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The first can of varnish I purchased was a Spar Varnish. It doesn?t work like the other type of varnish. It never really dries hard. It is difficult to sand . I assumed spar varnish was the same as regular varnish but it is not.
The second can of varnish I purchased was Interlux 96. I?ll call this real varnish. It smelled totally different. It smelled like the stuff I wanted. I knew I was on the right track. But, I tried foam brushes, I tried my badger brushes. I could not get the air bubbles out of the varnish no matter what. All the tipping and thinning made no difference at all.
A new West Marine store opened closer to my home. I thought if I buy my next can of varnish there, it might be fresher than the second can of varnish I purchased from the discount / close-out store. There is no telling how many years that can was sitting on the shelf. I don?t even know why I thought of this. I just thought, new store, fresh stuff.
This newest can of Interlux 96 varnish is a total world of difference. I can put this on using a cheap natural bristle brush and brush the crap out of it until it is full of bubbles, Almost like foam if I want. Then in about 2 min. later tip it off and it flattens out perfectly. This can of varnish is a absolute joy to work with. It levels out beautifully. No air bubles. It sands easily. It dries hard in 24 hrs. I am actually enjoying varnishing now. What a battle getting to this point. I think I'm getting it now.
It is difficult to learn new things when you have dab / wrong stuff at the start. But it is a lesson well learned.

LOL- yep- the age of the stuff can make a BIG difference.

I really hate to tell you this, but Schooner (Interlux 96)is a "spar" varnish also:)

Here's a good read from Interlux on varnishes-

http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa//how_to/a ... geID=22530

Thanks Charlie, that takes more of the mystery out of it for me. There was something very different betwen the first can and the second can of varnish bought.
I wonder how to know if one gets an old can of product?
I don't know why I thought there was a difference between spar varnisha nd any other varnish.
Dan

Oh there's a very distinct difference. Spar varnishes normally contain U/V filtering that regular indoor type varnishes don't have.

Spar varnishes usually cure a tad softer also, making them somewhat easier to maintain- sanding and revarnishing is a little easier.

Notice I say "usually", "normally" and "somewhat":)

Personally we use Z Spars 2015 because we've found it to last well in our sun. We're currently in the process of redoing the toe rails and eyebrows on the Meridian. Just a sand and revarnish job which really isn't that tough. One thing we've noticed though- those parts where we epoxy coated are coming back MUCH quicker and easier than that wood that was NOT coated. This is 45 year old Mahogany remember. Of course, we're redoing prior to it needing to be wooded, but after a tad too long a time period- SHOULD have been done a few months ago. We caught it JUST in time. This is a varnish job from last May by the way. We should do a sand and recoat at least every six months here.

To further beat a this subject- here's a couple of posts I made on another (builders) forum about varnish and varnishing- yo umay gain something from them--

First one-

"And varnish will do quite nicely on Teak. Had it on the exterior brightwork of my last sailboat. We had to touch it up once or twice a year, exactly the same schedule as we now touch up the mahogany on our current sailboat. We live on the Texas coast, the boat is in a slip, exposed to the sun all year round.

We use Z Spar 2015 for our brightwork and I use it on ALL the boats I build, inside and out. So I don't have to buy different products.

The real trick to keeping exterior varnish in good shape on ANY boat is a timely redo. It's a snap to add another coat if you do it BEFORE the surface goes bad. When you get a nick or small scrape, touch it with some varnish THEN. Many people on larger boats keep a cleaned out finger nail polish container full of varnish, and use that tiny brush to coat dings and nicks IMMEDIATELY, before they can get moisture under them. Then once a year or more often as needed, just sand it down and lay on another coat. We are in the process of doing toe rails and trim on our 25 footer at the moment- takes about an hour and a half to get it ready and ten minutes to apply the varnish. "

Second post- Question was how long will unopened varnish last-

" Can't really say.

We always try to use up what we have and buy fresh for the next year. It should be ok for a year to a year and a half though provided it hasn't been opened.

One thing I have done is wash out some small cans, say 1/2 pint or so, and decant the varnish into those. I then hit the top with a longish shot of propane from a torch and cap it. Seems to last a good while like that and we only have to waste a small amount if we can't use up what we are working with.

If we are working from a large can, we NEVER pour used varnish back into the can- EVER. Better to pitch it than contaminate the rest. I open the can, pour out what I think we'll need, shoot a blast of propane into the can and cap it. The propane excudes the air ( heavier than air ya know) and keeps it from skinning over.

And I'm sure I'll now read about how dangerous propane is :) But we're talking about a minescule amount and you shouldn't have any open flames around the varnish ANYWAY!!! "