Thread: wood coatings

This appears to be a polyurethane which usually out preforms traditional varnishes, though not without draw backs of it's own.

I'm hoping to use it instead of spar varnish,which takes forever to dry.I'm looking at using it inside my ozracer when i build it and cockpit floor of my FD restoration

Spar varnish has it's uses, but you'll get good preformance from a well formulated polyurethane.

Hop on boatcraftnsw.com.au and take a look at the clear system page

Scott you wouldn't be trying to talk him into that WR-LPU system from Aquacote are you?

Helliconia54, I don't think you'll like the gloss of these WR-LPU's though they are easy cleanup and not especially hard to apply if you're comfortable with solvent based LPU's. I don't know what their pricing is, but assuming it's in line with the other WR-LPU's, so they're not cheap. For you uses, a good single part polyurethane will serve nearly as well and for considerably less money.

Par,
You got me hook line and sinker on that one...

Scott, when you get a chance, try some of the WR-LPU's and see what you think. I'm not especially impressed, particularly given the cost.

I bought some of the Aquacote water-based paint (white), and I found that a single coat is very thin indeed. I applied white Aquacote to an off-white base, and after a single coat it remained pretty much off-white and no gloss. I concluded that I would need about 4+ coats to get a decent paint film down. Since I brush it on, to paint a large area means coming back 4 times and that could take a bit out of your schedule. But, excepting time and cost, you've got to love the easy clean-up and health benefits (no solvents). And being an LPU, it should be very hard and wear well.

I've found the WR-LPU's (water based) to be less then desirable for several reasons. First is the sensitivity to "fre-cut" sand papers. If you use this type of paper, you can rest assured the paint job will peel off in big sheets, which I learned the hard way after hundreds of dollars in paint alone was applied. Next on the list is the gloss, which is not as good as a single part polyurethane and no where near a solvent based LPU. You can buff the paint to a reasonable luster, but this is just wearing down the film thickness. The WR-LPU's also dry way to fast to be sprayed with reliable results. I've tried everything including running the air hose through a buckt of ice cubes and water, but it drys so quickly, that it's dust, 6" out of the gun. It does self level, so roll and tip works, but this is a chore if you have a 40' yacht to paint. As far as durability, the jury is still out on the WR-LPU's.