Verified Purchase

Used it on my mahogany desk and railings. Looks fabulous.

Verified Purchase

great as overcoat without thinning

Verified Purchase

Great Tinted Varnish for refinishing weathered wood, especially exterior wood that needs just a bit more even color added after you've done your sanding and applied a Teak Sealer as a primer. For me with Teak pieces, 2 coats of RapidCoat generally do it . Then you add Clear Varnish coats after that as needed for more UV protection without adding anymore color to the wood grain.

Verified Purchase

I have refinished numerous furniture pieces over the years but have never had the occasion to use Epifanes Rapid. We constructed a new house with a mahogany entry door and I was leery of using a spar varnish since the results are spotty at best. I reasoned that using a boat type varnish would fit the bill and decided on Epifanes. The results are amazing. I applied 4 coats thinned about 15% and couldn't be happier with the look and feel of the door. time will tell if it holds up to the weather but initial results are extremely satisfying. I also like the fact that I can re-coat without sanding which increases efficiency of the system overall. I would definitely recommend this product.

Verified Purchase

Had 17 exterior colums with a Walnut stain to refinish that were poorly done and hadn't been touched in 6 years being exposed to California sun. Cleaned dirt with mineral spirit, filled cracks with exterior exterior wood sealer, sanded with 320, wiped with sticky rags to remove dust, wiped on American Walnut stain with old T-shirt rags. Applied first diluted Rapid coat with Epifane 1 1/2 brush. Diluted with 50% mineral spirit. Applied second coat with rapid coat, 10% diluted. Applied third and fourth coat the same. No brush marks. Although recommendation for Rapid Coat is not to dilute, I was afraid it wouldn't adhere well, hence the 50% dilution first. The 10% was needed to achieve better flow since all the surfaces were vertical. I didn't sand between coat and the results were astonishing. I am hoping that I have to recoat every two years instead of every year, but time will tell.

Usually requires some thinning (turpentine) and a bit of Penatrol is advised. Application of several coats of Woodfinish Gloss (no sanding between coats) followed by light sanding then two coats of the Clear (sand between them) for maximum weather protection and UV shielding. This comes close to the maximum protecion that I have seen.

1928 Eight Metre

Varnishwork toerail and Cabin

I used this to build up coats on the interior of a 1959 Barbour speedboat. The boat has a lap-strake plywood hull which is not the pretiest nor smoothest wood to finish. With only 2 coats, the interior looks great! I wish I would have used this product on some other varnishing projects...it would have cut days and at least 10 coats of regular varnish.

i had to thin this product to use on a new front door. it was just too thick to blend quickly without drying out. I also sanded lightly between coats.

This would probably be fine on a large surface that can be brushed out quickly. I used it on installed casement windows with muntins. Too many small fussy surfaces. This varnish puddled and dripped and had to be gone over and over to eliminate these before they dried. I was working in humid conditions, 70s to low 80s temperatures. After this I will use a stain of my own making and a clear urethane. I doubt that I will get the lovely color of Rapid Coat or the even coloration over the grain but I expect I'll be less aggravated.

Application was straight forward. I had no problems with runs or brush marks. Rapid Coat provided a nice amber timt to the wood that really brought out the warmth of the wood. The varnish preparation kit is an impressive one-stop solution put together by someone who has done this a time or two. Professionally packed and allows you to open the box and start working.