Water based finishes

[Vetteman9956]

I have never been a real fan of water based finishes because I never had much luck with them and have never been real happy with the results. I pretty much stuck with the solvent based finishes but I have to say that has changed.

Recently I pick up a can of General Finishes Enduro-Var in the black can at Woodcraft. I just finished a group of award plaques for our high school band banquet. it would have been to much trouble to get the HVLP set up to spray them so I was told you can brush this stuff on as well as spray. All I can say is boy has my mind changed. I made them out of Alder and applied Bulls-eye seal coat to them before the Enduro-Var.

I brushed this stuff on a test piece with a cheap foam brush and used 2 coats, 30 mins apart. It looked like I had sprayed them and what a smooth finish. No runs, no drips, no smell, easy clean-up and with a 99 cent froam brush to boot. I finished the plaques with it and am very happy with the results. I am sold and will be using this product from now on. If you haven't tried this then you need to, it's far superior to any other water based finish that I have ever tried.

 

[Canuck]

+1 Brad!

On my last project I sprayed a couple of coats of the General finishes Polyacrylic water based stuff.

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2000756/2150/polyacrylic-satin-quart.aspx

Although a little pricey, I found it to be great stuff as well. What impressed me was that when Satin finish really is a nice finish. In the past, with solvent based poly, I had trouble cutting the gloss of the satin finish.

Wayne

 

[Flootsie]

Thanks for this info. I have a couple of antique chess boards on their way from England, and at least one of them will need refinishing. I really truly dislike water-based finishes, and was not overly impressed by the spray shellac we used on the last board.

Photos of board

So I kind of had in the back of my mind that I needed to go on a hunt and was thinking that a good old-fashioned buffed wax finish might be most appropriate. However, the issue was by no means resolved for me.

 

[Phil S]

I am also sold on General Finishes Enduro-var. I used it on all the trim work in my shop and also on my new assembly table. Applied with a foam brush and looks like I sprayed the finish. This is not like any other water-based finish that I have tried. Seems they have finally developed as user-friendly finish that surpasses solvent-based. I doubt I will ever revert back to the solvent-based.

 

[JackLeg]

Really glad to see this post! I can do that "foam brush" thing! :wsmile:

 

[Vetteman9956]

Wayne, the Enduro-var is the next generation of what you used on your last project.

 

[farmerbw]

We've been using the WB GF Polyacrylic, as well as their WB stains, for several years now and have been very pleased with their results and longevity. I may have to give the Enduro-var a try when we run through our current supply of Polyacrylic. I'm actually experimenting some now with an outdoor WB solution and will provide some info on that once I've played with it a little more.

Thanks for the feedback on the new product Brad, it's good to see that GF is continuing in a positive direction with their new products. :icon_thum

Brian.

 

[G_ville_worker]

I sprayed some furniture I built with General Finishes water based poly about 5 years ago. Thought it went pretty well. Have to check out this stuff.