On 10/30/14, 8:03 PM, John McCoy wrote:
"dadiOH" wrote in :

It seems to me that the manufacturers themselves are at least
partially responsible ofr the "voodoo art" concept. Take spar varnish
for one example...thanks mostly to the manufacturers, the average Joe
thinks spar varnish is a superior, harder varnish. Not true. Heck, I
don't even know if what is labled as such IS spar varnish. I do know
that it isn't easy to find a plain old alkyd one.

I'll agree with you on that specific one. Mass-market
manufacturers putting random crap in the big-box stores
and calling it "spar varnish" does no-one any good. Use
a real spar varnish, like Petit or Epifanes and you
quickly see the difference.


You can smell the difference too!

I inherited several cans of "Helmsman" spar urethane and used it on an
outdoor project. It smelled exactly like Minwax poly, albeit a bit
thicker. It started flaking in about a year. I bought some Epifanes for
a different outdoor item and the first thing I noticed was the (rather
rank) odor. Wayyyy different from the Helmsman. Although the item is
mounted on a north facing exterior wall and is somewhat protected, it
has held up fine for the past 4 years.

-BR


BTW, for those not familiar with it, spar varnish is _not_
harder than other varnish, it's softer. That's because
it's intended to go on spars, and not crack when the spar
flexes with the wind.

John



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