: I use X-otic's UV clearcoat called (misspelling is theirs)
: "Sun Bloct Kleer." It is very durable, goes on easily
: with a cheap HVLP gun, and cures very fast. One thing to note,
: this product has a reducer that controls the speed of curing-
: NOT the activator like in epoxy. It's almost like it is a
: three-part polymer. Also note that you don't want to clean your
: gun with thinners. Run the reducer through it because lacquer
: thinner and acetone make this product gummy.

: You can also mix their clearcoat with their Kandy Kolors (again-
: these people like to spell creatively)to get a translucent color
: that will show woodgrains through the color. Some folks asked on
: this forum before about how to have a colored stripe or accent
: and still have the woodgrain show. That would be one way to do
: it. If you don't like it, just sand back down to the glass and
: start over.

: Here's a link to my wood surfboard forum where I detailed how I use
: small plastic cups and mark them to ensure I get a good mix.
: This stuff is VERY sensitive to mix ratios. It takes a 3-1-1/2
: ratio. What I do is mark two cups at the same spot. I then fill
: one cup to that mark with water. Then I divide the water into a
: third cup and compare them until the water is at equal points on
: both cups. That is a perfect 1/2 full line. I mark that on the
: third cup so I now have two cups marked at one part, and one
: marked for a half part. Sounds complicated, but at this link
: it's all shown in pics...

:
: http://www.schweizersurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3&start=30

: Oh, and by the way, this stuff is about $80 a quart. You may get
: away with one quart, but might need two for a large kayak if you
: go with a lot of coats. Also note that it will melt the little
: plastic cups in my pics in the link after about ten minutes, so
: throw the cups away immediately because if you set them down on
: your lovely workbench you'll come back to find a big gob of
: melty plastic. Also note that in the pic I used a glass beaker
: to mix, but don't use anything you want to keep because once it
: sets up it's hard to get off, even on glass. In fact people use
: this stuff to restore plastic headlight lenses.

: It is a bit sensitive to spraygun pressure because it contains a
: lot of solids (which makes it UV protective). You need to play
: with a scrap piece and dial in your pressure settings. I
: recommend the slowest reducer. In this pic I was using the fast
: reducer because I had a deadline to meet and I wanted to be able
: to color sand as soon as possible. (in a few hours with the
: fast) I find you get less orange peel when you continue to
: overlap over itself while it's wet, but I also find that it is
: very sensitive to too much reducer, so it seems the best way to
: get a good layup is to use a slow reducer and ensure you overlap
: as you spray, i.e. spraying each pass half overlapping the
: previous pass while it is still wet. With faster reducer in
: warmer weather the first pass will already be curing as you're
: overlapping. I hope I explained that well enough!

: It is optional, but I color sand down to 2000 grit (or 1500 when
: the paint store runs out of 2000- which seems to happen often)
: and then buff it out with McGuiers buffing compounds in various
: grits. A good one to finish with is called "Liquid
: Ebony" and takes out the last swirl marks. Then use a
: cleaner wax to get it nice and shiny. (Check the mfg's
: recommendation for time between coating and waxing.)

: Hope it helps!

: -Malcolm

Btw, color sanding (seems an odd term for an effectively colorless material) works on varnish too. Just have to make sure the varnish is completely cured first. It's a way the pros get absolutely perfect finishes.

Bill H.