Varnish amount

cwfrench

Enthusiastic about Wooden Canoes
I realize this is probably one of those very tiring questions for forum vets here but I have not quite figured out the search feature here so...

17' CR Old Town. Looking to put down one to two coats of varnish over the exterior paint and then revarnish the interior with 2-3 coats. I currently have two qts of Captains and a qt of their sealer. How much more should I need. I also have a half gallon plus of Cabots Varnish here that I was using on the seats/thwarts/paddles. Will that be good enough for part of the job?
 
You should have plenty for the job with what you describe. I seldom use more than a quart to do four to five coats on the linterior of a new canoe. I'm wondering why you want to varnish the exterior. If you want to redo the exterior why not just repaint it?
 
I was planning on putting a coat of varnish over the red Epiphanes. It was at the recommendation of the old canoe builder who is helping me. He said it was mainly to protect the actual paint from scuff damage and made it easier to repair. It sounded reasonable to me. Thanks for letting me know I may have more than enough. I can always return the unopened stuff.
 
Varnish

I was planning on putting a coat of varnish over the red Epiphanes. It was at the recommendation of the old canoe builder who is helping me.

I have heard similar stories. Please let us know how it goes and how it wears.

Fitz
 
He has two canoes in the shop painted with the same green. One was varnished and the other was not. The non one had also oxidized quite a bit. He liked the varnish finish as he said it was much simpler to touch up and seemed to take the abuse better than the paint only surface. Mine will be a quiet water canoe only.
 
I varnished over paint once....and will never do it again!

Unlike auto clear-coats, traditional varnishes (including Captains) are golden in color and they darken substantially as they age. Within a couple of years you will start to see just how unevenly you applied it as the color starts to change and get blotchy. Mine was sprayed, which is about as evenly distributed as I can get it and even so, it was bad enough that I had to repaint over it.

I don't know what the abrasion resistance difference is between varnish and enamel, but the UV resistance is substantial and quite different. Paint will oxidize on the surface. If it starts to look chalky, you can polish it out with polishing compound, or a cleaner/wax like 3M "One Step"and keep doing this until it gets so thin that you start to be able to see through it. We had an old Hobie Cat that I repainted which then sat on the beach uncovered for nine years. It was getting pretty nasty looking, but we were still able to polish it up to a respectable state when we finally decided to sell it.

On the other hand, varnish, being clear deteriorates all the way through as UV starts to break it down. You have a choice of sanding the dead varnish off and starting over, or periodically revarnishing to add a fresh layer of UV absorbers to protect it. This buildup will tend to increase the blotchy look as the various layers darken. Picture your nice paint job with five or six layers of varnish, some of them weathered and dark over it - because that's what you will eventually have.

In short, there is a very good reason why none of the manufacturers of marine enamel suggest top-coating it with varnish. They're in the business of trying to make paint that goes on well and lasts as long as possible with as little maintenance as possible. If varnishing over it was a good idea to make it last longer it would say so right on the can.
 
ok, Thanks Todd for that thoughtful reply. The nice part with that step is there is no time constraint on that and I could always do it later if so driven. I will hold off on the varnish for now.
 
CWFRENCH,

If you need a hand with anything and if you would like to check anything out I and right down the road in Rochester and currently restoring two canoes.

Zack
 
Zack, I would be interested in seeing what you are doing and how. You can call me at 207-651-5677.
Carl
 
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