"Bill" wrote in message
ups.com...
Sorry about posting in two places but I am looking for some help on
this. Also I appoligize for the lack of political commentary in this
post but......

I am building an outrigger sailing canoe in cedar strip with a
fiberglass epoxy covering and am having issues with varnish
selection. I have used 1 part on other projects in the past but am
interested in teh possibilities of 2 part. It is aparantly harder,
chemically resistant, and lasts much longer. The problem is that it
is much more expensive. Is it really worth the cost, and is there
anything i can buy that is not as expensive but basically the same.
Many times buying from a boat supply is more expensive just because
is
says 'for boats' on the label. I would really like to try this to
keep the hull well protected but I don't want to spend $60 per quart.

Thanks for the advice,

There are actually three general classifications of varnish, Bill. The
traditional "spar varnish" is known as 'long oil varnish'. In most
formulations it is tough, relatively UV-resistant, and beautiful. The
second class is one-part urethane varnish, which looks a lot like long oil
varnish but is a bit tougher and about as UV-resistant. And the third is
two-part linear polyurethane varnish. Poly varnishes, applied properly, are
beautiful and UV-resistant, but difficult to remove.

Any of the three would meet your needs, especially if you have no intention
of leaving your cedar-strip canoe out in the sun indefinitely. Long oil
varnish is easy to "refresh," i.e.--sand and recoat to remove what little
oxidation forms on the surface due to UV. It can be stripped and/or sanded
down to bare wood fairly easily. One-part urethanes are tougher, but
probably not a lot more UV-resistant than long oil varnishes. And they are
very difficult to strip with chemical strippers or a heat gun. They can be
refreshed, but if you allow them to degrade beyond the point where
refreshing is an option, you must remove them to bare wood, and that can be
a very tough job. Two-part linear polyurethane varnish is very hard, holds
its shine exceptionally well, but is fussier to apply with
professional-looking results. Further it cannot be refreshed. When it
looks bad, it must be removed to bare wood, and that will require sanding.
No strippers that I know of will touch the stuff.

My personal preference is long-oil varnish, primarily because it is so
easily applied and refreshed. My standard varnish regimen consists of using
something that isn't really varnish at all, at least in part. Epifanes
makes a product called Gloss Wood Finish, which looks like varnish, behaves
like varnish, but isn't varnish. Starting with bare wood, I use a long-oil
varnish, thinned to about 50%, and allow it to soak in and cure for a few
days before sanding. Then I sand and build the finish with Epifanes Gloss
Wood Finish for about three or four coats. And here's the good part:
Epifanes GWF builds at the rate of one coat GWF to roughly 3 coats of
varnish. So three coats of GWF will give you the same finish thickness as 7
to 9 coats of varnish. AND--and it's a big "and"--you don't have to sand
between coats of GWF if you recoat within 72 hours. AND it's completely
compatible with long-oil varnish. You can alternate layers of GWF and
varnish if you want with great results. After three coats of GWF, I sand
thoroughly, apply another coat of GWF, wait 24 hours, sand lightly, and
apply two or three coats of long-oil varnish, with sanding in between each
coat. The result looks like amber glass on the surface.

Two-part poly varnishes will give great results, but be sure you won't need
to refinish any time soon. The cost is high and the prospect of removing
the poly varnish is something that would keep me from sleeping well.

Hope that helps.

Max