Epifanes Premium Wood Finish Gloss Varnish - High Gloss Protection for Boats, Furniture & Outdoor Wood - UV Resistant & Waterproof Marine Varnish for Yachts, Decks & Fine Woodworking

I have been looking for years for a wood finish that was durable, glossy, thick, and would dry over oily exotic hardwoods, PLUS have UV blockers to keep these woods from darkening. So far, tulipwood, Mexican kingwood, and amboyna have not darkened in several months after application. The only drawback is that it must be brushed on; no spray version is available, and it's expensive.Wonderful stuff. Just love it and the finish is wonderful and durableEPIFANES CLEAR VARNISH vs. EPIFANES WOOD FINISH. First of all both Epifanes finishes are far superior to any of the water based finishes which are probably more suitable to be used with a sprayer on anything but a very flat surface. The Epifanes finishes (Wood Finish and Clear Varnish) are much easier to apply by hand than others, but they are NOT the same product. The first thing you notice is that Wood Finish has suspended solids that need to be stirred every time you use the finish. If you don't your finish won't have the same UV protection and you will end up with a thick layer of goop at the bottom of the can which seems to be what happened to one reviewer. My experience is that the Wood Finish also seems to drip a little easier and dry a little faster than the Clear Vanish which makes it difficult to apply if you are doing something like a chair. I also noticed that the Wood Finish is more difficult to get a flat finish as it tends to follow the grain and imperfections of the wool a little more than the Clear Varnish. The Clear Vanish tends to fill in any perfections and is self leveling. The Clear Varnish is superior in my opinion.THINNING The base solvent for almost all oil based varnishes is Naphtha and Epifanes is no different. The can also says you can use a high quality mineral spirits. The key here is "high quality". Low quality solvent, whether the can says 'paint thinner; 'mineral spirits', or 'naphtha' will have a higher percentage of water, and oil and water don't mix. If you try thinning with the large can of paint thinner or minieral spirits you can get from the big box stores you will not be happy. You can by a smaller can of actual Naphtha from the big box stores, but the percentage of water is still likely to be high. It is frustrating thing to spend $50 on a can of finish and then ruin it by mixing with solvent AND water. The Epifanes Thinner is basically pure naphtha and works great for thinning. For me it is worth the additional cost. I use cheap mineral spirits for cleaning or storing my brushes between coats and make sure it get as much out as possible before applying another coat.Good productWe just build an outdoor bar out of roughsawn lumber. We used the clear gloss varnish for the initial coats as required and finished with two coats of matte. Perfection! I did hours of research before selecting Epiphanes. Our weather has many extremes, and many expert blogs recommended Epiphanes Because it breathes, it doesn't get brittle over time. Project is time intensive--7-8 coats required initially (but no sanding between coats if recoated within 72 hours yay!) BUT annual maintenance for continued protection is just light sanding and one coat.Their customer support is outstanding! I am a total novice. They walked me through my questions and made additional suggestions. I messed up 1/2 way through and send a Sunday night panicked email--amazed when my phone rang Monday am. Their support Rep said he could sense my panic and wanted to reassure me, then walk me through the corrective steps. WOW!! Bar is finished and simply beautiful.My husband acquired a 1950 GMC pickup last year and has slowly been refurbishing it. He decided to replace the bed with oak and we started to check out the best finishing product to use. Upon reading about each product and all the reviews, we chose the Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss. I called the company and received some great pointers which sealed the deal for us. This product is used on wooden boats so is ideal for a pickup bed. We've completed the job using 7 coats front, back, edges and holes. It all turned out beautifully and the product was quite easy to use and the clean up was a breeze. We have a hard tough finish with a rich depth of golden color. Now just awaiting the paint job and will then install the bed. We can hardly wait! I don't think anyone could go wrong with this particular product.Expensive but excellent results. Outdoor rocker I purchased at the beach only survived 14 years in the Alabama sun before the exposed wood finally weathered badly. Searched for a high UV protection after all the work getting it back into shape and most everyone pointed at this product. Coating looks as good as the original after following the instructions on the can.Used this product to refinish the mahogany woodwork in a old Boston Whaler. Very good results after five coats. Drying time is longer than stated, but within the 72 hours to not requiring sanding in between coats. I don’t have a lot of varnishing experience so may it’s true of all varnishes, but once the can is opened, the shelf life is not very long. I tried storing the can upside down, but still hardened after a few weeks.so don’t buy more than you need.This boat varnish is used by the best in their trade - the Boat Race launches are an example. But the price!!Brace yourself. Having come to terms with the astronomical cost, the results are stunning.