Furniture Finishes - Varnish verses Polyurethane

[PAR]

I wouldn't buy the varnish from Progressive Epoxies (site listed just above this). They openly admit they don't know the formulation, nor the base oil, though they assume it's linseed, rather the tung. Linseed will darken (turn black) with age, which is why good varnishes use tung. I suspect they're just re-badging someone else's stuff.

[kach22i]

I did a test batch of lacquer and one of varnish at the same time. Less than 1-SQ. Ft. of surface material area, and after cleaning the brushes I had to leave the house. The fumes were that bad even after taking the cleaning rags outside.

The lacquer reminds me of model airplane dope I used to use on tissue paper covered balsa framed aircraft when I was a teenager. Cheap buzz but not the intended result.

The shellac sealer with a polyurethane top coat is almost as nice as what I can do with varnish alone, and that is close to lacquer without evicting every living thing from the house for several hours.