To me there is also a practical consideration to using only Gloss varnish.

1} You only need to 'stock' ONE product.
I primarily use the West Marine 'housebrand' with UV inhibitors added {a
'short oil' varnish}. Whenever it goes on sale {at VERY good price - used
as a 'loss leader'}I pick up a quart and put it away. When the occasion
calls for a SPAR varnish {a 'long oil' varnish, I use any of a
couple of brands available at the local HD, etc. There is no need for me to
keep more than a single quart on hand. NOTE: the last can of West Marine I
bought indicated specifically that it was made for them by ZAR . . . whose
products can be purchased at HD, etc.

2} You can 'adjust' the final sheen - {High Gloss, 'Light Satin', 'Heavy
Satin', Matte} - to what YOU define each to be.
The simple process of wiping a 3-M {'Scotchbrite'}pad {available in about 5
or 6 'grades' from Ultra-Fine to Course}across the surface will do the job.
Plus it can be 'renewed' if it gets rubbed back to a gloss by normal contact
with the environment.

Regards & Good Luck,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

"John R Weiss" wrote in message
news:xuwtc.5831$eY2.732@attbi_s02...
"Brian Nystrom" wrote...

You can easily achieve a satin finish with gloss varnish by rubbing it
out with fine Scotchbrite, steel wool or bronze wool. It's actually a
bit nicer than using satin varnish, since you don't have the flatting
agent hiding the wood grain.

The Interlux satin varnish I used as final coats on my floorboards doesn't
significantly hide the grain. Maybe I'll try the bronze wool on the gloss
varnish next time, but it sounds like more work (and risk) than I'd
like...

John R Weiss wrote:

"Brian Nystrom" wrote...

You can easily achieve a satin finish with gloss varnish by rubbing it
out with fine Scotchbrite, steel wool or bronze wool. It's actually a
bit nicer than using satin varnish, since you don't have the flatting
agent hiding the wood grain.


The Interlux satin varnish I used as final coats on my floorboards doesn't
significantly hide the grain. Maybe I'll try the bronze wool on the gloss
varnish next time, but it sounds like more work (and risk) than I'd like...

Used as only a top coat, I wouldn't imagine that satin varnish would
have much of a hiding effect.

Ron beat me to the punch on the stocking and renewal issues.

Actually, dulling a gloss finish isn't much work. You're not sanding
hard and you're using very fine grain abrasives. You will produce a fair
amount of fine dust unless you wet the surface, but that makes it harder
to tell if it's uniform.