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Fixing new varnish coat with runs
I just recoated my Mill Creek 16 with a fresh coat of varnish (Schooner 96) and it probably came out the best I have ever done before except around the coamings on both sides some runs formed. I know I should just sand it down and just recoat it but I doubt I will ever be able to get it as good as this coat again. I was thinking of trying to wet sand the runs with progressively fine grit paper and then try and polish it to a shine. Is this possible? Has anyone done this?
Thanks,
Steve
4 replies:
RE: Fixing new varnish coat with runs
hi steve,
i have found good luck with sanding out the run with a wet paper and a block behind my paper....getting to 1200 grit.
sometimes if i keep the area small, it will not be noticable. if i have lost the shine and it is noticable, i have done varnish touch-ups with a foam brush and a bit more varnish over the area that has been repaired and then quickly fared into the remaining varnish (e.g., put two or three drops of varnish right on the repair area and quick fare it in with a foam brush).
if you step back a pace or two it would be very difficult to see.
h
RE: Fixing new varnish coat with runs
Reinforcement for using a sharp scraper to level the run. Then sand till shiny.
RE: Fixing new varnish coat with runs
Thanks for the advice! I finally threw up my hands and sanded then added another coat. This one has a few slight runs but it is accepatble for now.
RE: Fixing new varnish coat with runs
» Submitted by Shapiro, Peter - Sun, 3/26/23 » 3:32 PM
Hi Steve - Since no one else has offered any advice, I'll share my experience with varnish runs. They can be handled in various ways, depending on how fresh they are. On new drips, I wait until they are firmed up a bit and take them off carefully with a sharp chisel. Once that coat has fully cured, it is possible to sand carefully up through the grits to about 12,000 grit, which is a high gloss. This does remove a fair amount of the varnish, however, and the area worked on will be noticeable, compared to the surrounding area. But it may not matter much, if you're just going for protection of the epoxy underneath. If the run has sat for a few days and has fully hardened, it's safer to remove the run with a sharp scraper rather than with sandpaper, as you will inevitably remove a lot of surrounding varnish as well if you use sandpaper. Once the run is flushed to the surrounding surface, then you can try the sanding through the grits. But I usually just bite the bullet on any repair like this and simply apply another coat to the whole area after removing the runs. it's often the easiest.