Which varnish?

[Guest MoJo]

After stripping all the horrendous finish that had previously been applied to my SR4, I have decided to leave the body 'au naturale' and varnish over the lovely ash grain. I've bought 'Diamondhard' clear gloss lacquer by Ronseal. I expected the contents to look and have the consistency of Golden Syrup. What I found was something with the appearance and viscosity of skimmed milk. It goes on ok and after two coats, the colour of the wood is starting to come through. I get the feeling that I may need in excess of 10 coats to get a reasonable thickness.
Should I continue with the Ronseal or can someone recommend something better?

[Al Heeley]

milky white appearance will be water-based emulsion polymer varnish - either acrylic or polyurethane or a mix of the two, to comply with modern EU regs on solvent usage, water-based for retail market is now prevalent. Now you've started its best to continue, 4 or 5 light coats, good time to thoroughly dry between coats to build up the gloss. Some wet rub back with 1000 grit between coats to remove any imperfections.
If you switch now to a different based lacquer like solvent or 2 part you risk causing softening to the earlier coating or interferer with the drying of the new one.

[Andyjr1515]

I agree with Al ...water-based varnishes are OK, though need plenty of drying time (and can feel just slightly sticky for quite a long time). For dark colours they can be a bit of a problem, with the milkiness coming out and affecting the colour, but for natural wood I doubt that will be a problem at all.
As Al says, let it dry, rub down with 1000 wet 'n dry before recoats (sprayed, at least 10 and up to 20, brushed probably 5-10) then let it REALLY dry (2 weeks if poss) before sanding first with 1000 grit and then 2000 grit, followed by T-cut or Autoglyn (might have the name wrong) to buff up to shine. I strongly urde you not to use the same varnish for the neck, though (and preferably none) as the stickiness really does become a pain.

Andy