Neal Clayton
04-24-2010, 10:27 PM
in the past month on this forum, there have been 7, by my count, threads where someone had a failure with a particular finish.
one was due to funky wood grain, one was due to a wood species that doesn't stain well. those are not even finish problem threads, really, more like wood problem threads.
the other 5 were problems with polyurethane varnishes. adhesion problems, bubbling problems, mixing problems (albeit some mixed with incompatible things).
polyurethane is so heavily marketed and readily available because it's cheap. plastic petroleum resins are cheaper than other resins, much like the plastic parts on harbor freight tools are cheaper. do people insist on only having plastic tools in their shops, decrying any alternative that is not plastic because the plastic store says plastic is better? no. so why spend all the money on the tools, and all the money on the lumber, and all the time to build something, only to say "screw it, the plastic goo in a can from home depot is good enough".
we should have a sticky thread (pun intended), that answers basic finishing questions like...
is polyurethane varnish good for ...?
1) no
2) floor?
3) (anything else i can think of, see #1)
there are lots of other options than plastic goop over minwax stains and filler, folks. unfortunately, not on every street corner, they have those locked up. looks like if you go to woodcraft they have that locked up too, under the woodcraft varnish section on their website, there are 5 variations of polyurethane and behlen's rock hard, that's it :(.
but there is more out there, you just have to order it online or go to specialty shops.
my list of alternatives off the top of my head...
1) waterlox (waterlox.com) tung oil based phenolic resin varnish, also an alternative for floors. a trained monkey can apply this stuff smooth and even with a brush, it's about as dummy proof as it gets.
2) allback paints (solventfreepaint.com) they make linseed oil based stains/varnishes, as well as linseed oil based paint (similar to what lead paints used to be made out of), they also sell natural pine tar, which is a good exterior stain/water sealer as well.
3) tried and true varnishes (triedandtruewoodfinish.com), they also make linseed oil/natural resin varnishes.
4) i don't use them personally due to a preference for oil, but target coatings (targetcoatings.com/shop/) specialize in water borne lacquers and varnishes
5) do you know there are lots of colors of shellac? most people don't, probably, since the only thing home depot carries is amber or clear in the zinnser cans. but check shellac.net and shellacshack.com, there are actually lots of colors that most folks have probably never seen (or have seen, on an old piece of furniture, and wondered how they got brown shellac on something when brown shellac isn't available...it is! just not in a zinnser can).
not really a varnish, but..
6) while you can't get lead paint anymore, do people know that you can still get milk paint? milkpaint.com and realmilkpaint.com are two sources i know of. if you need to paint the deck or fence white, this stuff will last longer than any paint you can get at a hardware store, and you don't have to worry with priming, just add water to it, stir it up, and go. similar to the the traditional 'whitewash' that people used on fences in the old days.
many of the above have been used for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
try them! you might find something you like. as of now we have to scour the internet for alternatives to minwax stains and polyurethane, and alternatives to acrylic or alkyd paint. if no one scours the internet to buy and try such things, one of these days minwax stain, minwax polyurethane, and deft spray-bomb lacquer will be all that there is no matter where you look. no matter which alternative you use, one thing is guaranteed, you won't be the one making one of those "help my poly bubbled up" threads ;).
one was due to funky wood grain, one was due to a wood species that doesn't stain well. those are not even finish problem threads, really, more like wood problem threads.
the other 5 were problems with polyurethane varnishes. adhesion problems, bubbling problems, mixing problems (albeit some mixed with incompatible things).
polyurethane is so heavily marketed and readily available because it's cheap. plastic petroleum resins are cheaper than other resins, much like the plastic parts on harbor freight tools are cheaper. do people insist on only having plastic tools in their shops, decrying any alternative that is not plastic because the plastic store says plastic is better? no. so why spend all the money on the tools, and all the money on the lumber, and all the time to build something, only to say "screw it, the plastic goo in a can from home depot is good enough".
we should have a sticky thread (pun intended), that answers basic finishing questions like...
is polyurethane varnish good for ...?
1) no
2) floor?
3) (anything else i can think of, see #1)
there are lots of other options than plastic goop over minwax stains and filler, folks. unfortunately, not on every street corner, they have those locked up. looks like if you go to woodcraft they have that locked up too, under the woodcraft varnish section on their website, there are 5 variations of polyurethane and behlen's rock hard, that's it :(.
but there is more out there, you just have to order it online or go to specialty shops.
my list of alternatives off the top of my head...
1) waterlox (waterlox.com) tung oil based phenolic resin varnish, also an alternative for floors. a trained monkey can apply this stuff smooth and even with a brush, it's about as dummy proof as it gets.
2) allback paints (solventfreepaint.com) they make linseed oil based stains/varnishes, as well as linseed oil based paint (similar to what lead paints used to be made out of), they also sell natural pine tar, which is a good exterior stain/water sealer as well.
3) tried and true varnishes (triedandtruewoodfinish.com), they also make linseed oil/natural resin varnishes.
4) i don't use them personally due to a preference for oil, but target coatings (targetcoatings.com/shop/) specialize in water borne lacquers and varnishes
5) do you know there are lots of colors of shellac? most people don't, probably, since the only thing home depot carries is amber or clear in the zinnser cans. but check shellac.net and shellacshack.com, there are actually lots of colors that most folks have probably never seen (or have seen, on an old piece of furniture, and wondered how they got brown shellac on something when brown shellac isn't available...it is! just not in a zinnser can).
not really a varnish, but..
6) while you can't get lead paint anymore, do people know that you can still get milk paint? milkpaint.com and realmilkpaint.com are two sources i know of. if you need to paint the deck or fence white, this stuff will last longer than any paint you can get at a hardware store, and you don't have to worry with priming, just add water to it, stir it up, and go. similar to the the traditional 'whitewash' that people used on fences in the old days.
many of the above have been used for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
try them! you might find something you like. as of now we have to scour the internet for alternatives to minwax stains and polyurethane, and alternatives to acrylic or alkyd paint. if no one scours the internet to buy and try such things, one of these days minwax stain, minwax polyurethane, and deft spray-bomb lacquer will be all that there is no matter where you look. no matter which alternative you use, one thing is guaranteed, you won't be the one making one of those "help my poly bubbled up" threads ;).