Last coat of Varnish

[brent stella]

Ok, I know this has been covered a hundred times here before, but the search function is not working so I have to ask again. I just finished putting the 11th coat of varnish on. And it is flawless there is no lint and very few dust specks. I have sanded between every coat prior and I was wondering. Do I have to sand between this coat and the last? I am using Interlux Schooner 96.

[Buddy Sharpton]

Sounds like you are ALREADY finished, pardon the pun. FWIW, I always like to NOT sand between the last two coats to prevent any sand swell scratches. I try to recoat somewhere between barely dry to the touch and really fresh to get a better chemical bond.

[Andrew S/Y Rocquette]

Along the lines of the last comment, there is really no need to sand at all if coating under these circumstances - you are only sanding to allow a mechanical key, so if a chemical bond is created all sanding does is reduce the thickness of the varnish - you will not have 11 coats but half a dozen.

I know there are many ways to skin a cat, and everyone has their own methods, but mine is not to sand for as many coats as you can, then to sand lightly to even the surface (if necessary), prior to appling a final couple of coats. Otherwise it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back each time you sand.

If you are not re-coating in a suitable timescale and are not obtaining the chemical bonding between coats, then you have no option but to sand.

Just my tuppence worth...

(edited for spelling)

[ 06-17-2005, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Andrew S/Y Rocquette ]

[Paul Scheuer]

And it is flawless there is no lint and very few dust specks That's what I call the "final" coat. Is there somethng magic about 12 coats ?

If you're worried about the few dust specks, a light buff with wool cloth should do the trick.

My method is to go with 3M pads (and a tack rag, of course) between every coat, including the "final", after I get the surface leveled. Getting the gloss off the surface seems to provide an evener coating. Somthing about surface tension. I also cut the final coats.

[Scott Rosen]

If ever the adage "quit while you're ahead" applied--this is it.

There is no such thing as a 'final' coat of varnish. If you've got a near-perfect 11th coat, then you are done, for now.

[Hughman]

You're done. the next coat will acquire a bug hatch! :eek:

[JimConlin]

My conditions and methods are sufficiently uncontrolled that i need to take the approach of building the desired thickness (which you've done) and then repeatedly sanding (#320 wet) and laying on a coat(full strength). If i don't get a good coat and haven't run out of time or patience, I repeat the process.

Declare victory.

[brent stella]

I find that I get a higher gloss after not sanding or lightly sanding with a 3m pad. I was hoping that if I didn't have to sand between this last coat, that coat 12 would look very shiny. Some of you mention that I could recoat without sanding within an short time period. I varnished last night around 10 pm. whould recoating around 6 pm tonight be too late?

[T.A.R.]

There is no such thing as a last coat of varnish. Go sailing!

[Norm Harris]

I read with interest Andrew S/Y Rocquette's comments.

I am just about ready to varnish a house and cockpit coamings that have been wooded, and have decided to use Epihane's "high Gloss" spar varnish. The label is pretty explicit in directing that there be 24 hours and 220 grit sanding between coats.

I like Andrew's strategy better, but I wonder if ther is any downside to the "quick build-up" method, and what precautions I should take.

Norm

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Norm, I tend to go with what the can says. The downside is that unless you have a very smoth surface to start with you will get "orange peel".