Where do you varnish your tiki?

Just started varnishing. First thought - where should I do this? I started in the garage on a bench top so as to be above the floor where any dust might be present (swept & used the air nozzle, then waited a few hours to make sure any dust had settled). Applied the polyurethane & everything looks great. Left the garage door open cause it stinks to high heaven.

Now I'm wondering - If I do the next few coats at night & don't leave the garage door open, will this be a problem? There's a gas water heater in there & I'm worried about the fumes.

Should I be concerned about this? Where do you all do your finishing work? I thought about doing this outside, but don't want it to get covered with bugs, dust and/or leaves.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Mahalo,

A-A

"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso

[ Edited by: Aaron's Akua on 2004-10-31 15:30 ]

On 2004-10-31 15:30, Aaron's Akua wrote:
Where do you varnish your tiki?

Jeez, that's kinda personal isn't it? :o

Your post cracks me up because the other day I'm in Home Depot looking for varnish. Benzart's always talking about the varnish he uses or the marine varnish he used. The employees are too busy with people doing real work for me to bother them. Plus I didn't want to look stupid. Today I go to a Mom and Pop hardware store and look for varnish. None! Where the hell is all the varnish? Are there special "varnish stores?" There was plenty of stain and polyurethane but no varnish. So...your post is telling me that polyurethane IS varnish. Doh! :lol:

I'm a dumbass. :)

I use the Man O War Spar marine varnish. I don't think there's a fire hazard, but just the same it's a good idea to have a well ventilated area. For me, it's my garage, with newspaper to protect the floor. I open the garage door a couple feet during the day with the smaller door open also, helps the breeze come thru. I use 3 coats with 24 hours between each. The wood sucks up the first coat like a sponge. Good luck.

JT!
I know what your sayin! Regarding the ventilation details.

I just bought an awesome Tiki from Vic, and while taking it back home (and with the Modesto sun baking down on it), I was catchin fumes that I haven’t caught since I was in high school woodshop.
Got to tell ya though, it was a fuckin great/strange ride home.

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As far as dust problems go, wet down the floor with a watering can with a sprinkler head on it. As far as bugs and fumes go, you can either have one or the other unless you can afford a ventilation system or have a fly screen on the door.

Garage works, but when I had my "Mr Pelican" business, it was under a big tiki hut and that is where I worked, I used Spar Varnish wich IS Different than the Poly's, but the poly's work well too. I varnished right there with the bugs, dust and sand. The first coats don't make much difference since you are sanding inbetween coats anyway. The Final coat is the one you need to protect and if it gets stuff on it you can wet sand it with 100, 15, and 2000 grits. Don't worry too much, its only a tiki, though I know you want it Perfect.By now we ALL know you are a perfectionist and I say that in a Good way. In the future your tikis will be among the Best around for it.

Hey guys, thanks for all of the good responses.

Kono, it's my understanding that the gloss needs to penetrate all of the cracks. However, this tiki need not be worried 'cause he's not a full body tiki...

JT, I was mostly worried about igniting my garage. :o I'll just raise the garage door a few inches at night - should be okay.

Unga, I'll stick with the occasional martini, but by the smell of this stuff, I'm sure one could cop quite a respectable buzz if so inclined. :wink:

Cheeky & Benz, now I know my options - thanks! If I win the lotto I'll build a fully exhausted varnishing room. Till then, garage will do.

I'm confused with all of these product names. I asked the paint guy for Marine Varnish. He handed me a can of this stuff. When I got home I noticed it wasn't Marine Varnish & said "WHAT THE HELL"! Then I read the label, saw it had only a 6 hour dry time & said "ah, what the hell".

So, this stuff is spar urethane vs. marine varnish vs. polyurethane & I'm really not sure what the difference is. Went back to do some 220 grit sanding after 24 hours & turns out it's still a little tacky. So, I guess it takes 48 hours between coats after all whatever the label says.

I like to varnish my tiki in a quiet candlelite room, some wine... wait your talking about TIKI's... in the garage

I’m not sure how you guys go about varnishing the bottoms of your tikis, or how you keep ‘em from sticking to the paper, tarp, or whatever. Here’s a little vanishing setup that I made with some plywood, 4x4, and a quarter inch steel rod. It works pretty well if you don’t mind drilling a quarter inch hole in the bottom of the tiki. First I turn the tiki upside down & coat the bottom, then flip it back over and set it on the steel rod to finish up the coat.

Also, here’s a good article on the chemistry of varnishes, and what are the different types:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00063.asp

The article is definitely worth a good read vs. a quick scan. Here's an excerpt regarding spar varnish, which seems to be the best type of varnish, hands down:

"Phenolic resins combined with tung oil produce a varnish with superior water resistance, good hardness, exceptional flexibility and good alkali, grease and UV resistance. It's called spar varnish. Unfortunately, the drying times are excruciatingly long, and spar varnish has a deep yellow color that only gets worse as it ages. Still, spar varnish is the best choice for projects, such as outdoor furniture, that will be exposed to the elements."

As a side note, I did notice that the deep yellow of the varnish helped to tone down the very deep reddish brown stain that I used. Golden or greenish tones applied as a topcoat will always help to neutralize or flatten reddish tones. (I spent several years as a carpet dyer in my younger days and learned a few things about mixing colors).

Hope this is helpful.

A-A

"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso

[ Edited by: Aaron's Akua on 2004-11-07 22:24 ]

Hey aaron, that's a pretty interesting way of doing it.
All my varnishing gets done outside. Those vapors can be really nasty (or very nice, depending on your slant to the whole thing) in non-vented area. I also use a mask if I'm spraying and put all my 4 legged critters inside (only if I'm spraying). I try to start as early as possible in the morning, so that I can apply several coats and have them dry before evening comes. I have several dogs and cats, so I usually end up scrambling to remove some hair before the varnish sets!!!
For the bottoms, I usually wait till I have a couple done, flip 'em all upside down and varnish tiki bottoms all day, all at once. I just make sure that I don't have any heavy sanding or cutting going on in the same area while I do it.

"Hey, at least I'm housebroken."

[ Edited by: Polynesiac on 2004-11-08 20:45 ]