloss finish. This is for serious builders only - you will likely need to wait 36-48 hours per coat before sanding, unless you live in the desert. It will produce that unmistakable glass clear, ultra hard, ultra long lasting UV resistant that will look beautiful 50 years down the line. Tips: You HAVE to thin this with mineral spirits. Otherwise you'll see each paint stroke and have to sand down a lot with each coat. If you're doing a headstock with a waterslide decal, I highly recommend you first set up your base color/stain/coat and then coat that with some clear gloss spray lacquer (like Stewmac sells). Then sand down to smooth with like 1500-3000 sandpaper, just really smooth feeling. Lay down your decal, press down with non-linty (cheap) toilet paper to remove wrinkles and excess water. Allow the waterslide decal to dry for 8 hours. Then begin coating with this varnish, thinned with mineral sprits in very thin coats. Thinner than you'd think, just make sure to cover everything evenly. Allow each coat to dry for at least 24 hours before you even think about touching it. Better to wait 48 hours. Then sand with 3000ish grit sandpaper, and barely sand any edges - they strip really easily. Final coat should be extremely thin and with plenty of mineral spirit to minimize any paintbrush marks. Then, WAIT. Leave it to dry for at minimum a week, ideally a month. At the end of a month this varnish will have hardened to a glass-like consistency. Then buff it out, polish it, and you have a guitar for a lifetime.

This is the best outdoor finish. This is a very thick finish that brushes on very easily and quickly builds up a thick protective layer. It has an amber tone from the natural oil in the finish that darkens and highlights the wood giving a very beautiful color. I have tried high quality water based finishes and also used the Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss and this is superior to both. EPIFANES CLEAR VARNISH vs. EPIFANES WOOD FINISH. First of all both Epifanes finishes are far superior to any of the water based finishes which are probably more suitable to be used with a sprayer on anything but a very flat surface. The Epifanes finishes (Wood Finish and Clear Varnish) are much easier to apply by hand than others, but they are NOT the same product. The first thing you notice is that Wood Finish has suspended solids that need to be stirred every time you use the finish. My experience is that the Wood Finish also seems to drip a little easier and dry a little faster than the Clear Vanish which makes it difficult to apply if you are doing something like a chair. I also noticed that the Wood Finish is more difficult to get a flat finish as it tends to follow the grain and imperfections of the wool a little more than the Clear Varnish. The Clear Vanish tends to fill in any perfections and is self leveling. The Clear Varnish is superior in my opinion. THINNING The base solvent for almost all oil based varnishes is Naphtha and Epifanes is no different. The can also says you can use a high quality mineral spirits. The key here is "high quality". Low quality solvent, whether the can says 'paint thinner; 'mineral spirits', or 'naphtha' will have a higher percentage of water, and oil and water don't mix. If you try thinning with the large can of paint thinner or minieral spirits you can get from the big box stores you will not be happy. You can by a smaller can of actual Naphtha from the big box stores, but the percentage of water is still likely to be high. It is frustrating thing to spend $50 on a can of finish and then ruin it by mixing with solvent AND water. The Epifanes Thinner is basically pure naphtha and works great for thinning. I use cheap mineral spirits for cleaning or storing my brushes between coats and make sure it get as much out as possible before applying another coat.

