On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:15:29 GMT, Rich Hampel
wrote:

I prefer "Honey Teak" by Signaturefinish.com ... starting to be
fairly common on the east coast. The wescoasters seem to prefer "5
Year Clear" by Smith & Co.

===============================

Thanks. I've heard of both but not yet tried them on anything.

Subject: help! my varnish has pimples,..
From: Mike G

In article , labomba182
says...
after looking closely at them I've found them to not be
dried bubbles but particles of contamination or dust.



An excellent observation. I've found that in the hour or so it takes
varnish to dry out of tack it makes a better dust collector then any
HEPA filter and is capable of attracting dust from whole neighborhoods.

Ain't that the truth. :-)

And here in FL we have "love bugs" during the summer that just LOVE that fresh
varnish smell.

Capt. Bill

I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia

In article .com,
says...
I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia


Rottenstone is a very fine volcanic powder used in rubbing out a finish.
It's usually used as the step after rubbing out with pumice.

Ace hardware carries it and I believe you can get at home stores.

It and mineral oil, acting as a lubricant, on a felt pad of wadded
cotton rag are rubbed on the wood to remove very light scratches and
further refine the surface.

Auto rubbing compound and polishing compound can be used rather then, in
order, pumice and rottenstone. They're not quite as aggressive as pumice
and rotten stone so you have to rub a bit harder but it does make a
suitable substitute.



--
Mike G.
Heirloom Woods

www.heirloom-woods.net

Rotten stone is a natural mineral used for polishing.
Its finer in texture than pumice or diatomaceous earth.

Rotten stone has been used for fine polishing of brass and varnished
surfaces for ages. Its usually available in paint stores (right next to
the packages of various grades of pumice) and if its a really good
paint/hardware store you might find "tripoli" compound for polishing
stainless steel, etc..

To use: Flat sand the surface with increasingly finer and finer grades
of wet and dry sandpaper (ending with 2000 grit); then for a satin
finish use a very clean felt pad with a little bit of oil and
sprinkled with rotten stone and rub lightly along the direction of the
grain until the surface becomes warm. The heat of friction will also
develop an irridescent glowing 'patina' in the wood cells. For an
ultra gloss surface as above but using water instead of oil. Best is
to simply use a clean bare hand with a few drops of water and rotten
stone. If you ever have seen the ultra gloss finishes found on mega
yachts, private jets or museums .... this is how they get such
finishes. Obviously the varnish must be completely cured before
hand-rubbing/polishing. For varnish application just build up many thin
layers of varnish and allow to cure throughly before polishing. The
frictional heat from the hand polishing will make the varnish look like
glass and the wood cells underneath the varnish will absolutely GLOW.
There are other surface finishes that are more brilliant (french
polishing using shellac, etc.) but are vulnerable to water.
Do a websearch for "rotten stone" polish.

This is essentially the same technique used for finalizing lacquer
finishes on the most expensive automobiles and pianos, etc. .

In article .com, Lyn
& Tony wrote:

I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia

These work ONLY on teak and not teak substitutes.

Ive tried them on Iroko and afromosa only to have HT quickly lift (like
varnish does). The most impressive thing is the 'adhesion' of Honey
Teak with Teak wood.

For Honey Teak apply THREE coats of base rather than the recommended
two coats. The base coat contains ferrous oxide which is the UV
blocker and thus prevents destruction of the surface wood cells
immediately under the coating. When you first coat with this stuff the
color will look like thinend 'butter scotch' but will soon fade in
sunlight to almost clear. Its the closest thing Ive found to varnish
but it LASTS, easily repairable. I have a "teakey" and the original
application is now going into its 6th season with only one major
repair.

You can apply with just a soft artist brush and leave it ; or. if you
want a 'museum grade' finish you can add extra clear cloats, flat
sand, hand rub with rotten stone or POWER BUFF with a highspeed auto
body shop polisher and ultrafine (3M) rubbing compound or rottenstone
(and water). Interestingly and as with most finishes it seems the
flatter and more glossy the final surface the longer lasting the
finish.

I only get two years out of the clear top-coat. But like I stated
previously all it takes to apply a new clear coat is to scrub with a 3M
purple pad and flow on more clear with a very soft artist brush ....
recoating is very fast. The best temperature for flow application is
about 50 - 60 degrees. I've just begun to apply the yearly clear
maintenance coat with an airbrush ... looks great but dont know how
long it will last. I dont use making tape but just use a large flat
piece of sheet metal and shift it along the edges to take the
overspray.



In article , Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:15:29 GMT, Rich Hampel
wrote:

I prefer "Honey Teak" by Signaturefinish.com ... starting to be
fairly common on the east coast. The wescoasters seem to prefer "5
Year Clear" by Smith & Co.

===============================

Thanks. I've heard of both but not yet tried them on anything.

