Varnish brushes...

[Wensum]

Well, Matt J, what I do is to buy a half decent brush, one where the bristles don't fall out, and after giving the surfaces a bit of a scrape with sandpaper and a rub off with a rag soaked in white spirit, I slop on a coat of yacht varnish. Put on thick and not overbrushed, like you would with paint.
To keep the brush soft for the next day I pop it into a jam jar of water (enough to just cover the bristles). Next day, just squeeze it out in a rag, rinse in white spirit, squeeze again and off we go.
As to keeping a brush for 50 years Ed... Jeez! When the job's finished just chuck it away.
What is important is not so much the quality of the bristles at one end as the quality of the hand at the other. Which is perhaps why all my varnish-work looks like **** .

[J. Dillon]

I still like those foam brushes. But if I know I'm going to go for another coat soon after the present one dries I place a sandwich bag tight around the brush. This excludes the air and keeps the foam brush ready to do it's job. smile.gif

So far it works great. :cool:

Currently doing a "test" to see how long the bag encased brush will last or do the job at a greater time interval. ;)

JD

[JimConlin]

This is one of those 'religious' topics that has been been repeatedly beaten to death in the past. Use the search thingy if you're in doubt, pilgrim.

[Bruce Hooke]

Was this supposed to be part of a pre-existing thread? If so, where's the other thread? Wensum's comments certainly sound like a response to someone else.

BTW - Wensum, if your varnish is not coming out very well you might want to consider getting a better brush and taking good care of it. When I worked in a boatyard we typically used pretty nice brushes for the varnish work, which I doubt we would have done if the boatyard manager did not think they made a difference. Granted, other issues like prep-work and simply practice can make a big difference too, but in my experience brush quality does matter.

[Jay Greer]

My own Linzer China Boar Varnish Brushes with soldered ferrells are no longer made. I have cherished and kept them pristine for use for over forty years, as follows.

All of my brushes are stored under thinner in two one gallon, wide mouth commercial salad dressing plastic jars, one for paint and one for varnish brushes. After use, the brushes are given no less than five rinses in thinner stored in three 5gallon paint buckets. The last two rinses are with fresh thinner. The brushes are then wrapped in the porous black paper used for scrap books and photo albums and placed tips down in the storage container. This manner of storage keeps the chisle edge of the brushes intact.

Once a year or when the heels get too filled with excess varnish or paint, I soak the bristles in liquid sandpaper to soften the heels and brush out the residue with a fine wire brush. This takes several soakings and several brushings. Then, while standing at a beam of light comming through a crack in the shop door, I flip the hairs of the brush until no flakes of varnish can be seen floating in the sun beam.

Sadly, brushes made today are no longer of the fine quality of the old Linzers. I treat them like they were my best friends because they still earn their keep!
Jay Greer/Common Sense Boat & Tool Co.

[Matt J.]

This sounds familiar... like a question I may have had a year or more ago about fancy varnish brushes.

I haven't broken down and bought the fancy brushes yet, so I use Jen foam throwaways.

[ 12-07-2004, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Matt J. ]

[Matt J.]

I just re-read that... Do I sound paranoid or is it ust me? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. ;)

[Bruce Hooke]

Matt,

I suspect what happened is that Wensum came across your question via the search tool and tried to respond but instead started a new thread...

- Bruce

[Matt J.]

Embarrassed grin... redface.gif

I think you're right, Bruce.

