Polyurethane - your favourites?

I'm doing a thorough review of all my finishes. Poly is first, paints next!

For poly, one of my favourites for finishing, I've been thinking about which brand I should use and whether there are any major differences in them. Price isn't a real consideration.

So, I ask, what is your favourite and why?

My criteria are fairly simple: sprayable, sits flat, doesnt orange peel, dries fast and dries hard, can be rubbed out to a glass finish and remains non-yellowing.

Any recommendations on what you've successfully used previously?

(this is just about poly, not other finishes, they are separate)

So, nobody uses Poly?

Well, my search has been very interesting. I've found four first-class contenders.

-- Behlen Rockhard Table Top Urethane Varnish - Guitar Aust website
-- CFP water floor Cabots (That place...)
-- BONA Traffic poly (Monaro Timbers)
-- MIROTEC WB 8052 Clear Polyurethane Water Based Topcoat? (Clear hard)

Seems water based gives a much better result, which is very interesting indeed.

Suggestions and comments welcome!

WP,

Not much helpful to add but I’ll start the ball rolling..

i’ve used many oil-based polys including Feast Watson, Minwax and the rest of the usual suspects. I’ve never found one that doesn’t yellow over time. Haven’t used water-based due to the bad press they’ve had in the past, but must give them a try.

As far as brands go I have had good success with both Behlen and Mirotone products, although not, as I say, water-based poly. Outside the poly subject of this thread but I like the Behlen NC pre-cat stringed instrument lacquer over their vinyl sealer. Also really like Mirotone’s Mirolac pre-cat lacquer. The sheer speed of drying and almost no dust nibs is a huge plus for me.

Back to the topic!! I’d love to find a water-based poly I could spray and get good results, so I’ve pulled up a chair, opened a bottle of red and will follow your search with great interest. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

Brian

None of them. Why people insist on putting a plastic film, (that will inevitably yellow, crack and peel), on anything is beyond me. Given that any poly "finished" item will require complete stripping and refinishing if anything goes wrong, (have you tried to blend a poly repair?), put me in the hate camp.

Apologies to any I offend.

I think detest, is a better descriptor that hate.

Ha! ONE bottle won't cover my glaciatic speeds! :)

I love nitro too. I've an industrial Wattyl here that just keeps going and going. That can refuses to go off.

Brian, perhaps you are a guitar maker? This, in many respects, is where I'm coming from. I study many of the guitar making processes and great artists and incorporate their unbelievable skills into my box making.... After all, isn't a guitar just a fancy box ;)

Seriously though, the finishing skills and materials of luthiers are first rate. Though, I'm using a faster/cheaper material to finish as I'm not getting that much from my boxes.... Now, if I was getting $15k like Greenfield does for his guitars, then I'd be VERY pleased to spend a week on finish :)

I might stop overthinking it and just use what the guitar guys do.... Epoxy, CA, BEHLAN or NC

:)

Nitro works, and is fine. light rub to bring it to the same gloss level and reapply, like french polishing really. Poly is evil.

Hmmm - I’d better lay in a bigger supply of red :D

i’m not a luthier, WP, just an amateur looking to build the best boxes I can. Like you, I see luthiers as a great source of inspiration especially when it comes to finishing. I buy quite a bit of of my finishing material from luthiersaustralia.com.au or guitaraust.com.au.

As a professional you’d know much more than I do about the economics of finishing. However, I do know that I can put a good finish on a box quickly with NC, I can choose the gloss level and the finish is quite stable. I suspect I save more in time than the differential cost of materials.

I do like french polishing but I see that’s completely impractical for a professional like you who needs a fast turnaround. Talking with Andrew Crawford recently, he believes it takes a good 14 days to fp a box well, allowing time for the settling back of the shellac then building up again. :C

Boxmaker Ian Hawthorne from Northern Ireland says on Facebook that the finish he uses for his boxes (he sells through Linley amongst others) is “2 part polyturethane base coat followed by Acrylic top coat”.

If you do go ahead with a comparison of water-based polys, WP, I’d be very interested to hear how it goes.

Cheers,

Brian

Professional! No, just enough to keep the wolves from the door and starvation at bay :)

Homey, you mentioned two of my all time favorites. Both are stellar.

Lilly Grace (Neville OFarrell) Lilly Grace Boxes is my absolute favourite. He can be blamed for pushing me into poly. I've been following him for years, and a question here and a question there has winkled out a wee bit of useful knowledge for a peon like me!

I have really tried to avoid the Finishing Wars. I fully understand people dislike one or love another. My intention is to offer a few finishes to the highest level I can achieve (I'm really not that good or especially skilled!). Each has distinct benefits.

Cats out of bags, I've been using Cabots until now. It's excellent, but it takes forever to harden. I use nitro too, plus my favourite oil --> Livos Kunos.

I've a full FP setup and know the process well. If clients want it, I'm happy to do it, but honestly.... Most don't really care that much. Most like shiney, that's how they roll...

Maybe one day I'll be able to push my prices up through that value-proposition... One day!