Epifanes Clear Varnish

08/19/2015: Epifanes Clear Varnish (1000 ml (about a quart)) Ambient temperature for all dates = 65-75 degrees F. Humidity = approx 80-85%. August 15: First coat, 1:1 Epifanes high gloss and Klean Strip odorless mineral spirits (Klean Strip is $33.63/gal plus $27.50 shipping at Amazon or $14.63/gal and free in store pickup at Home Depot). Varnish coat was applied with a foam brush over finely sanded and stained mahogany on a 1962 Chris Craft wooden yacht. The mahogany was in poor condition due to exposure to several windy and rainy winters. Dry to the touch in 4-6 hours but still a soft/fragile feel (as with all subsequent coats. (Just about right for the next coat)). The first coat already showed signs of a superior gloss but the wood grain still had a feel that it should be filled with additional coats of varnish. August 16: Second coat, no sanding, 1:1 applied with a foam brush. August 17: Third coat no sanding, 1:1 applied with a foam brush. Now building a beautiful gloss. August 18: Fourth coat still no sanding, 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits (2:1) applied with high quality bristle brush. Wood grain now filling nicely and a high gloss is obvious. August 19: Light sanding with 320 grit wet/dry (wet) paper, wiped clean with damp cloth, wind dried. Fifth coat 2:1 applied with a high quality bristle brush. Gloss is now deep and far superior to any product I've used to date (I've used many over the past 30+ years). I will let these coats cure for 5 to 7 days, sand with 320 or 400 grit wet paper and apply coats six and seven. I will update this review at that time. Epifanes lives up to the many stellar reviews it gets and looks like many many hours of hard work went into this old wood (well, it did but it looks like many more than what was actual). This varnish spreads on easily and flows nicely to eliminate most if not all brush marks. I still have at least 3/4 of the first quart and I ordered a second can so there will be no interruption in the work. The only downside thus far is; I live with a Malamute Husky and he is blowing fur right now so keeping his hair off the wet varnish is a challenge. I can't blame him or Epifanes for that so I just live with it and have a hair picking session each evening. Good opportunity to drink a beer and admire the results of this great spar varnish Now if only it is as durable as folks claim,,, If the beer is nice and cold, I just may apply an eighth coat (or ninth). More later!,,,,, It's now later and as promised, here's more: 8/25/15: The first coats cured very well and I applied an undiluted coat of Epifanes. The overall result is a bit disappointing, not because of any real flaw with the varnish but undiluted it simply gels and leaves a wavy feel as well as visible texture on the surface. The varnish itself is quite thick. More like a high viscosity motor oil treatment than conventional varnish. I suspected this may be the result so I only varnished a small area. Now when this coat cures, I'll sand it smooth and re-coat with a mixture of 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits. 08/26/2015: I applied a mixture of 2 parts Epifanes and 1 part mineral spirits. The result is back to outstanding so I will not use this product undiluted in the future. The gloss really is great and tough. Remember that Malamute Husky? Well. he's still blowing fur. He jumped on the varnished mahogany when the coat was only 24-28 hours old. To my amazement, there were no scratch marks at all. When this fully cures, we will both be happy little boatsters!! I love this stuff!!! BUT, I strongly recommend that you use a 2:1 dilution for final coats. The application is much easier and the resulting gloss will make you proud! AND, SINCE THIS IS A RATHER PRICEY ITEM, A COUPLE HINTS TO HELP SAVE A FEW BUX: 1. If you don't use it all within a week or so, as you use this up, pour the contents into a smaller can. This will reduce the air space and help keep the remaining varnish from turning to gel. 2. If it does start to gel, thin it with mineral spirits and use one of those Mr. Coffee type fine mesh strainers and pour the varnish through it. This will filter out a large majority of the clumps and help insure a nice smooth finish when you go to use it again. I shouldn't have to say this but in case the hot coffee lady from McDonald's is reading,,, if you filter the varnish through the coffee filter, don't use that filter for making coffee. Thank you. AU //(~_~)\\

