I am surprised this question hasn't been hit with a hundred answers.  There are those that can use a brush and have no problems doing it by hand.  I am not one of those so I spray.  I use a high quality Mineral Spirits to thin with as well as to clean up with.  I thin mine 20-30% and spray 4 coats, wet sand, spray 4 more sand again, spray 2 final coats.  I also use Japan Drier so that I can spray more than one coat a day although I am not sure it is recommended.

Kev

A follow up dumb question,,, what is Japan Drier?  Never heard of it.  And when you wet sand, what grit do you use?  And your finishes, spraying in the above order, come out great?

 May spraying experience is limited to rockclimbing walls - making 60 foot tall chunks of hand carved concrete look like real cliff - so I've been pretty artsy with paint pots, HVLC, airless sprayers, and all manner of other wierdness trying to replicate mother nature, but haven't actually spent much time in a booth, spraying with conventional wood finishing products.  Mostly I've sprayed concrete finishing products.  Would like to try it though, since I have access to a full booth set up - could save time and make nice quality.

 Spruce

Spruce, I think you are on to something...as a rock climber myself and someone who leans in the direction of doing stuff 'a little different' from the conventional, I think you should use the product you are familiar with  - a rock texture finish for the top hul and then install a few rock climbing holds, of course......this is assuming yyou are not using gunite or some other cement type mixture ....weight might be a problem...LOL

send pics!

Hmm, making a boat look rock like would be,,, interesting.  Not really sure what effect it would have - would definitely be different though.  For now I'll stick to bright finishes and regular paint - I see enough rock when I build walls.  It would be interesting though - it would look like it shouldn't float - although, much of making something look like a rock is building the correct shape/featuers - something a boat definitey does not have - it would probably just look dumb.

 Spruce

Japan Drier is an additive that speeds up drying time on oil based finishes.

 When I wet sand I use 400 grit paper,  And yes you can see yourself in the finish.

Kayakkev - I've started spraying, and so far it's working like a charm.  Got two coats on - waiting for it to dry right now.  Another question though - how much Japan drier are you adding, and how many coats do you manage to get in a day?  About how long are you waiting between coats?  Just, 'until dry'???  Thanks,

 Spruce

Hey Spruce,

I am glad it is working for you.  I am changing jobs and I am going to lose the use of the spray booth.

Japan Drier is a little funky.  I use a cap full (the cap is on a pint of drier) per Qt of varnish, but it dissapates in a 24 hour period. so if you leave varnish in your cup over a day you need to add more drier.

Check out my blog at www.kayakkev.wordpress.com

Hey Kayakkev

 Took a quick look at your blog - very impressive.  Will look at it more later if I ever leave the shop.

 So far I've been getting two coats per day.  The coats have been laying down well - wetsanded after the third and 4th because I had a little drip I wanted to make sure disappeared.  I've now got 7 on there, and it's very nice and smooth... but not glossy.  The varnish I'm using is Interlux Gold Schooner Varnish - high gloss.  It's coming out more of a matt finish though.  Wet sanding with 400 smoothed it out, but didn't really make it shine.  After my final spray I'll work up through the grits I think, and maybe even buff.  But, compared to finishing table tops etc. it's just not shining like coats should.  I think this is just the nature of this type of varnish - even though it says high gloss, it just isn't... or else it doesn't like being sprayed... or maybe the Japan drier is taking away some of the sheen. 

Any suggestions???  And, how many coats are you able to get on? What type f varnish are you using?  Sorry for all the newb questions - will peruse your blog more later, but I need to jump back in the shop and start sanding a mantle...  And drill, fill, drill, if I have time and the varnish sets up quick enough.

Next time I think I'll try a different varnish.  But, apart from the lack of shine, I'm loving it.

 Spruce

Hmmmm, I dont know.  I use the same varnish, and after the 7th coat you should be able to see yourself.  I just do a light final coat after my last wet sand of 400 grit.

Wierd.  I have 7 coats on, and wasn't really seeing any change, so I wet sanded, with 400 grit, and then buffed it out with a buffing wheel and medium buffing compound.  Silky smooth, but not shiny - definitely more of a matt finish.  Strange - I'll have to play around with some scraps and see if I can get an improvement - if I figure out the secret, I can always add some more varnish later, although it would be a pain.  I've been using the minimum recomended amount of Japan drier - I convereted to metric, and I was using 3.5ml to every 200ml of varnish (150ml varnish, 50ml mineral spirits). I wonder what I've been doing wrong...  Maybe not wet sanding aggressively enough between coats???  Don't know,

 Spruce

perhaps you have a bad or mis-labelled can of varnish.

are you sure you didn't add a flatting oil, and not a Japan dryer?? Some Japan dryers also contain a flatting oil as far as I remember. I have 20+ years of painting, varnishing, etc. as a professional. Take a look at the product and make sure it does not also contain a flatting oil, or that you are using too much Japan dryer for your mix.

Hey Spruce, try topping the first few coats of varnish with Interlux Goldspar Satin.  I always use that as my finish coat.  She'll shine right up.