[corob]

Hi guys, heres the trick to this varnish thing. PREP, PREP, PREP! when your done prepping, prep a bit more then do the following.
if your starting on fresh wood and you stained it, let the stain dry very well 3 or 4 days, if you don't, the solvents in the varnish will move the stain and it will be muddy. Clear sealer or50/50 ut varnish works about the same as 1st and second coat., so I cut 50/50 with a quality mineral spirit. I have the best luck with roll and tip. A west system yellow foam roller works best. Trick #1 cut the 7" roller in two, thats 3.5" use a small frame and roll even and in one direction. Trick #2 a NEW foam brush as wide as the serface will allow-4" where posible now, balance the tip of the brush on its point, that is ALL the presure you use when you pull the varnish your not painting a barn here guys just a very light touch drag ONCE and your done. Wait a bit and check for sags, very lightly pull those out then let it dry. I mean dry, 24 hour dry then start building with straight varnish. I usally dont sand the first three or four build coats, after that I sand VERY LIGHTLY w/280-320 dry keep knocking off the high spots till its flat about 10 coats your done and it's like looking into a well! good luck

[Victor]

This is like saying if you buy a NIkon you'll take photos like a pro. Maybe, maybe not. I have yet to see my choice of brushes affect the outcome of my endeavors. IMHO the right brush will get you a cup of coffee if you have a buck on you. If surface prep and thinning have been done right, any decent brush will do, I think.

[chergui]

This is the first year I have varnished and here is my experience about brushes. I first tried foam because everyone said they worked nicely. I found them difficult to use with the varnish I was using (Epifanes) when applying un-thinned coats. They leave all these little bubbles if you need to work in the varnish at all to control the thickness. So I tried a Badger bristle brush and found it much easier to apply the varnish and control what I was doing. Sometimes you need to work the varnish a bit and I wasn't able to do that as nicely with a foam brush.

If I am varnishing a vertical surface, I use the bristle brush to apply a thin coat and then with fingertip lightness, drag a foam brush over it to ensure there is not enough varnish that it will sag, and also ensure that it is not so thin that it appears "flat" when dried. I'll sometimes do the same on a horizontal surface, depending on conditions.. it feels a bit different each time.

I would take a good bristle brush over a foam brush any day smile.gif I just find I get better results. Having said that, my varnishing is not quite up to highest standards but it looks not too bad and I seem to do better each time. I re-use the foam brushes also. Just put the tips in a bit of thinner and then rinse out with water. If you get the whole thing wet, the glues loses its adhesiveness and the foam falls off the stick or plastic thing.

[Magwitch]

Brushes again eh?
Well OK,,,,,,, I still have in long term storage my brush collection, mostly Perfection and Namelvar. I don't use them because twelve years ago I found foam Jenny brushes and rollers.
For paint or varnish they do the job for me. Roll on a section about 2ft square, up, down and diagonally then tip off with a foam brush horizontally.
It works,,,,,,,,, for your own peace of mind and a quality finish, do try it.

IanW

[jwswanboats]

dear all,
so i think the horse is dead and been beat, kicked, stomped, and now varnished, but i suppose i'll give its rotting corpse another coat...I have found a substantial difference in brush type when varnishing the interior of wood/canvas canoes( or any tricky area with corners, mating pieces, etc). the oval shape epifanes brush can put varnish into a corner without leaving the air bubbles that foam brushes tend to leave. i realize the air bubbles are probably my fault, my brush psi being to inconsistent and all, but the best solution for me was to just give up on foam and invest in better brushes. also the better brush seems to hold a consistent, predicable amount of varnish(or paint, for that matter) throughout the course of a job, where foam brushes tend to wick up varnish and get soggy after a bit, even with minimal pressure. Also, rather that spend lots of money on epifanes offical brush storage, i jury rigged my own with a big plastic pail. works just fine.
that said, i think most all of this is a matter of comfort and the familiar, and all of our approaches pretty much arrive at the same place. happy varnishing.
sincerely,
Josh

[Bruce Hooke]

Regarding foam brushes -- the good quality foam brushes work fine for me on flat surfaces. The cheap foam brushes are utter and complete junk. On complicated surfaces (lots of details, round surfaces, etc.) I find that for me a good quality bristle brush works much better.

[Victor]

Acetone can sometimes bring the dead back to life.

[chergui]

Hmm.. I guess I haven't found the good quality foam brushes yet.