Enviro-Tex

[stringkilla]

Here's a wild idea. Has anyone ever used or experimented with a product known as Enviro-tex. I believe it's claim to fame is a real deep finish with only one coating. Used mostly for bartops and craft objects. I myself have used it to mimic water on model railroad dioramas but never coated wood with it. What say you, any speculators?

Edited October 3, 2004 by stringkilla

[rhoads56]

works a treat, i use it on most of my guitars. Where do i use it, well, thats a trade secret!

[Kevan]

I couldn't find a link to it, but I remember that Behr made a clear poly finish called "50+" or something to that effect. One coat was equal to 50. It was SUPER-thick stuff, but looked really great. It came in pint and gallon containers.

It sounds a lot like the Enviro-Tex stuff described above.

[mpeg2]

Never tried it on Guitars, but way back when, I made some coffee tables from Redwood slabs & finished with this stuff (or its equivalent). I'm not sure I'd want to finish a guitar body with this - produces a very glossy, very durable - but very thick finish - maybe too thick, there'd be some concern about what it would do to the sound.

From what I remember, there are a number of things to watch out for - primarily air bubbles (especially if there's any kind of surface flaw - or even grain porosity) and drips - the stuff drips off the sides.

Rich

[Drak]

This is starting to sound like something I've seen (used once) around, I think it was called Liquid Glass, ...the stuff I saw came in a 2-part pack, you mix it together and apply, and yes, you had to pop the air bubbles as they appeared, a trick someone told me was to heat it up prior to applying it. That guy did big burl tabletops with it, cool stuff. You hold a blow drier under your container while you're mixing the 2 parts, it helps thin it out and promote air bubbles to rise faster.

Unfortunately, it's a pain for guitars because you can't ever get the sides done nicely, and you can't do the entire guitar at once, so adhesion problems down the road could occur.

I think it's just some sort of thick poly or epoxy, there's nothing new in the world of finishing products, just creative labelling to promote sales. Probably epoxy, since there were no warnings about respirators or anything like that.

If I remember right, it said on the bottle to clean up with Acetone which is what I thin 2-part epoxy with when using it to pore-fill weird stuff like burls, so I bet it's pretty much the same thing as the regular 2-part epoxy you find in Home Depot.

Manufacturers are out to sell product, and they re-package the same old finishes 100 different ways to sell product. But it's 9 out of 10 times one of the standard basic finishes we've all known about forever, there's really nothing new under the sun when it comes to finishes, just new labels.

PS, I find it humerous when a luthier becomes the troll-baiter they once despised so much. That was funny.

[rhoads56]

PS, I find it humerous when a luthier becomes the troll-baiter they once despised so much. That was funny.

who's doing that Drak???

[Maiden69]

This would be great to cover the headstock when you do those nice intricate inlay work.

[Drak]

As long as you didn't have to apply it to the sides as well, yes, it's the same principle as using epoxy as pore filler, it would work fine, although I believe epoxy is prone to yellowing over time, that's why I use it as a pore filler only, not for topcoating.

The guy I saw use it for his tabletops, well, they were all natural wood and mostly yellowish or brownish woods anyway, so it just contributed to the look of the tabletops. Guitars would be a different matter.

I would'nt trust it to bond to itself at the join mark between two different applications tho, like doing the top then trying to do the sides.

Like I said, years ago when I would try anything new I hadn't seen before, it was good for tops, but trying to apply it to the sides was a complete nightmare, I gave it up as a guitar option after that one experience. Then years later, after reading the book 'Understanding Wood Finishing' by Bob Flexner, I started to comprehend the fact that that old Liquid Glass was really just 2-part epoxy re-branded.

Everyone who wants to get good at finishing and understand what's in all these cans and bottles and 2-part boxes of stains, pigments, dyes, shellacs, lacquers, poly-this and Trans-that you see at Home Depot and how they'll react with each other and what can go over this and what can go under that and what should come first and what is not compatable with what should buy that book immediately, it's ALL covered in there.

Fantastic book.

[stringkilla]

I was thinking just for the top. Encasing the wood (spalted maple) with it's inherant

soft spots seems like a good idea. I guess that, binding it would also be a must. And Drak is right it does not bind to itself. It leaves a joint line and a weak point that shows. I just thought it seemed like a good idae. I've got almost a gallon of the stuff,and need to find a use for it before it turns yellow from age. Hey thats not bad is it?.

Edited October 7, 2004 by stringkilla