In rec.woodworking johngood_____ wrote:
: I have a table top I wish to varnish over and have bought some Ronseal
: Diamond Hard Clear Satin (water based) Varnish.

: I would like to get it on as *smoothly* as possible and not being too
: brilliant wielding a paint brush wonder if, since it is a water based paint,
: i could *dilute* it right down with boiled water and then more or less
: 'smear' it on using a rag, then turn up the central heating and hope that it
: would all dry very smooth?

Bad idea -- thin only according to the instructions on the can.
Oil based varnishes can be applied as described, water based ones can't.

: Another thought I had was to use a small roller. Our local store sells two
: types of rollar surface, a sponge for gloss paint and a hairy one for
: emulsion. If using a roller was a possibilty to get a very smooth surface,
: which type of roller surface should I buy please?


I highly recommend the flat pads with short bristles sold for applying paint.
They work really well with waterbase varnish, much better than brushes (for me anyway).

I also find that scraping (vs sanding) helps in flattening.

-- Andy Barss