varnishing

At the risk of running afoul of child labor laws, we also put Lydia to work varnishing the new construction site sign. The sign is made of MDF (medium density fiberboard), which cuts very smoothly on the CNC milling machine, but which swells and disintegrates when exposed to water. We don't expect the sign to last long (it doesn't have to) but we thought we'd try extending its life with a coat of marine spar varnish. We were also just curious what varnished MDF looked like...

For the record, Lydia wanted to paint the sign silver. If we have to cover any graffiti, we might try aluminum roof paint.

The combination of varnish and MDF is kind of cool, and it's interesting how the factory-finish surface of the MDF takes the varnish differently than the inside. If we can get our hands on formaldehyde-free MDF, we might try this inside the house.