Cdear Finnish

I used Helmsman Spar Polyurethane on my Cedar and am happy with it. It is available at Lowe's. Go for about six coats on the top.

I'm also about to finish a cedar table I built for my egg. Haven't finished it YET, so can't officially comment on what I've chosen, but I've done a lot of reading and will offer these thoughts:

- I saw a lot of complaints from people who used a spar on other wooden items that are outdoors. Complaints of cracking and peeling in a year or less (and when it cracks and peels you need to resand and reapply). I guess my point is it seems like resand/reapply would be easier on a boat than a table for the egg.

Instead of the spar I'm going with a semi-translucent stain. It should be much easier to maintain because whenever I notice an issue, you just re-coat. My choice is Cetol SRD, but I think Cetol 1 or Cabot's products trend good reviews. Good thing about the Cetol SRD is that its a one coat application... downside is expense. I'm guessing its probably twice as much as most stains.

Now maybe its also the case that most peoples egg carts are covered and mobile so their spar applications don't wear as fast as you might expect on an exterior wood door or something else that is exposed to the elements year round. I'll also say that I've only checked out some woodworking/home building/decking forums and walked away with what I thought would be the best mix of performance/maintenance for my application. To me, maintenance is critical because any clearish kind of finish will require re-finishing/touch up down the ling no matter how well you care for it, and I want that part of the process to be easy!

If spar varnish is cracking and peeling within a year,or even five years it was applied incorrectly.
One problem many people have is that they're 'too casual' with dust. Once I feel a project is dust free, I go over the entire thing again with a tack cloth.

Once final sanding has taken place, I usually blow it off with compressed air, outside if possible. If indoors, blow it off and let it sit overnight for atmospheric dust to settle again, then wipe it down with a tack cloth.

Another issue that can cause adherance problems with the finish is oily woods. Try wiping down the entire project with a cloth dampened in mineral spirits (for most oil based finishes) Just before finishing. This will "degrease" a few microns of the surface of the wood allowing the finish to bond better with the surface wood fibers.