Wood Varnish
Wood Varnish is referred to a hard, thin, transparent film on a wood
product. they are usually glossy but may be produced as satin or semi-gloss.
The following factors are typically considered to select a wood varnish:
- Appearance
- Durability
- Protection
- Drying Time
- Expense
- Reparability
- Ease of application
For the solvent based varnishes, hardening takes place as soon as the
solvent has fully evaporated. Note that in some situations varnish may
experience a curing process. Curing is simply described as a chemical
reaction between components of the varnish as well as between oil
and oxygen in the air.
Oil based varnishes are thought to give more luxurious looking and
produce a deeper finish than water based varnishes. This is because the oil in the oil-based varnish is actually absorbed into the wood
surface, while the water based just dries on surface of the wood.
For water based varnishes, hardening takes place as soon as the
water has fully evaporated. They were designed for commercial/high
traffic areas where durability is important and compared to solvent based.
You may apply a solvent based varnish as a final coat on top of the
two or more water based varnish coat. Just make sure about the
compatibility of to varnishes.
Let’s have quick compare for both
Water Based
-it is apply easier
- It dries very quickly.
- It has very little odor.
- In low water and no chemicals areas is acceptable.
- The wood will look more natural with a water-based finish.
- It is more expensive than oil based by sometimes 3- 5 times
- Grain raising may happen that requires you to sand the first coat with a
very fine sandpaper.
- The reparebility is poor.
Oil based
- It is thought to give the wood more depth and more color.
- It takes much more longer for each coat to be dried. You have to
wait as long as 24 h for drying and several days for fully curing.
- Its applying need more experience.
- It has smell.
- The repeatability is excellent.
- The scratch resistance is fair.
- It is less expensive that water based.
- You need to apply fewer coats.
I found a nice picture from a link below (click on the picture for the link).
It shows the water based varnish on the left hand side vs oil based varnish
on the right hand side.
