For anyone interested,
I looked into the book Brightwork, The Art of Finishing Wood and found a
couple of reviews by wood finishing professionals to be highly critical
of the book, and I've talked to a couple of guys who do refinishing on
boats and they weren't impressed by it either. They said there was some
good info in it, but also a lot of not so good info. Also the book
apparently addresses the issue mainly from the perspective of
refinishing in the NW U.S (Seattle) where it is mainly damp and cool.
I'm looking for a copy I can peruse before I decide for myself if I want
one. I ordered Flexnor's book, but it hasn't arrived yet. Unfortunately
my library system has neither book.

I've been experimenting with Petit's Captain's varnish with fair
results, but a few problems. Part of it may be the space I'm working in
- my basement is about 60 degrees and hovers between roughly 30-40%
humidity.

The varnish on the sides of the piece I'm working on tended to sag a
little, and also tends to gather in a bead along the bottom edge of the
wood which does not dry even after 2-3 days. Also, it seems difficult to
paint it on without getting a lot of tiny bubbles. So I've tried a few
solutions that seem to be working, although I do not know about the
long-term consequences if any.

1. Several painters recommended using "Badger hair" brushes. I cannot
find anyone in paint stores in my area who has ever heard of those, so I
went with the backup plan - China bristle. This bristle makes a much
better flow than the brush I was using, and fewer and smaller bubbles. I
have no idea what China bristle is made from, but I just can't imagine
anyone trying to shave a Badger!

2. I added a touch of Marine Penetrol to the varnish - what an amazing
difference! The varnish flows so much better, it allows for a slightly
thinner coat which does not tend to sag, has a smooth flow and a smooth,
even-joining of the finish when cutting in to a previously applied wet
area, and the very few bubbles that are formed from brushing just
dissapear on their own. It takes a lot of gentle stirring to get even
that tiny amount of the Penetrol to mix completely with the varnish, but
unlike stirring straight varnish - no bubbles seem to be formed in the mix!

3. I was still having trouble with getting the varnish to dry enough
to recoat over the course of 16-18 hours. I talked to the *Go-To Guy* at
a local paint store and he said I could try Japan Drier. A tiny bit of
that made the difference, now the varnish is drying enough to put on a
next coat in 12 hours. Like Penetrol, it also tends to take a lot of
stirring to get it to blend completely with the varnish. The color of
this dryer is a rust brown, so I don't know if it would be a good choice
for really clear coatings. But after mixing the small amount I used in
this *traditional amber* varnish I didn't detect any change in color or
hue from the original appearance of the varnish. The guy at the paint
store said the newer high UV protection coatings tend to be low in
drying VOC's as compared to the dryer content in non-UV protected
coatings so they have a lot of drying related issues.

If anyone has any helpful comments or recommendations I'm all ears...
Red