I've always liked varnish. I might not always like the upkeep on keeping varnish looking in tip top condition but I do like the look of it when done right and applied properly. During the last 30 years or so I must have tried almost every varnish on the market from the so called no sanding between coats varieties to the more traditional. Two of my personal favorites have got to be Epifanes gloss and the product made by Interlux specifically Schooner varnish.
Epifanes is a high solids varnish which whilst great for large flat surfaces can be a devil on vertical surfaces or areas requiring careful cutting in with a brush, a cabin top hand rail for instance. Imagine my dismay then when I found out that Interlux were discontinuing Schooner and replacing it. The new product is called Schooner Gold and my first impressions of it are that it is a completely different product to the old Schooner. It has a higher solids content it would seem and thus, at least from my use to date does not seem to flow out as well as the older product. While the higher solid content allows the varnish to 'body up' quicker it does not seem to flow out as well. The varnish needs to be thinned with Interlux 333 solvent to make it flow but then this to some extent defeats the object of having a varnish with a high solids content and although I have not used this product on a very hot day yet I could see that the solvent would tend to evaporate off quickly causing the brush to drag more than I would like. I shall continue to use the Schooner Gold as it does take time, practice and patience to achieve the best results and I'll bring you a further update in dues course. In the meantime I would be interested to hear what other On Board readers have found if they have had the chance to try Schooner Gold for them selves.
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