"Ultra Tough" varnish

[OnePrivateIndividual]

Is "diamond hard" or "ultra tough" essential enough for the top of a coffee table to justify me taking the standard varnish I bought back to the shop and replacing it?

Cheers,

Paul.

[B a r r y]

What do you have?

Barry

[Mike G]

Probably not. Varnish comes in two flavors, poly and non poly, poly being the more damage resistant of the two. For a coffee table either should offer sufficient protection but if it gives you the warm and fuzzies there isn't anything wrong with overkill unless you are going to be rubbing out the finish..

Superlatives such as diamond hard and ultra tough are advertising hype. No varnish is hard as diamonds and ultra tough compared to what?

Over the normal life of a coffee table any differences in wear ability between poly, non poly, ace hardware brand, min wax brand, and ultra tough diamond hard brand will be hardly noticeable..

[Ron Griffin]

I've used Behlens Rockhard finish a couple of times, once on a personal coffee table and end table project several years ago. It has held up very well, and it does seem harder than other finishes I've used.

[Leon]

If you need a HARD surface, use a Hard Wood.

[Lazarus Long]

Behlens Rockhard is not a polyurethane. It's a phenolic resin product. That's why it's harder than poly.

[Andy Dingley]

There are more than two flavours. A few of them (epoxies, formaldehyde resins, phenolics) can give you better hardness and heat resistance than poly without poly's plastic-kit looks.

Learning to rub a finish out afterwards (on a sample, please !) is pretty important to getting the right sort of "Gloss, but not silly" sheen to a tabletop with a hard finish. You're not done when you lay the brush down.

[Mike G]

Ok, my fault. Should have said commonly available (hardware stores, lowes, HD, etc......)