Minor varnish issue

Posted by Brett on Apr 29, 2006

Hi all. Well all the sanding is over....thank god. First two coats of varnish are on and much like i've heard on here before...all that sanding has been worth it to see that shine. Im also building a website now to show off the pics when done.

I had a minor issue on my second varnish coat that im hoping someone might help me sort out. First coat went on great, 50% Epifanes High Gloss with 50% paint thinner. maintained a nice wet edge and it spread nicely. I then let cure and 280 sanded as per can directions.

2nd coat is 75% varnish 25% paint thinner. I found it a little sticky on the hull, the brush wasn't really dragging that smooth and I just put it down to a thicker varnish mix. The end result came out ok in that it dried well, but there are a couple of imperfections. Firstly I can see lines where the paint "patches" were laid down. Even though I made sure my horizontal strokes overlapped the last section, and in some cases I went over it several times I still got thin lines that are noticable if you get a light reflection in the area. The patches just wernt blending. Also in one area only I seemed to have several small sections where the varnish shrunk away just a little from the 1st coat.

Two contributing factors might have been: 1. I cleaned the hull before the 2nd coat the same as the first - with laquer thinner. Is that what you are supposed to do? 2. I reused the same, high quality brush that was stored in kerosene and cleaned well prior to use.

I guess I'm about to be told that the shrinking varnish would be hull contamination....however my prep was meticulous the same as the first coat.

Idea's? Thanks Brett

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