uv resistant exotic wood covering

bob yetman

Member
Messages
1
As a retirement hobby, I build multilevel circular bird houses with veneer exotic woods such as bubinga, padauk, canary wood, king wood, mahogany, and many other types of exotic wood. I am looking for a high uv resistant clear covering that will protect those woods from fading when exposed to sunlight. Any suggestions?
 
First of all, welcome to FWW! Stick around; you'll like it here. :)

As for the finish recommendation, a marine varnish will likely be your best bet.

One of the absolute best ones is Epifane. It's a bit pricey, but is very durable.

That said, any outdoor finish will require frequent (yearly?) touchups or recoating.
 
Epifanes would be the best. You could also try untinted exterior oil paint base. The ones for the darker colors (normally base #4), believe it or not, without tint it looks very much like a varnish when it dries, and has very good UV protection (more info here). One last note: be sure to avoid the box store "spar" varnishes...they are almost all made with urethane resins, that in itself makes it a poor outdoor finish. The marine store stuff (like Epifanes) is a much better product.
 
Bob, welcome to the forum.
As others said, a marine varnish is best. But you are looking for something that doesn't exist, really. So "best" only means the process is slowed down a bit. I work quite a bit with Osage Orange and would just love to keep that bright orange/yellow color, but, alas, it is not possible. I have tried lots of things. All that will work to keep the color is to not expose your piece to light at all, keep in a dark vault. :(
 
Top