Not to hijack or sidetrack this thread, but...
Regarding spar varnish. With a minor league background in small boat pleasure sailing with wooden masts and booms, and memory refresher from the late Mike Walker's gunsmithing book, I decided to switch to a spar varnish and linseed oil mixture for stock refinishing. The problem was finding REAL spar varnish that wasn't really a modern poly sailing under false colours. When you find your "spar varnish" CAREFULLY read the fine print on the can. The only true spar varnish I found was Epiphane (sp?) from Holland.
Here's a link to an article about spar varnish. Interesting reading.
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/difference-between-spar-varnish-and-regular-varnish/
