My varnish is doing me wrong

[doug hodder]

MadJack makes a good point about humidity. It can also cause an amine blush in epoxies which is a pain to get rid of. I think that humidity causes most of your problems when spraying or doing any finish work. I live in an environment where it isn't that big of a problem, but check with your supplier...... Doug Hodder

[bledsoe3]

I don't do a lot of staining, but I've been told by some who do. "Always mix seperate cans of stain together prior to using". The two will always be the same color that way.

[asianflava]

????Humid, in Florida???

It really didn't bother me until I moved away. When I came home, I felt like I was constantly wet.

[Geron]

my experience with spar varnish is once it is open, it ages, it gets alittle darker as the the violatile components start evaporating and it is exposed to air. The color change is not that dramatic of a shift just a little deeper amber color. You can run into problems with not mixing it once in awhile and get sheen differences, those are slight. Tempeture and relative humidity does affect curing times not color

I think IraRat's problem is mismatched wood, not from the same tree, it is as simple as that.

Happened with my kitchen cabinets. When I built them I was one piece short. It's very obvious even though it was 3/4 inch "birch" ply just like the rest. Seems to me the situation is OFTEN unavoidable and lends character.

The cabinet still hold dishes even though the wife does occasionally mention the variance in color. Doesn't bother me a bit.

I think it's the wood also.

Geron

[toypusher]

Ira,

Not that it will help this time, but if you do this kind of thing again, use a light sanding sealer before applying any thing else to the wood. This should help keep stains/varnish or what ever you put on from soaking in at a different rate and causing them to look different.

Kerry

[IraRat]

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy yet another sheet--after I wait until after this weekend, let that half can age/settle, apply yet another coat, and see if that piece gets any closer to matching.

What scares me is if it doesn't, and I do another sheet, that I will get yet a THIRD tone out of this!

I stirred very well--but gently. And as some of you may recall, this varnish cost a fortune because of its UV resistance. Only 3 coats recommended for 20-year protection. (Pratt & Lambert's Vitralite.)

Funny how the simple things can turn out to be the most complicated.

The other thing is if I have to do another piece, I'm not going to cut it prior to varnishing. I don't know which of the other two it's going to closest match!!!

[IraRat]

by the way your name came up several times in Minden, all good things too!! Doug Hodder

You sure it wasn't another Ira?

[toypusher]

Hopefully, when you do a third, then at least two of them will be close enough to use.

Good Luck! Hope the third time is a charm!

Kerry

[IraRat]

You scared me for a second, Kerry. At first I thought you meant third TEARDROP!

What's weird is that although it's a lot of work and I want to EVENTUALLY finish it, I'm sure it's gonna be bitterweet when I do. A lot of the joy seems to be in the planning, buying stuff and the building of it.

[Guest]

A lot of the joy seems to be in the planning, buying stuff and the building of it.

Build... sell, build... sell, repeat as necessary.

[IraRat]

A lot of the joy seems to be in the planning, buying stuff and the building of it.

Build... sell, build... sell, repeat as necessary.

I always thought that was just a corporate gimmick to get you to use more shampoo than actually necessary.

[Brad Lustig]

This may sound weird, and I think your problem is just having ply from two different runs, but flip one panel upside down and then compare them. Sometimes wood will change color by the way the light hits the grain. Kind of like how carpet will "change color" when the grain is pushed in one direction compared to it being in another direction. In any case, it sounds like you may need to pick up another piece or two of ply. You could just pick up one piece and then cut a scrap piece out and use that to get the color to match up with either varnish or a combination of stain and varnish.

[Chip]

Ira,, look on the bright side,, do a third panel and pick the two that closely match each other,, use the third for other things in the rig,,,

chip

[IraRat]

Yep, Brad. And yes, Chip.

But what kills me is that I don't even HAVE a use for the throwaway piece. MAYBE for the air conditioning enclosure/tongue box, but I don't think so. And I planned on doing the galley in mica and aluminum, so nothing there.

Oy, 30 bucks wasted. But maybe I can donate the piece to the TD Hall of Fame--if I can get a tax deduction on it.

Tonight, I'll take a few shots to show you how off these two pieces are.

[Chip]

Plywood cut into strips makes a dandy kindling for da fire,,, It give ya a nice warm feeling ,,,,