"Goedjn" wrote
[...]

Are you using something to either thin the paint or accelerate the
drying? Are you trying to apply the paint it too thick a coat at once?


No, no, and no. I have tried thinning the paint with mineral spirits. No
benefit. And I have tried applying the paint thicker... this among numerous
other ad hoc variations in 'random trial-and-error style' to see what, if
anything, might work different or better (all to no avail, needless to say).
Since posting this message I've poured over the internet reading about other
people's experiences in brushing Varathane paint, and I'm now pretty much
now convinced that the "tiny bubbles" problem when applying Varathane with a
brush is unavoidable. I've developed the hunch that other people who seem
to not experience this problem are maybe just not as fussy as I am with
their work, and/or their lighting is such that these tiny blemishes are not
so plainly visible and/or bothersome to them. (So as to see what I'm doing,
in addition to normal overhead lighting I illuminate my painting surface
with two 500 watt flood lamps, positioned at oblique angles to the major
plane being painted...)

Ken