General Finishes - What are their best products?

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

For those of you who don't know, I retired 2 years ago at the age of 48, other than taking a few contract jobs occasionally. I few months ago, I was getting a bit bored and wanted a part time gig doing something I'd enjoy, so I took a 10hr/wk job at a local hardwoods store. The employee discount is awesome and I don't bother taking home a check.

Anyway, we are about to begin carrying General Finishes, and I'd like some input as to which of their products are their best and most useful finishes.

Tell me what you like and don't like. Also, what do use in quantity?

Thanks!

Gregory of RetirementResearch Forest

[JR1]

Sticking strictly with products I've used:
450 best outdoor finish overall

EnduroVar great topcoat

Enduro Clear Poly Great topcoat not everyone carries

Arm-R-Seal Oil based works by it's self, the waterborne need something under them to bring up the grain

High Performance great abrasion resistance not so good at chemical/ heat resistance

Conversion Varnish great but needs to have the catalyst well mixed, just got to try some and so far very impressive

Just did a quick test with the Conversion Varnish, haven't tested in combination with the others

[jteneyck]

My experience is as follows:

Arm-R-Seal: Easy to apply wipe on finish except on large surfaces. I found I could do a great job on those by thinning it about 25% with mineral spirits and applying it with a foam brush. Great looking product with excellent chemical durability and good abrasion resistance. I've used at least 5 gallons of it.

High Performance Poly: Easy to apply with a foam brush and sprays beautifully with proper thinning. Very clear and hard finish. Poor chemical durability and heat resistance compared to Enduro products. I've probably used more than 10 gallons of it.

Gel Urethane TopCoat: Terrible chemical durability and heat resistance. I won't use it any more.

EnduroVar: Brushes great and sprays well, though not as easily as HP Poly or Enduro Clear Poly. Excellent chemical durability, hardness, and heat resistance, and pretty good abrasion resistance. I've used many gallons of it.

Enduro Clear Poly: My new all round favorite for spraying. As clear as HP Poly but no UV package, and the hardest and most abrasion resistant of any GF product I've used. Much better chemical durability than HP Poly, but not quite as good as EnduroVar. I've sprayed 3 or 4 gallons of it.

Oil Based Gel Stains: I've used several of them, all with good success and no issues.

Enduro White Poly: I've only sprayed one gallon of this stuff but it went on beautifully and gave a great finish. I haven't done any testing of it yet, but expect it will have chemical durability similar to Clear Poly. It's very hard and scratch resistant. You need a pressure assisted HVLP gun to spray this stuff without thinning as its viscosity is around 100 seconds #4 Ford cup, higher than any other product.

JOhn

[rschissler]

Gel stain. Doesn't dry as fast as others I've tried, which gives you more time before it has to be wiped off.

[JR1]

Didn't see the size for some reason. I generally buy quarts or gallons, very occasionally pints when available. AFAIK the conversion varnish is only available in gallons and the catalyst in quarts.

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Thank you all for the replies. Believe it or not, we are actually using your recommendations for our initial purchase quantities.

More opinions, please.