Water-based varnish

[Cruise]

  I am trying something new. Technically it is called a "waterborne hybrid/alkyd varnish". I met a man on a 32' Westsail who had been using this product and the results looked good. The price is right and it is so easy to use. Being water-based, clean-up is done with soap and water. It spreads on so easily, and it dries in no time. You can re-coat after just 1 hour, so if you start early, you can get a bunch of coats on in a single day. It looks good, but time will tell how well it holds up.

[tomwatt]

Are you using it inside or outside (spar varnish type?)? I know variations on this kind of product have been around for several years. So far, the interior kind has performed pretty well... there was a huge recall on the Minwax flavor of water-borne spar varnish, & so far nothing has come back out to replace it.
Theoretically, it can be a great product. Uses an emulsifier to bond the oil so it becomes a water-soluble product. I have seen it working very successfully in enamels for over a year.
What brand/kind is it you're using?

[Cruise]

 I am using a brand by Target Coatings, based in New Jersey. They make few different products.The one that was recommended tome is EM2000wvx. It is interior/exterior grade, and I am using a semi-gloss.
What I am starting with is the toe-rail. It is made of a wood called ipe, a.k.a. Brazilian walnut. It is an extremely hard wood that does not take a varnish well, but what I am using now seems to be doing the trick -- so far.....
  I have not tried it on my teak yet, but that will be my next project.

[tomwatt]

Sounds like we need photos!
Ipe, the wonderful non-floating wood (because it's so hard & dense). Tough stuff. Should finish up nicely. Hope all goes well, would love to see a varnish that's easy to use & reliable too.

[Cruise]

 It is a hard wood. The rare times that I take my boat to a dock, if I bump a pylon, the ipe will dent the pylon!  ;D  I'll work on some pics.

[CharlieJ]

Ipe is nice stuff. I've used a good bit of it. finishes quite nicely and closely resembles teak. I like it, but it's for sure too dense to float :D

Here's a pic of me, taken from the Shinto rasp section of Duckworks mag, using  the rasp on some Ipe handrails

[Cruise]

Here are the pics of how the varnish looks on ipe. It really looks sharp when rowing up to my boat in my dinghy. Well, 1 pic at a time I guess..

[Cruise]

3 coats....

[Cruise]

Boy that gap looks bad up close. I'll fill it with sawdust then varnish over it.

[Captain Smollett]

Boy that gap looks bad up close. I'll fill it with sawdust then varnish over it.

Is what you were talking about?  I like the trick of using superglue and sand paper to fill 'small' gaps.

Dab some super glue in, and run the sand paper (120-220 grit) over it.  The dusting fills the gap, the glue dries quickly to 'lock' it in place, and since you used the wood itself, it is perfectly color-matched to the surrounding wood.

Varnish over the top and violins!  "Perfect" joinery!   ;D

[tomwatt]

I'm liking the look for that varnished ipe. Congrats, I'll bet she sparkles at you when you approach in a dinghy!
I think a big plus to the ease-of-use factor with this kind of material is the (hopefully) tendency to not put off doing an obnoxious job, but instead to plop another coat on as it seems warranted without any hesitation.