Re: Varnish Fisheyes

Posted by John Beck on Aug 4, 2007

Gene, when you say fisheyes I assume you mean a small depression where there was some contamination and varnish didn't stick thus creating a small concave depression. I occasionally get contamination from dust, crap in the brush, bugs, etc but these appear as bumps not depressions. I don't have a clean room, so I accept the occasional dust spec here and there.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness (strong words from an agnostic). I rarely wet sand, so I wipe the boat down with clean water, then vacuum the boat and the floor the night before, and spray with water as I walk into the garage for varnishing. To avoid contamination I have used using a tack rag very lightly for years without fisheyes. I use the plain old tack rags from Lowes but I open them a day a head of time and completely unfold them so they can dry out a little since they are way too sticky new. I then seal in a ziplock and reuse it until it's too dried out. I don't wipe down with brushing liquid 333. I always filter paint and varnish, unless it is a new unopened can, with a medium paint filter. I rarely thin varnish and I like to use a new can for the last coat. That's why I buy varnish by the pint instead of the quart. I repeatedly roll the foam roller and press the foam tipping brush onto masking tape to clean it. I clean everything coming in contact with the paint; roll pan, stirring stick, any intermediary containers, etc. I wear clean clothes, or just my underwear; not the dusty clothes I wore during sanding.

John

In Response to: Re: Varnish Fisheyes by Dave houser on Aug 4, 2007

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