The most effective protective coating for outdoor wood is paint. But, if you want the beauty of wood to show, a good spar varnish is the answer. In side-by side tests Epifanes clear varnish usually performs at the top or near to the top of one-part spar varnishes and rivals two-part epoxies. McCloskey Man-o-War Marine Spar Varnish is a close contender. Both varnishes are long-oil varnish with phenolic-modified alkyd resins.Total solids are 62% for Epifanes and 51% for McCloskeys. Why do these facts matter? (1) Long-oil varnish tends to dry to a more flexible but softer film than short-oil varnish. (2) Phenolic-modified alkyd resins tend to dry to a more flexible film than urethane (polyurethane) resins. Flexibility is important in exterior applications because wood tends to expand and contract more outdoors with temperature and humidity changes. (3) The total solids constitute what is left after the varnish dries. 62% is higher than most other spar varnishes. Some manufacturers are reluctant to divulge this number, but it is a major indicator of what you get for your money. I suspect that the resins, UV light blockers and total solids explain the excellent performance of this product. To be fair, Epifanes recommends eight coats, much more than most other spar varnishes, which recommend three coats. McCloskeys recommends 2-4 coats. A properly done side-by-side product comparison should follow manufacturers' recommendations. So part of Epifanes superior performance must be due simply to how much varnish is laid down between the sun and the wood. It may be that eight coats of other high-quality spar varnishes (e.g., McCloskey's) would perform as well. But eight coats, with 24 hours of drying time between coats, takes some persistence and patience. Also, this product has some color to it and eight coats will darken wood somewhat. The instruction to thin the first coat of Epifanes is one you should follow. The varnish soaks into the wood, sealing the pores. I actually go back over the first coat immediately until every part of the surface stays wet. Epifanes is very thick (almost syrupy). It requires good brush technique to apply unthinned. It levels brush marks fairly well but lap marks can be a problem because it is so thick. It's very important that each coat be thoroughly dry. Varnish dries in two stages. First the solvent evaporates and then the varnish polymerizes. Polymerization can actually take days. These products sand well. If you do not get fine dust while sanding a coat of varnish, you should stop and wait another 12 hours. If you apply more varnish before the varnish has polymerized sufficiently you may get a gooey mess. It is also important to sand lightly between coats per the instructions on the can. I think that you can thin the final coat(s) be unthinned. After many coats of varnish, it seems OK to me that the last coat or two could be thinned to the consistency of wiping varnish. This will be easier to apply smoothly and will tend to self-level better than full-strength varnish. If you want maximum appearance and protection for outdoor wood, Epifanes spar varnish is a good choice. So is McCloskey's..

I refinished my front door with 3 cans of this clear varnish. 13 coats.. and it looks beautiful. I sanded with 220 grit for first 3-4 coats.. and once the grain and checks were sealed.. progressed to 320 grit paper. If you can't remove your door.. just blue tape it.. and time spent carefully here will be rewarded multi-fold in the future esp on glass. Maybe get a craft knife for precise cutting of the blue tape. As to application.. I thinned with Kleen Strip mineral spirits. The first 2 coats were thinned 1:1.. and then I was more at a 4:1 ratio. I applied with 2 products. First.. get yourself a foam (pure foam roller no hairs on it) and also buy a ton of foam brushes. Soak your roller , squeeze it out and apply. Once you've covered a decent amount.. then tip the finish with the foam roller to remove the air bubbles. Google "tipping varnish" and you'll find out what I'm talking about. The only thing with this product.. was waiting 24 hours between sanding.. it took me 2 weeks to refinish my door.. there is a woodmate version of this that doesn't need such a long time or sanding between coats.. but I determined I didn't want to try a product that's newer.. I wanted the old school proven product which seals boats in water. Also.. I found gloss coats last much longer than satin. UPDATE: I also refinished some teak furniture I bought.. with this product. Only update.. I wiped the teak after sanding with acetone to remove oils.. turned out beautiful. Great product

Somewhere between 11-15 years ago I used Epifanes Varnish to finish a table that was going to sit on my porch in the sun. I picked it because of a Wood Magazine article saying it was the best marine varnish. The table still looks as if it was finished yesterday. Now the down side-- It is expensive and you MUST put on seven coats, light sanding between each, after 3 or 4 coats you just want to be finished, but if you persevere it is worth it. After the 7th coat I rub it down with 0000 steel wool. Just finished 3 benches and I'm sure the will still look great when I am long gone.

First off, Epifanes Clear Varnish is the most expensive varnish I have ever bought. So the question is whether it is worth it. I chose this varnish to protect a wood strip canoe I made. There is no comparison of this premium varnish to anything you can buy at any of the local large home stores. The first thing you will notice is that this is much thicker. The percentage of resin solids to thinner is much higher than the cheaper varnishes. That translates to superior UV protection and gloss. It also translates to longer wear life. I brush varnish. I have my high quality brushes that I use for nothing but varnish. For this varnish, you really must thin it a little to get the best results. I guess you could use normal mineral spirits, but I opted for the Epifanes thinner. This varnish goes on very smoothly and flows out better than any varnish I have used before. With proper brush technique, you get no brush marks in the cured finish. Expensive? Yep. But, for my important projects, I will use no other varnish now that I have used Epifanes Clear Varnish.