there's no reason to stir

Posted by Charlie Jones on Sep 11, 2006

If you are using gloss varnish, there's nothing in it that needs stirring. All that will do is risk puting bubbles in the varnish. SEMI glos and Matte varnish, yes, you must stir- they have additives that make them what they are.

Some tips-

Always pour off what you will need into a separate cup and reseal the varnish. If you are working on first or second coats, you might reuse what's in your cup later, but I wouldn't.

Strain the varnish as you are pouring it. Paper filters are cheap- some places even give them away in small numbers.

I put a shot of propane into the can from my propane torch- displaces the oxygen which is what causes the varnish to cure- no oxygen, no cure. Some people have been known to fill the can with marbles to gain the same effect.

As you use from the can, you will probably need to add a dash of thinner to the renmaining varnish since it still gets a small exposure to air ( thus O2) while it's open.

Something I do if I know I'll only be using a small amount from a quart- I get some small cans from the paint store and decant the varnish from the qt can into the smaller ones, filling them completely. Some 1/2 pint cans are great. Then when I need some small amount of varnish, I simply open a tiny can, use that and if it goes off on me, I haven't lost the whole quart.

In Response to: Re: varnishing by Alan Speakman on Sep 11, 2006

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