Forgot to mention ........
For ultra-quality varnish and other coating work and before the actual
coating I sometimes take ultrafine pumice and rub it dry on the surface
of the wood **** to fill the pores**** of the wood. The result is a
smoother top surface of the wood and the pores fill up with the pumice
fragments .... which results in less 'out-gassing' bubbles during the
first coats. You do have to be careful if the particular piece of wood
has many large pores as the accumulated pumice will 'show' through
under the varnish. It works for tight grained wood surfaces where
there arent many surface 'tear-outs' and 'pores' that need filling.
Works better than an acrylic surface sealer, which sometimes yield a
'milky' hue to the wood surface. Surface filling is a trade-off as
you get a flatter surface, less out-gassing from the 'pores', etc.;but,
lose a bit of the adhesion of the coating to the wood. If your 'prep'
is just flat sanding and you dont fill the pores by either using a
sealer such as acrylic or pushing in pumice, etc. , you can always get
'bubbles' in the first few coats.
If youre in a hurry to varnish, employ the 'six foot rule'.... if you
see a defect in the finish develop, step back 6 feets from the surface
and if the defect disappears due to the distance just continue on. In
reality noone looks closer than 6 foot to a super finish.

Hope this helps.




In article , Rich Hampel
wrote:

Glen probably has the answer to your problem.

Porosity in the wood, even with several prior coats of varnish, will
sometimes make bubbles as the temperature changes. The use of a 'spit
coat' as the *first coat* usually solves the problem. A spit coat is
usually mixed as 40%-50% varnish and 60%-50% thinner appied heavy and
'worked-into the grain' with a brush. The extra solvent will greatly
'thin' the mix so that it will penetrate into the intersticies of the
wood cells. An alternative is to use a 'sealer' - usually a clear
penetrating acrylic that you apply, let cure, then lightly flat sand.
Sealers are not really a good idea as they are not UV stable and
enhance 'lifting' when the sealer eventually degrades in UV ---- better
to use a very thinned-out 'spit-coat(s)'. When I was a
'varnish-addict' I'd wait for the hottest time of the day to apply the
spit-coat : let wood get warm, then put up a shade so that the wood
begins to cool and apply the spit-coat on the 'cooling' wood. If the
spit-coat is warmed a bit, the better the 'penetration'. Also, watch
the barometer as a falling barometer will aid in 'off-gassing' during
varnish application.

I used to prefer(ed) to lay down the first few (4-5) coats with tung
oil based varnish for 'penetration' , let fully cure; then a few coats
of urethane based varnish for UV protection, let cure a month or two
then apply a 2-part clear (Interthane, etc) on top of that for
durability ..... and 3-4 years later remove it all when the first coat
lost 'adhesion'.

I gave up using brushes and found that using a small airbrush is vastly
superior ..... and then I discovered the modern 2-part acrylic/urethane
co-polymers with heavy UV protection that last 5-6 years; and, havent
opend a can of 'exterior' varnish since.

bilgeworthy wrote:
Hi, new varnisher here. When I brush it on carefully, I can see tiny
gas bubbles forming in the wake of the brushstroke. Most of them pop
but some do not and others seem to form during the drying process. The
more I try and brush it out the worse it gets. The unhappy result is a
beautiful piece of wood with assorted pimples strewn about the finish.
I have tried expensive brushes and foam brushes with the same result.
I have tried straight varnish, thinner, cheap and dear and 216
(xylene) as brushing agents. I follow the routine from the Brightwork
Companion as well as I can. Not shaking or redipping from the can.
I'm working indoors with everything at room temp. I have used brand
new Schooner Varnish, some old junk in a can and a custom artists
mixture of Danar (Damar?) and magic emollients etc. They all act the
same. It's less noticeable on 25 year old teak than on newly made
woodwork but it's the same result even after 8 coats. I sand out the
flaws between coats. I am definitely open to suggestion at this point.
Gosh, the old teak just takes your breath away. If I can just take
care of this complexion problem.
Thank you.

I'm sure you've seen by now that any question about varnish on this
group will bring out enough responses from the "varnish is evil" crowd
to make you want to hang up your brush. ;-)

Of course if you've read Rebecca Wittman, you know to pour from the can
through a filter into a container and then thin and brush from that.
Keep everything clean. Tack rag and wipe with mineral spirits. Yadda,
yadda. If you've done all that you may still be experiencing any one of
several problems.

First, as has been mentioned, be sure to start with one or two very thin
coats to seal the wood.

Second, make sure your varnish is properly thinned. This depends a lot
on temperature and humidity. Knowing what's best comes with practice. I
usually try to get a consistency between whole milk and half & half. See
how it drools off your stir stick. Err on the side of too thin.

Lastly (and I think this may be where your problem is), there's a
technique to brushing. Don't overload or underload your brush. Brush
with the grain of the wood and try to brush away from your "wet edge".
Start brushing for coverage and then go back several times, each time
with less pressure, finishing with strokes so light that you're barely
touching the surface. Once an area is done, don't touch it again until
it's dry. You can get good results with foam brushes, but I think
bristle brushes produce fewer bubbles.

After saying all that, you should know that it will never be perfect and
there's no such thing as a final coat. If all else fails, you can always
invoke the "4 foot rule". Think of varnish as a "zen" exercise and don't
let anyone ruin it for you.

Cindy

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