[sailaway21]

My recent experiences with varnish grew out of an article I read on-line that I, of course, cannot now find for you. It's OK because I remember the high points!

After your prep work is done, as detailed by the posters above, I recommend thinning the varnish to the manufacturer's specifications before applying the first couple of coats. I've had good luck with Epifanes but then, I've also had good luck with Rust Oleum's Spar Varnish from off the shelf at the hardware store! I do like the Epifanes better but the cost is not always justified. (Don't ever use polyurethane varnish for exterior work.)

The revelation I received was in the application. Use a roller. Use a short nap roller like you'd use to roll on epoxy resin. By the way, you'll make life and the durability of what you're coating much easier if you first coat it with epoxy and then sand that smooth before going to the varnish. Roll on very thin coats of varnish with the short nap roller and then "tip" it with your brush to remove any bubbles or imperfections. Don't play with it. If you're getting the brush tip saturated with varnish, you're rolling it on too heavy. You're just dragging it lightly over the surface with only just the tip to take out the tiny bubbles the roller will leave. If you get an "oops!" leave it alone. Playing around with it will just make it bigger. You can clean it up far better with wet/dry (always wet) sanding later. This technique will leave you with a nice even and thin coat of varnish that will dry evenly and need minimal sanding between coats.

If you espy dust specks all over your dried coat of varnish you must shift locations where you're varnishing or eliminate the dust source. I do mine in the garage and I've learned to do nothing that will stir dust up before hand. If your floor is dusty or dirty, wet it down if necessary to keep the dust down.

Also, buy a whole bunch of those cone paint filters from the Home Marina. If I have not thinned my varnish I will return the excess to the can but I strain it through one of those filters both when pouring from the can and back into the can. Don't combine thinned varnish with un-thinned in the can. The filters are cheap enough so don't be a pinch penny with them. Contaminated varnish will have you holding a gun to your head eventually.

Using the roll and tip method will take you awhile but you'll get great and consistent results. Don't screw it up by getting greedy and trying to put on a nice heavier coat with just a brush to speed things up! Don't ask me how I know that. This method goes fast also. You knew there had to be some benefit in it, didn't you? (g)

Badger hair brushes are just great! At least, I think they are. Have you ever priced a good badger hair brush? Rembrandt wouldn't have paid that much to coat a painting! Get some decent natural china bristle brushes, never a synthetic bristle, and try to keep them clean. If you're tipping with one and it's not working right, toss it and grab a new one. There's no making a bad brush better. If you figure out a fool-proof method for getting your brush flawlessly clean after each use, let me know!

You can use those foam rollers designed for epoxy rolling but I've had really good luck with the 3" white foam trim rollers from Home Marina. Their only negative is that they tend to soak up more varnish than necessary. Discard each roller after use, while still wet, so you can clean up your roller handle and ensure the next roller used won't hang up on it.

Good luck. Varnishing technique is where it pays to be anal about details and prep. (and I'm not anal about anything so take me seriously there!) If you've the least desire to rush, it's not the time to lay down a coat of varnish. It's just mind-numbing, meticulous repetition of what works. And DON'T play with it! Roll it on, tip it out, and leave it alone...everything you "fix" is going to look worse than you can imagine.