Rubio vs varnish (but which brand)...

[Ian down london way]

So there seems to be a huge amount of love for Rubio Monocoat - at least from the USA.

I've looked at prices in the past, and they seemed silly - I guess the importing was adding a great deal. Now there is a Rubio seller in the UK, I thought i should give it serious consideration.

I'm in the process of completing an oak dining table / coffee table (using purchased plans from Michel ALM - having seen some of his youtube publications). I'm also finishing a 'crafting up' of an old (1970's) pine drop-leaf table. This has involved cutting and inlaying hard wood strips and some epoxy poured shapes too - so a real mixture of finishes.

Both pieces need to be durable when done. Needing to survive coffee cups and knocks.

Anyway, I've bought the sample bottle (one square meter coverage) of the Rubio Monocoat - which I thought I would use on some of the same oak I've used for the table (thankyou Hardwood Offcut store in Essex!), and on the test piece I used when experimenting before inlaying the drop leaf pine table.

I've happily used varnish in the past - in particular on a welsh dresser I made probably 30 years ago, out of sycamore. It still looks fine (maybe a little yellower). I used the three-layer approach, with wire wool (0000) before the last coat, which was then wiped on with a cloth pad.

For a fair test, I thought I'd splash out (lol) and not use the old cans of varnish I have knocking around.

So, the question to you guys - what high quality varnish would you recommend for use on indoor oak / pine (with epoxy resin) table - for an experiment to compare to the expensive Rubio product.

 

[2 Rivers]

Contact Morrells wood finishes

 

[Jones]

Quality costs in a finish. Sikkens make good paint and varnish ,their TSI is a good finish that goes on fairly clear and doesn't darken or yellow the wood too much.

 

[Beatsy]

I don't think Rubio (monocoat 2c) works out *that* expensive in comparison - mainly because a little goes such a l-o-o-o-n-g way. It is extremely convenient to use too - but has a few limitations to watch out for. It's basically just boiled linseed oil, albeit with added hardener and (probably) resins. Given that, then it is indeed costly - for what it actually is! But then so are most other proprietary finishes.

 

[simonh]

I've tried Rubio in the past, but the lack of clarity about whats in the product somewhat put me off. It's not like the other manufacturers' chemists won't know éxactly what it is, just us hobbyists! The company has a large 'social media' presence and 'ambassadors', but this doesn't shed much light as they all regurgitate a few 'facts'.

I recently became interested in using it for a new project and have had good results. I dug a bit deeper and found a patent EP4019600 for the oil, which seems to indicate the oil product is:

from 58.00 to 95.00 weight percentage [wt. %, herein after] of at least one alkyd resin or at least one drying oil;
- from 0.10 to 8.00 wt. % of at least one microcrystalline wax having a congealing point from 60 °C to 100 °C [microcrystalline wax (Wc), herein after];
- from 1.00 to 34.00 wt.% of at least one micronized wax having a particle size D90 equal to or less than 36.0 mm and a particle size D50 equal to or less than 20.0 mm [micronized wax (Mp), herein after];

And, from the information in the patent, most likely linseed oil or an alkyd resin based on linseed oil, a microcrystalline wax such as paraffin wax, and one or micronized waxes likely canubra and/or candilla. That's presumably Part A, the hard-wax oil.

Then it comes to part B. According to the MSDS, it contains isocyanates, which are nasty. Many people see the 0% VOC and the linseed oil and think it's all natural! I'd be wearing gloves for anything containing isocyanates and no spraying or creating a mist or anything breathable regardless of the concentration. It is labelled as an accelerator. However, typically it is used as a crosslinking hardener in things such as 2k paints and epoxy. I wouldn't be surprised if it acts as a hardener with some alkyd resin in part A and produces some type of urethane. But again, we have no clarity from the videos and information out there, only that it 'speeds up drying'.

I’m going to keep on using it and see how it wears. It seems tougher to sand off than Osmo after 7 days. Also, it does seem to form some sort of barrier where it doesn’t soak in more and more oil like Osmo does coat-on-coat. If it is forming some sort of thin film in the top layer of wood fibres with the hardener, then that would be good IMO.

 

[Beatsy]

I've tried Rubio in the past, but the lack of clarity about whats in the product somewhat put me off. It's not like the other manufacturers' chemists won't know éxactly what it is, just us hobbyists! The company has a large 'social media' presence and 'ambassadors', but this doesn't shed much light as they all regurgitate a few 'facts'.

...

Indeed. I think Osmo are very heavy on marketing blurb (emphasising all the good points and utterly ignoring the not so good) but rather light on innovation. As far as I can tell, all of their products, including Rubio, are common known finishes and oils "under the hood". They just obfuscate and hide the fact behind a blizzard of hyperbolic marketing waffle. This to give the impression they have novel new products that they can price at an arm and two legs. But they're quite ordinary products when you look into them, so the premium is set way too high - IMO.

 

[Seascaper]

So there seems to be a huge amount of love for Rubio Monocoat - at least from the USA.

I've looked at prices in the past, and they seemed silly - I guess the importing was adding a great deal. Now there is a Rubio seller in the UK, I thought i should give it serious consideration.

I'm in the process of completing an oak dining table / coffee table (using purchased plans from Michel ALM - having seen some of his youtube publications). I'm also finishing a 'crafting up' of an old (1970's) pine drop-leaf table. This has involved cutting and inlaying hard wood strips and some epoxy poured shapes too - so a real mixture of finishes.

Both pieces need to be durable when done. Needing to survive coffee cups and knocks.

Anyway, I've bought the sample bottle (one square meter coverage) of the Rubio Monocoat - which I thought I would use on some of the same oak I've used for the table (thankyou Hardwood Offcut store in Essex!), and on the test piece I used when experimenting before inlaying the drop leaf pine table.

I've happily used varnish in the past - in particular on a welsh dresser I made probably 30 years ago, out of sycamore. It still looks fine (maybe a little yellower). I used the three-layer approach, with wire wool (0000) before the last coat, which was then wiped on with a cloth pad.

For a fair test, I thought I'd splash out (lol) and not use the old cans of varnish I have knocking around.

So, the question to you guys - what high quality varnish would you recommend for use on indoor oak / pine (with epoxy resin) table - for an experiment to compare to the expensive Rubio product.

Hello,
Take a look at International Yacht Paints, they offer a range of high quality varnishes to suit your table and you can get them in 500 & 250 cans. You can get them sent mail by some of the many yacht chandlers. How you apply it will make a difference, use a good tack cloth, and apply when you are not going into the room again so that all the dust has settled. Use a good brush with a tapered edge.
Regards