Ok so not to beat a dead horse here but the products that you purchase in any Big Box are NOT Varnish but are Urethane / plastic finishes. Ace used to sell a true Oil based Varnish till last year and they have now stopped. Thanks to the EPA and other folks Varnish is rapidly disappearing. If you want a True Varnish you it is Interlux, Epifanes, Formby etc. The difference here is that Varnish is a combination of a Natural Resin, drying agent, and solvent to maintain it in a liquid state. Once the drying agent and solvent have evaporated the Resin imparts the finish. PolyUrethanes are reaction polymers that are composed of two or more isocyanate groups coupled with a reaction agent......or something like that. So in short Varnish is a natural occurring resin, Poly Urethane is a plastic by product.
Now all that being said yes you can get a fine finish with a Poly and it will work fine. It will seal and finish wood or other materials, it is not water proof or very resistant. If you need UV and Water resistance use Spar Poly. But NO poly will match the finish and luster of Epifanes or Interlux Schooner Spar. Dont know why but it is the way things are. The poly when you look at it in Sunlight looks plastic where Varnish seems to be part of the wood, not a covering to the wood. My last Canoe I built was done with Minwax Spar Urethane, and I was ok with the finish. Since it went to my Daughter and her new Husband for a wedding present I figured they would be ok with Poly. The poly finish seems to be easier for someone who is a novice with finishing. My Boat and the Canoe I will build this summer will have nothing but Epifanes even if it is over $40 per 1000ml can with shipping.... Enough of my soap box. On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 10:07 PM, Dan Prichard <dprich01 at comcast.net> wrote: > Hey Paul, I'm also new to the net but not new to protective finishes. > First off Home Depot does sell varnishes. Verathane, Minwax & Rustoleum > produce excellent products and are suitable for outdoor use. Urethanes are > liquid plastics until they dry. Both petroleum and water bases versions are > strong and durable but most don't posses good ultra violet resistance. They > also vary in hardness and water resistance. Spar varnish has been > formulated to endure the elements. It's hard to find a wood boat that isn't > covered in the stuff. Go back to Home Depot and find a competent sales > associate or to a paint store and talk to a paint pro. Good luck. > > Dan Prichard > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Dec 30, 2013, at 3:20 PM, "ppaulvsk at aol.com" <ppaulvsk at aol.com> > wrote: > > > > I'm at home depot and they said they don't carry it anymore. They told > me to use polyurethane. Is that okay? > > > > Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint! > > _______________________________________________ > > Search the KRnet Archives at http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search. > > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to KRnet-leave at list.krnet.org > > please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html > > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to > change options > > _______________________________________________ > Search the KRnet Archives at http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search. > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to KRnet-leave at list.krnet.org > please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change > options >
