Who are they and what do they do? The job of a varnisher is to paint, varnish, putty and in other ways finish surfaces of items of various character.
What are the activities of the job? The varnisher prepares surfaces for varnishing (burns off or removes old paint, sandpapers, and cleans) – mixes and thins paints – paints surfaces with brushes – sprays with paints – paints and sprays signs with stencils, paints inscriptions and signs – putties surfaces – sandpapers particular layers of puttied surfaces manually or mechanically – imitates the natural colours of metal, marble or wood – and does letter-painting, decorating or advertising jobs.
Where is it done and under what conditions? In the paint shops of factories, on construction sites and various buildings, outdoors and indoors. You should be prepared for dustiness, the effects of chemicals, places of work that are hard to access and work at a height.
What tools/equipment do they use? Mainly various brushes, scrapers, blow torch, stands, ladders, puttying tools. You must also be good with your hands.
What do you need to succeed? An apprenticeship, manual skill, cleanliness, patience, good eyesight and colour perception.