Muskoka Chairs, with varnish, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I finally decided to add just a single coat of marine spar varnish, thinned 50-50 with turpentine so it would soak in more, and better to protect the wood. I elected to stop there, rather than build up a “film” finish, because such a finish WOULD eventually break down in a way that would require scraping or sanding to remove, whereas the more deeply penetrated finish of the single thinned coat would be less likely to break down in an unsightly way… That’s the theory anyway… we’ll see how it goes in a year or two…