Varnishing a Handrail

[SteveMaryland]

I recently fabbed and installed the 8 foot long handrail shown in the attached picture. I used common Home Depot stock material. Good enough.

Varnishing turned out to be a challenge. Handrails are typically long, and every surface is to be varnished with no drips, runs etc. Holding the work became the challenge.

I could have hung the work up vertically, but then the drips/runs would still happen and the work would bounce around like a pendulum during the brushing.

I could not get the drips/runs out of the work. After several coats, steel wool, sanding, I just stopped and stripped everything off.

I then built a holding tool to support the rail horizontally at both ends so that all surfaces were elevated. The tool allowed me to turn the work for varnish application. I also switched to a foam brush instead of bristle. I also periodically turned the work thinking that would cancel out any drip formation.

Still some runs/drips. Really frustrating, especially because these can be felt every time the handrail is grasped. I suppose if I had used a wax or oil finish instead of varnish - but I wanted the finish to match the other woodwork in the stairwell, which is varnished. And I did not want any wax/oil to come off on people's hands.

Has anyone encountered and solved this sort of long-work problem, and what might be the fix? I had thought of fabbing a motorized holding tool something like a rotisserie which would continuously turn the work while the varnish is applied, the idea being that drips could not form if the work is thus turning.

[beeg]

Sounds like you applied to heavy coats.

[reible]

Yes several light coats would be how I would do it. Keep it thin, build up with more after with more coats and the necessary treatments between coats. Final sanding with a piece of brown paper bag.

Ed

[Hobbyman2]

Nice Job ! I started using wipe on finish a while back , it seems to work ok . https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/cl ... pe-on-poly

[BuckeyeDennis]

+1 on the wipe-on poly. No runs, no drips, no errors. You can buy it ready to use, or save some money by mixing your own.

[SteveMaryland]

Thanks everyone for the input. I should have put this question in the woodworking forum...

I should mention that the varnish was Minwax Helmsman polyurethane oil, over analine dye. I have used this varnish for years on floors and interior trim and it never let me down before. I did try to use the very minimum of varnish, and the foam brush, but it ran anyway.

Definitely needed a holding tool. Even with a tool, varnishing anything that is 8 feet long and needs 100 percent coverage is like playing whack-a-mole.

That Minwax wipe-on poly might be the ticket. I wish I had been aware of it before. If I do this handrail over again I will try the wipe-on.

I guess the wipe-on is water based. I have used water based Minwax on a floor, and it's OK but it is completely colorless and does not quite give the nice amber tone that the Helmsman oil does. Helmsman oil is sort of transparent-purple in the can, and the result is a better tone. I wish Minwax would put whatever that purple dye is in their water-based varnish.

[wa2crk]

I have used the wipe polyurethane on some bowl turnings with great success. The Power pro turned down to 250 rpm and then reduced 7 to 1 with the speed reducer yields about 35 rpm and makes the wipe on easy to use.

overall view.jpg (39 KiB) Viewed 858 times

Bill V

[BuckeyeDennis]

I guess the wipe-on is water based. I have used water based Minwax on a floor, and it's OK but it is completely colorless and does not quite give the nice amber tone that the Helmsman oil does. Helmsman oil is sort of transparent-purple in the can, and the result is a better tone. I wish Minwax would put whatever that purple dye is in their water-based varnish.

Minwax wipe-on poly is oil-based. I don’t remember the exact recipe, but you can basically cook up your own, and save a couple of bucks, by diluting regular oil-based poly with mineral spirits. Google can find you the details, if you’re interested.

[SteveMaryland]

Saw some of the DIY wipe-on videos. There are a ton of them on Youtube! Very motivated to try this finish because it seems to be the exact solution for the run/drip problem. Thanks for advising about this.

I saw one wipe-on video which used a three-part poly + thinner + boiled linseed oil combination. That sounds interesting. I have had good results using shellac as a base coat. Maybe I will wipe-on a shellac base and then wipe-on multiple poly coats. I don't mind doing multiple thin coats as long as I get the deep transparent soft-gloss look that I want - with zero runs/drips.

[Hobbyman2]

If you really want a tough finish with a lot of flecks and rays showing dont rule out a oil finish, a tong oil finish will become rock hard . use wet sandpaper like you would for a auto body to apply it , each coat use a finer grit .if you can find 3000 grit for the final coat you will be amazed , drying time is much longer between coats but the detail it brings out is impressive .