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Anyone ever used varnish as a finish? I had been wondering for some time what Taylor uses on some of their acoustics that have the open grain matte finish and it turns out they use some type of varnish. Looks super sharp on their acoustics and I like to still feel the texture of the grain. Any experience doing this type of finish?

I use varnish, but I pore fill for a smooth final finish, and buff to a nice patina sort of semi-gloss. I like the clarity, patina, and feel of varnish, plus Behlens Rockhard that I use is tough as nails. I don't know that varnish is better than any others for the type of finish you describe.

I'd be surprised if Taylor used varnish in a production environment. It's very slow drying.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Taylor uses a UV cured polyester on everything I've seen. Tough stuff but a nightmare to repair invisibly. Varnish is a pretty broad term these days, applied to everything from polyurethanes to resin dissolved in spirits. If you like to feel the texture of the grain, something like Walnut oil may be what you want. Or a low sheen Tung oil perhaps.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/ac ... res/finish

They describe their varnish at the very bottom. I think that they apply it to their less expensive models.

Back in the day I used McCloskeys Heirloom varnish. For my taste, it brought out the wood color beautifully, and i like the feel. As others have said, it is a slow process. It would not dry on rosewood, a shellac sealer takes care of that issue.

More recently, on a cabinet made with Koa, I used Epiphanes marine varnish. Even applied by brush, it flows out very smooth. So much so that I didn't even level or buff (might not get away with this on a guitar) The color effect is awesome and it is very tough. Might try it on a solid body someday

After reading the Taylor blurb, I feel compelled to reword it a bit
These are the entry level, we don't bother to porefill or put on enough coats to polish out the finish.

Two or three coats of just about any oil varnish (TruOil or Rockhard are what I have used) will give similiar results. So will several coats of shellac, either wiped, brushed, or sprayed. Most of us put a little more effort into the finish, I'm only about 1/4 done where Taylor stops with their varnish.
(This is not meant to be derogatory to Taylor, just a little insight about advertisers describing an "economically effective" finish.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I'm sure the varnish Taylor is referring to is some type of conversion varnish. The main reason behind the UV polyester is production speed. Literally cured in less than 30 seconds. I don't see them using any type of air dry materials. even conversion varnish which is usually 6-8 hours to stack and pack would be slow compared to the UV.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

One thing to think about is varnish varies,
a lot!
I used Old Masters varnish.
Took forever to dry,
but really looked nice.
Darkened up the wood a lot.
I also used Sherwin Williams "Wood Classic".
It dried really fast,
but was much lighter in color.
I think they put tung oil in the Old Masters.