what type of varnish to use on teak brightwork

I don´t think there is a product better than the other, it is more how you maintain and add new coats when the sea and sun is eating them.

I have used Epifanes for many years but on a new boat I have tried International Schooner Gold, which was very nice to work with and gave a great finish. Perhaps it is marketed with a different name in your country...

Hi David,

Yep, for 20 years I've used Epiphanes and very lovely it has been too.

The world has now moved on. 2 pack poly is fantastic (I use International as well) but I put a 1 part poly over the top for better UV resistance and ease of maintainment.

Growing up on very trad wooden boats, varnish was an every other weekend chore, the new ones let you get your fingerprints back.

Hope the Feds look the other way.

CPES over coated with Bristol makes for a nice long lasting finish.

http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html

http://www.bristolfinish.com/exterior.html

I do A LOT of varnish - both traditional (Epifanes only) and 2 part poly (Awl Brite).

If it were my choice, I'd stay away (way away) from the 2 part. Aside from the ability to lay up coats quickly and the longevity of the 2 part, the stuff is pure poison to work with, is very brittle once applied, and once cracked/needing stripping, an absolute monster to remove.

Pure, traditional varnish (even though I'd recommend Epifanes, you won't go wrong w/ any of the big name, main line varnishes) is easy to work with, easy to repair, and won't kill you like the 2 part stuff (as in seriously injure you from the fumes. You MUST work in a well ventilated area or wear a positive flow respirator. Don't fool around with this stuff).

As for upkeep of traditional varnish, once a good base is established, top coats are very quick to re-apply (of course, the more varnish you have, maybe not so quick!)

All that being said, I'd still warn people away from too much varnish when considering buying a boat.

I just consulted w/ brand new boat owners (bought a new Palm Beach 50' this winter at the Miami show) who seemed to be hearing about varnish upkeep for the first time! One of them accompanied the boat north on the delivery and didn't understand why everyone was stopping and admiring the boat until the delivery captain told him, "it's the varnish!"

For me, varnishing is very relaxing and the look of fresh varnish is its own reward...

I never could find a way to get the 2-part clears completely out of my varnish brush. The costs of the solvents were more than a new brush. I would stick with conventional varnish. Further, I haven't seen a 2-part that doesn't eventially crack at the joints. As previously noted, it turns into a job to strip.

As far as cleaning brushes of the 2-part, I don't use my good badger brushes w/ the 2-part - I use Corona's "Urethaner" brushes and clean them w/ MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone - how's that for poison?)

And, yes, the 2-part stuff IS brittle and prone to cracking at the joints.

So...traditional varnish it is whenever it's my decision to make (some boats already come with the 2 part...)

I didn't use a good brush but once. Painters are funny about their brushes. That brand of brushes always seemed stiffer to me than the woolsey brushes. I read somewhere that most of the brushes are not real badger hair. I wanted to try a skunk hair - has anyone ever varnished with one?

Just how nerdie can a thread get?

The best brushes I've ever used are from Epifanes. Good bristle retention, easy to clean with a spinner and then tape up with lo-tack masking tape so the hairs don't spread for next use.

All badger but I prefer beaver.

When varnishing, I've used the expensive woolsly brushes before, however I think it's a waste of money. I've used the white chipping brushes or foam brushes. It's not the brush, but how it's laid on. I've always had my varnish come out mirror smooth.

I prefer schooner varnish and have never worked with the Epifanes, but it seems pretty popular here. Although it's been about 4 years since I touched any varnishing.

I agree on the foam brushes. But as to getting a mirror finish on exterior varnish with cheap chip brushes, if you say so. But I don't think I've ever seen it done. Plus they tend to shed badly. (Of course I am using a couple today to put some satin one part poly on a piece of interior wood trim. And yes it shed. )

I started going to foam brushes as the cost of good hair brushes and solvents kept going up and up. It's hard to justify cleaning brushes any more what with the cost of the solvents plus having to dispose of the dirty solvent properly.

Although you can use gasoline to clean brushes. And then just strain it and pour it in your lawn mowers gas tank after.

I will say as much as I've used foam brushes I'm not sure you get as thick a coat down each time as you can with a good hair brush. But then if you just put on an extra coat or two you end up at the same place.

I agree you don't get as thick of a coat with the foam brushes over a bristle brush from my experience, at least with varnish........

The chip brushes do tend to lose a bristle here and there. I soak them in diesel fuel, and then just dry them out and use them the next day. It softens the bristles and tends to work well when varnishing........

Are you guys doing varnish on other people's boats for money?

With chip and foam brushes?

Yikes...

Like I said, I don't use chip brushes for anything where I want/need a mirror finish. But you most assuredly can get a perfect finish with good quality foam brushes.

Just ask Rebecca Whittman.

Most assuredly...

I don't doubt you can but you'd better be Rebecca Wittman, then. Foam brushes get very sloppy, very quickly.

Much easier to get a nice flow with good badger brushes.

As for expenses associated w/ badger brushes: properly cleaned brushes last years, so no real expense there.

Mineral spirits? Right now a gallon goes for $12 (a few years ago we were getting it for $4/gallon). I can make a gallon last a long, long time. At the end of every day, I store my brushes in diesel suspended off the bottom w/ a wire hook.

3M tape is $6/roll and I can go through half a dozen rolls on a single job.

Alcohol, tack cloths, thinner, varnish, buckets, rags, tape - all billed along with the job...

For years I was anti foam too. But once you get the hang of it you can lay down some nice coats. With good foam brushes I don't find them to get sloppy.

But to each his own. There is a bit of Zen involved in varnishing after all.

Too true!

Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers......

TB or not TB, that is the question.

Badgers are said to spread TB in cattle herds, so a good cull of them keeps the brush makers in business.