Le Tonkinois Linseed Varnish

I would like to re visit this topic on our forum and to that end I am looking forward to fresh ideas;

I have taken off all our deck teak hand rails and have them inside for finishing over the winter.
Given that there is no such thing as maintenance free varnish, I am reading a lot of conflicting stories on the various products on the market.

Has any one used the non - petroleum " Le Tonkinois Linseed Varnish " ?,
http://www.solventfreepaint.ca/linseed_varnish.htm


OR should I go with a petroleum based commercial marine product OR should I just leave the teak as is ( raw ) and do a teak oil wipe once or ( twice ? ) a year ? The boat is based out of Ontario Canada.
Any help would be appreciated as this restoration is a major labor undertaking and I don't want to do this again anytime soon .....
Thanks in advance, Frank B.

Good varnish with many coats will last quite some time. Covered moorage helps a lot if you have it. Once its done it should be good for years and maybe a quick sand and recoat every few years. Oil needs constant maintenance and letting it go gray looks awful except for decks. Never heard of the product mentioned but linseed oil is a great product but not at all weather resistant by itself. I would assume this item has been modified to repel water with oils and dryers as linseed never dries unless its boiled and dryers added.

Well put 78,
Tung oil is universally considered to be supperior to Linseed oil. I don't think it means we should always use Tung oil though.
I prefer McCloskey Spar Varnish.
It uses Tung oil instead of Linseed oil and it has more oil than average varnish. Called a "high oil" finish. It's softer and can be marked or even mechanically damaged more readily than harder varnishes like Epiphanes. But a high oil finish has a characteristic that I like very much .. that is better flexability. Anywhere there are joints movement will occur and many finishes will crack thus letting water underneath the cured finish. And the water travels leaving black trails. And of course soon the coating will lift off and expose the bare wood.
More important than oil type may be UV additives as UV is a serious threat to varnish durability.

If you want the longest lasting and arguably best looking finish, it's very hard to beat a clear epoxy base over coated with something like Bristol, Awlgrip Awlbrite, etc.

Or using the Awlgrip Awlwood MA system.

I like how linseed oil turns black on the wood.

Raw linseed oil and blackening