I’ve used both Waterlox Original and Becksvoort’s 50/50
mix of Tried and True Varnish oil and Epifanes Rubbed Effect spar varnish with good luck on cherry in the past, but I have little sense of their relative water and scratch resistances. I believe neither provides much UV protection. Thoughts?
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Replies
My guess is they're pretty comparable as far as scratch and water resistance. I'd probably opt for the one I like the looks of. But really, make two sample boards. Which one looks better? Then test them for hardness and wear.
I'd never try a new finish without doing a sample.
Thanks, John. I've used both on various cherry pieces and find them
both excellent from a visual and tactile perspective. I'm leaning toward
the Becksvoort mix owing to it's less obnoxious fumes, but wanted to wait to hear if someone has experience on the water/scratch resistance of each.
I’ve used Becksvoort’s on a cherry settee and after 18 months there is some scratching on the armrests. No water marks. I don’t have experience with waterlox. Wanted to add a photo but too tech limited to reduce the file size to the allowed limit, sorry.
I have used Chris Becksvoort finish and love it but I mix tried and true with spar varnish which gives me better protection from water. The big benefit is this finish is very easy to repair. If water protection is your main concern just go with polyurethane. Check out issue #206 Chris talks what he blends with tried and true.
Good luck with the project.
Thanks! Actually, I do mix the T&T with spar varnish, as Becksvoort
recommends.
I'm curious about your comment that it is easy to repair. Can you
elaborate? Thanks again..
Hi, All I did was take some 0000 steel wool and rub out the scratch then wipe on some more finish. If that won’t get the scratch out use some sandpaper, I would start with some higher grit until the scratch is removed.
Or doing nothing and let the scratch be part of the furniture history.
Good luck
Just an idea— I recently did cherry test boards with T&T and Osmo. Both finished the same but I think the Osmo provides more protection. Haven’t yet to finish an entire cherry piece in Osmo though ..
Waterlox is a thinned varnish, not an oil. Its original use was for gym floors.
According to the msds, it is made mostly of mineral spirits (50 to 90%) then according to their advertisement : tung oil, ester gum, phenolic resin, linseed oil. So it’s a close relative to danish oil but with a strong emphasis on solvent.
Wow, that's interesting; from it's name I'd always considered it a water-based finish. d'Oh!
Any varnish is made by heating at high temperature, an oil with a resin. So you can use tung oil or other oils to make the varnish component, and still say it has tung oil as an ingredient. But it no longer has the properties of an oil finish. And just so that danish oil is not really an oil either.
What Stan said.
Linseed oils are mostly boiled, and considered oil.
Scratches will occur in any finish that forms a film on the surface of wood. The "tougher" the finish the whiter and uglier the scratches. Think spiral bound notebook on office conference room table kind of ugly.
I have used Becksvoort's mix on cherry and like it, although if you wait too long it can be hard to wipe off (rub in?). He makes the point that his mix has no UV protection. He likes to let cherry darken with age. I do as well. I can't speak to protection.
A cermaic top coat adds incredible element and scratch protection, as well as upping the sheen and contrast.
It goes over just about any finish.
I sound like an ad, but I love the stuff.
If anyone ceramics their truck/car, then you already have an idea of its abilities. (if you dont then you really should)
I use Blacktails N3 kit but there are others.
The Waterlox company makes a variety of finishes, including spar varnish, gloss, and, most famously, their "Original" finish, which is what they are known for. I use their "Original" as my default finish, unless I need to match something else. It is not a fast finish, as it takes multiple coats (I assume 4-6 fot a good finish) due to its low solids content. However, it is possible to get a very beautiful smooth finish without a spray gun. It is a relatively soft finish, staying flexible after it cures (which takes a while as well.) However, it is easily repairable, unlike the ever popular polyurethane, and doesn't give that heavy plastic film look. It is an interior finish as it doesn't have the UV inhibitors in it. They do make exterior finishes. Don't let boiling hot vinegar hit it while canning pickles (don't ask me how I know...)
you can learn to make a long oil tung and rosin varnish with a pot, hot plate and inexpensive k type thermocouple that is waterproof, as long as you have somewhere you can do it outdoors.
The higher the ratio of oil, the more the varnish acts like an oil. as you get to 1 to 1, then it's much more like a clear top coat finish, but it will be smooth and very high solids. No stinky, no phenolic, etc. The finished product is thinned with 3 parts odorless mineral spirits and 1 part limonene (orange solvent) and you can either dry it "natural" with sunlight or add japan drier to the finish and make it dry anywhere from 1 day (without the need for sunlight) to 4 hours depending on how much you add.
It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to make a batch of this kind of varnish, you add the drier to it later, so it will store in the jar pretty much forever until you're ready to pour some off and add drier to use it, and no matter what changes happen in the finish industry, you can make the same thing in 2 months or two decades. tung oil and rosin are never going to go away.
You can also learn a trick (liming) as you move up if you want to make a high quality clear topcoat that will build but is still far tougher and yields less garish scratching than polyurethanes.