McCloskey/Valspar Spar Varnish - # 7505 Man O' War - 1 Gallon ~ Satin

Purchased this varnish for redwood deck coffee/cocktail tables.The resulting finish is outstanding, satin in my case. Varnish is easy to apply, not unlike the consistency of honey, and I recommend a quality bristle brush or even a quality foam brush. My choices are Wooster, available here on Amazon.Varnish sets quickly, so within 4-6 hours you can handle -- carefully -- your object. Thorough drying seems to take at least a day, else the finsih seems soft and prone to scratches, normal for any varnish. I have applied 3 coats, with light sanding (200+ grit) for a smooth and great finish coat. Will probably apply a 4th coat. Still, this varnish seems to go a long way -- after 3 coats on each of 3 16" cube deck tables, the amount of varnish used seems quite small.A little goes a long way, the varnish makes the natural redwood tones literally pop out at you.I am counting on this marine varnish to help reduce the heavy solar erosion effects we experience here.Highly recommended for outdoor wood finishing. Great results.

This is the second time I have used Man-O-War spar varnish and it is an outstanding product. This varinish lasts for over a year in the Denver sun. Varnished wood takes a beating in the high altitude sun in Denver, but this product stands up to it.

The time came to refinish the 10x10 cypress beams on my front porch. After a bunch of research for products to withstand sunlight i came across man o war. The finish was easy to apply and yielded a beautiful finish. Not quite the satin finish i was looking for but came out great regardless. Will try to remember to edit this after it has been on for a while to say how it’s holding up to the daily sun exposure but i feel confident it will last much longer than the original finish.

Simply the best you can thin to 50%

I was building some furniture that I wanted a "Old school varnish" and this product seems to fit the need,since I have not had it for a length of time. so I do not the test of time, I gave it 4 stars, I have no doubt that it will meet my expectation on the time side, it has the look i wanted,it does have a very strong oder when drying , (use in a well venerated area),

It works good when you open up a new can. Once you close it again (airtight) it will build a thin film on the surface. You have to remove that layer carefully every single time again and you have to deal with little clots in the paint … that’s annoying and not what I expected for that amount of money.I never had that problem with any other paint.For me this stuff is not worth the money and I definitely recommend to buy something else.

I originally treated my beautiful cedar columns with polyurethane only to have them turn white in the direct sunlight. After 4 days of sanding I applied the Man-O-War Spar Varnish. OMG what a difference! The columns just exploded with deep rich colors. I waited about 2 weeks and gave it a second coat and now they look like fine furniture, almost too good to be outside. It goes on like water and soaks deep into the grain. I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

I used the stuff as a finish for a whole bunch of aircraft chocks I was making for our Aviation museum. The challenge was to find a varnish that will hold up while submitted to the harsh life of being dragged around airfields and keeping Warbirds in Place!This stuff protects the wooden chocks very well and has a nice low level shine that looks good in historical surroundings.