# Oil or Varnish -- Practical Sailor's published test results of oils and varnishes



## WilWait (May 4, 2009)

Greetings: Would a kind sailor kindly indicate where I can find the Practical Sailor's published results to the test Dwayne referred to below, please?

And the would the "Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish " be this product from Ace Hardware?

ABSOLUTE COATINGS 50704 "LAST-N-LAST" MARINE AND DOOR SPAR VARNISH 1Qt. - HIGH GLOSS

LAST N LAST MARINE & DOOR SPAR VARNISH 
ABSOLUTE 50704 -- HIGH GLOSS

I wouldn't want to buy another product when "Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish " came out No 1. (Please see quote below)

I'll be doing the finishing on my britework on Friday.

Thanks for your input.

Wil



DwayneSpeer said:


> Practical Sailor just published their results from a 6 month test of lots of oils and varnishes on deck. Surprisingly, one of the best was Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish and, of course, it's a lot less expensive that stuff you get at a marine store. AND a great advantage for many of us is that multiple coats can be applied over a weekend as the recoat time is only 4 hours.


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## jbondy (Mar 28, 2001)

Practical Sailor is a subscription service. You need to go to their web site and subscribe. You'll be able to access the article on-line.


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## WilWait (May 4, 2009)

*Practical Sailor, Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish and Last N Last 5074 ?*

Thanks Joel. Would you be kind enough to provide me with the URL please?

And meanwhile, if one of you has read the results of their 6 month tests on oils and varnishes would it be possible to confirm that their recommendation of "Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish " is the same as 
this product from Ace Hardware?

LAST N LAST MARINE & DOOR SPAR VARNISH 
ABSOLUTE 50704 -- HIGH GLOSS

ABSOLUTE COATINGS 50704 "LAST-N-LAST" MARINE AND DOOR SPAR VARNISH 1Qt. - HIGH GLOSS

Thanks again Joel and Dwayne.

Wil



jbondy said:


> Practical Sailor is a subscription service. You need to go to their web site and subscribe. You'll be able to access the article on-line.


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## jbondy (Mar 28, 2001)

www dot practical-sailor dot com


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## WilWait (May 4, 2009)

*Practical Sailor and Ace -- "Gloss Spar" or "Last n Last High Gloss" -- Which please?*

Found it. Thanks Joel.

Only problem is they want $26 of my dollars to find out if : 
"Ace Hardware Gloss Spar Varnish"

is the same as

LAST N LAST MARINE & DOOR SPAR VARNISH also from Ace Hardware.

Would a subscriber be kind enough to click on:
Six-Month Checkup: Long-Term Wood Finish Exposure Test

and answer my only question -- please?

Thanks.

Wil



jbondy said:


> www dot practical-sailor dot com


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

*It's not..*

It's not the same. Please DO NOT go to all the work of stripping, sanding and building up coats based on a sixth month PS review. As a LONG time subscriber I have seen six month results wind up in last place at the year mark before...

If you want a real varnish Epifannes last a long time. I am actually using the Minwax Helmsman Spar Varnish on my Drop boards and at year three it still looks good though it is under the dodger so it's not a real fair assessment.

You can actually see the boards in this photo at year two.. Still if going in direct sun I would not have used the Minwax..


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

If you have a lot of exterior teak I think you should consider using Cetol Natural Teak which should substantially reduce the amount of maintenance you will need to do and is much cheaper then Bristol Finish.
Search the forums for Cetol there are lots of posts about it.
I don't think that you should look to save money in this area by getting the cheapest yet (currently) highly rated product. Nearly everyone uses Cetol these days and there is a reason why.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company.


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## WilWait (May 4, 2009)

*Thanks*

Thanks gentlemen.

Most informative and appreciated.

Wil



CalebD said:


> If you have a lot of exterior teak I think you should consider using Cetol Natural Teak which should substantially reduce the amount of maintenance you will need to do and is much cheaper then Bristol Finish.
> Search the forums for Cetol there are lots of posts about it.
> I don't think that you should look to save money in this area by getting the cheapest yet (currently) highly rated product. Nearly everyone uses Cetol these days and there is a reason why.
> Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*The $127 question is...*



Maine Sail said:


> It's not the same. Please DO NOT go to all the work of stripping, sanding and building up coats based on a sixth month PS review. As a LONG time subscriber I have seen six month results wind up in last place at the year mark before...
> 
> If you want a real varnish Epifannes last a long time. I am actually using the Minwax Helmsman Spar Varnish on my Drop boards and at year three it still looks good though it is under the dodger so it's not a real fair assessment.
> 
> You can actually see the boards in this photo at year two.. Still if going in direct sun I would not have used the Minwax..


Who makes the varnish for Ace? It isn't Ace.

So, as Mainesail says, it may look like junk at year one, or it may look like another product... because it is! There are a lot of products on the test slate, and I would be surprised if there is not overlap.

I say this only because my company used to supply ingredients to paint companies, and there aren't that many. There is a LOT of re-labeling. I think I knew who did Ace at some point, but alas, it's gone. No idea, good or bad.

In the past I have test different sorts of fuel additives - my area of expertise - for PS, and in general there are a few manufactures and a whole lot of re-labling.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I'd second this... as someone who's family was in the paint manufacturing business... he's right... there aren't all that many paint companies.... and many products are often the same thing sold under different names, in different packages, at different prices. For many years, ther was only one company making SPACKLE, and on a factory tour many years ago, I got to see first hand how almost all the brands of spackle were canned on the same production line.



pdqaltair said:


> Who makes the varnish for Ace? It isn't Ace.
> 
> So, as Mainesail says, it may look like junk at year one, or it may look like another product... because it is! There are a lot of products on the test slate, and I would be surprised if there is not overlap.
> 
> ...


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## Sanduskysailor (Aug 1, 2008)

As a person in the paint/coatings industry, I know that Ace has their own factory in Matteson Illinois to make paint. The MSDS lists Ace Paint Division as the manufacturer. I would have thought that this would have been a vendored item.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*Then I stand corrected.*



Sanduskysailor said:


> As a person in the paint/coatings industry, I know that Ace has their own factory in Matteson Illinois to make paint. The MSDS lists Ace Paint Division as the manufacturer. I would have thought that this would have been a vendored item.


I said it was only $127 question. Perhaps I was remembering that they were the one that was different. Back in the day, many hardware stores made their own from linseed oil, lead paste, and tint. Sounds like Ace started out that way and kept at it.

Everything I ever sold went into latex, I've never had a boat with exterior varnish, so I'm not weighing in.


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## delan (May 2, 2009)

After using Schooner Varnish for the last fifteen years down here in Florida, a friend talked me into trying Awlspar, what a difference, goes on way easier without thinning and I was putting on three coats a day without sanding, which the manufacturer says is acceptable.


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