This is the best outdoor finish. This is a very thick finish that brushes on very easily and quickly builds up a thick protective layer. It has an amber tone from the natural oil in the finish that darkens and highlights the wood giving a very beautiful color. I have tried high quality water based finishes and also used the Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss and this is superior to both. EPIFANES CLEAR VARNISH vs. EPIFANES WOOD FINISH. First of all both Epifanes finishes are far superior to any of the water based finishes which are probably more suitable to be used with a sprayer on anything but a very flat surface. The Epifanes finishes (Wood Finish and Clear Varnish) are much easier to apply by hand than others, but they are NOT the same product. The first thing you notice is that Wood Finish has suspended solids that need to be stirred every time you use the finish. My experience is that the Wood Finish also seems to drip a little easier and dry a little faster than the Clear Vanish which makes it difficult to apply if you are doing something like a chair. I also noticed that the Wood Finish is more difficult to get a flat finish as it tends to follow the grain and imperfections of the wool a little more than the Clear Varnish. The Clear Vanish tends to fill in any perfections and is self leveling. The Clear Varnish is superior in my opinion. THINNING The base solvent for almost all oil based varnishes is Naphtha and Epifanes is no different. The can also says you can use a high quality mineral spirits. The key here is "high quality". Low quality solvent, whether the can says 'paint thinner; 'mineral spirits', or 'naphtha' will have a higher percentage of water, and oil and water don't mix. If you try thinning with the large can of paint thinner or minieral spirits you can get from the big box stores you will not be happy. You can by a smaller can of actual Naphtha from the big box stores, but the percentage of water is still likely to be high. It is frustrating thing to spend $50 on a can of finish and then ruin it by mixing with solvent AND water. The Epifanes Thinner is basically pure naphtha and works great for thinning. I use cheap mineral spirits for cleaning or storing my brushes between coats and make sure it get as much out as possible before applying another coat.

The exact varnish you want to use for an authentic 1950-60's Gibson or Fender vintage style gloss finish. This is for serious builders only - you will likely need to wait 36-48 hours per coat before sanding, unless you live in the desert. It will produce that unmistakable glass clear, ultra hard, ultra long lasting UV resistant that will look beautiful 50 years down the line. Tips: You HAVE to thin this with mineral spirits. Otherwise you'll see each paint stroke and have to sand down a lot with each coat. If you're doing a headstock with a waterslide decal, I highly recommend you first set up your base color/stain/coat and then coat that with some clear gloss spray lacquer (like Stewmac sells). Then sand down to smooth with like 1500-3000 sandpaper, just really smooth feeling. Lay down your decal, press down with non-linty (cheap) toilet paper to remove wrinkles and excess water. Allow the waterslide decal to dry for 8 hours. Then begin coating with this varnish, thinned with mineral sprits in very thin coats. Thinner than you'd think, just make sure to cover everything evenly. Allow each coat to dry for at least 24 hours before you even think about touching it. Better to wait 48 hours. Then sand with 3000ish grit sandpaper, and barely sand any edges - they strip really easily. Final coat should be extremely thin and with plenty of mineral spirit to minimize any paintbrush marks. Then, WAIT. Leave it to dry for at minimum a week, ideally a month. At the end of a month this varnish will have hardened to a glass-like consistency. Then buff it out, polish it, and you have a guitar for a lifetime.

If you are new to exterior varnishing follow the instructions. When they say at least eight coats, they mean it. If you think you know better then don't waste your money on this product, just go and buy cheap stuff and slap on a coat or two. A year later when you have learned your lesson, buy this stuff and do as they say. I gave this product four stars in 2016 with the intention of going back and changing it depending on how long it lasted. Well I'd give it five now. It lasted five years (I should have sanded and top coated each year as instructed and I would not have had to go down to wood again). It looks great, protects the wood very well, and lasts.

The best product on the Italian market. Easy to apply and a beautiful finish

Hervorragender Lack. An Bord und Haus ideal. Hölzerne Fensterläden damit vor einigen Jahten lackiert. In diesem Frühjahr mal wieder eine Auffrischung sinnvoll. Sehr gut streichfähig und ergiebig.

Ha quedado genial, resistente a las climatología, quedo súper brillante, parece marmol

Great marine finish