I am building a small cabinet to use on my covered patio to hold barbeque tools, paper towels etc. I got a great deal on some maple so that is what I used for the face frame, drawer face and doors. The carcase is melamine. It will not get wet but will see some sun late afternoon. So intended to use helmsman spar varnish as a finish. I put some on the back side of one of the doors and it made the wood slightly yellow. more so than the light color of the original maple. I want to preserve the light color of the maple and don’t like the yellowing caused by the varnish. Any suggestions on what to use. Would a spray laquer (form the big box stores) be ok for this application?
Frank
Replies
Anything with oils in it is going to make the maple have a yellow cast. Some like that strangely enough. ;-)
The maple will stay whiter if you use an acrylic (water clean up) finish.
I don't think laquer is a good bet for outside.
Lacquer won't hold up in exterior application.
Melamine would need to have all cut edges well impregnated with epoxy or moisture will be a big problem. On occasion rain does blow sideways. If any of those are also visible to light, then they would also need to be coated with a varnish to protect the epoxy from UV.
Maple WILL turn yellow (orange)--that's it's natural color, not the white of fresh-cut wood. But the protective oil based varnishes that it would need to survive in exterior use where it will "see some sun" will also add some additional ambering.
If you do give in and decide to go with a oil-based spar varnish DON'T use the Helmsman. It, and other consumer grade spar varnishes, isn't in the same league as true marine spar varnishes such as Interlux Schooner, Pettit Captain's, and Epifanes Clear Gloss. Yes, they cost more per quart, but probably would be cost effective compared to consumer grade spar varnishes, especially those called "spar urethane" since they would last so much longer. Also remember that all exterior clear finishes need periodic maintenance, meaning refresher coats as soon as you notice any reduction in gloss on the surface, and touch up of any dings as soon as they occur.
Trying to keep maple really white, unnaturally white, in exterior applications isn't really practically possible with finishes, as far as I know. If maintaining the unnatural white is really an important goal, finish it with an acrylic waterborne AND religiously use a breathable sunblocking cover every time it is not actively being used. Sunbrella is one brand name of fabric. Maple isn't a very good outdoor wood in any case and will rot if you let it stay wet for any great length of time.
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