This is a quick overview of just some of the clear-coating varnishes that I know about and
that I have used in the last few years. Basically they all fall into two kinds, modern
hard varnishes and traditional supple ones.
If the furniture moves via floating panel construction, then you really have to use
traditional varnishes, but if the wood is stable, as in most glued furniture, then you can
use either traditional or modern varnishes.
Traditional Marine Varnishes
These are the traditional one-pack varnishes. As a general rule they fall into two types,
the standard varnishes made mainly of alkyd like International 'Original', Blakes 'Classic
No 1' and some other varnishes like MBM 'Prima' which I rather like.
Then there are the Premium Traditional Marine Varnishes like International 'Deluxe', Joton
'Ravilak' from Norway and the best Varnish in the World, the Dutch 'Epifanes'. These
varnishes tend to have a higher tung oil content, be darker in color and are certainly
more expensive. They are not difficult to use and certainly have a good finish.
Mono-Urethanes & Single Pack Poly-urethanes
There are quite a few of these, (International 'Schooner' & Epifanes 'Mono-urethane'
are two) however the only
one that I have really used much is the Blakes 'Single Pack Polyurethane' and that's just
great! Quite a few of them (including the Blakes single pack) are based on cyano-crylates,
like SuperGlue - which is why they are so hard and use the moisture in the wood to cure
them. I am a real fan of these. They set up like rock so you can polish it, which you
can't do easily with traditional varnishes, it dries quickly, is not particularly
temperature dependant.
Twin-pack Polyurethane
Make sure you have a respirator when using this type of finish. I do not deny that there
is some furniture out there that was varnished with twin-pack Poly-urethane and they
look gorgeous, they shine like a piece of glass. These type of finishes last twice
as long as a traditional varnish. This stuff should really be used on furniture that is
out in the sun and rain.
Epoxy Coatings
Really these are just the same as the Two-pack poly-urethanes. Everything I said about
them is also true of Epoxy varnishes. They are just more difficult to work with
because they can cure very quickly without warning.
I think that if you do allot of finishing of furniture, you can use these.
I do not recommend them for the first time furniture finisher. Remember epoxy does not
like getting wet before it really hardens. Start early in the day so it can cure before
nightfall if you are working out side.
Wood Stains
My preference is to finish wood with a clear finish. However if you want a consistent
color, wood stains make sense.
Now for me, when I think of a wood stain, I think of the spirit based dyes that we use to
put back in a bit of color into our faded decks when they have seen just a bit to much
summer sunlight without enough varnish but for some Some wood stains are a complete
coating system and there are people that swear that these systems like the Dutch Sikkens
Cetol system provide a better level of UV protection. Last far longer and are
cheaper than any other system, after all they are designed for coating exterior wood on
houses, where they guarantee many years of protection against all UV. They might be
right....although these coating systems are still alkyd based, they have quite the highest
solid content of any system I have considered here, which means that they need less coats
and indeed should provide a higher UV protection. I admit that is the most important
thing. I know people who have used them, and it seems that for large areas like
table tops, it can be real good, but I do know people who have used them on smaller areas,
and under closer inspection have been less than happy. One of the problems is that
the sheer level of solids makes them less than completely clear, which is why they are
stains!) they have a colored base (in various wood colors). When this color is even, there
should not be too much problem, but sometimes you can see the streaks of color in the
stain.....and this can be very ugly indeed.
Wood Oils
This finish is favored by some furniture-builders in the Scandinavians countries. Wood
oils are really good for furniture that are going to spend all their life indoors.
Outdoor furniture I feel, needs more UV protection. I'm not a big fan of wood oils.
