Resin and lacquer for Cypress table

[jayendra]

Hi there, I have a question about the type of resin for my Cypress table (which is raw unfinished).
Do I use a rain like the one here
https://www.solidsolutions.com.au/epoxy-resins/clear-wood-epoxy-606

And a friend also suggested that I should finish the table with one coat of lacquer first (water based) to stop the resin from sealing intl surrounding surfaces

Jay

[ian]

Hi Jay
what effect are you trying to achieve?

If it's a clear glass like surface, what you linked to should work, but you will need to do a lot of work preparing for the pour.

[jayendra]

Hi Jay
what effect are you trying to achieve?

If it's a clear glass like surface, what you linked to should work, but you will need to do a lot of work preparing for the pour.Hey Ian !! Thanks for replying.

I was trying to get no holes in the surface and cracks with a clear resin.

Lot of work in what way?

[ian]

Can you post a photo of your Cypress top?

By a lot of work, depending on what effect you are trying to achieve you may need to build a frame around your top that will act as a dam to stop the resin running off the top.
cracks and holes tend to soak up a lot of resin so depending on how many cracks and holes there are, you may need to do the pour in two stages, one to fill the cracks / holes, the second to get the surface you are after.

[cava]

I have never used 606 personally, but I have seen it being used, and am impressed with the results.

As Ian states, there could be a bit of work involved, and I would guess that 200g of 606 would probably not be enough.

How big is the table?

[jayendra]

An example of some of the cracks - I was going to use resin for the holes and general purpose lacquer for the top.

It's 2.3 X 1m https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181011/805db200b86cd535518eb21140cbff8e.jpg

[ian]

Talk about opportune...

Three weeks ago I went to a commercial demonstration of a very similar product.

Takeaways from the demonstration were:
seal the entire underside of the slab with a bond breaker -- packaging tape or similar -- don't skimp on this step.
if any of the cracks go all the way through (which in your case is likely) back up the tape with a sheet of hardboard, covered with a bond breaker, firmly tacked to the underside using either hot melt glue or a silicon adhesive . You are aiming for a near water tight seal on the bottom of the slab.
build a dam around each void, crack or group of cracks using hot melt glue or silicon.
put the slab out in the sun to heat up prior to doing the pour.
bring the slab into the shade -- best towards the end of the day -- so that it is cooling down as you do the pour.
the effect of these two steps is that because the slab is cooling, air in the deepest parts of the cracks and voids will be cooling and hence contracting when you pour on the resin and the generation of gas bubbles deep in the pour will be minimised.
mix about 50% more resin than you think you will need.
divide the mix into portions and add colour, pear effects, etc. to each individual portion.
clearly mark which cracks are to get what colour / effect
overfill each void or crack -- this is what the dams are for.
work from one end. If it looks like you haven't mixed enough resin don't push your luck. Accept that you will need to make an additional batch or two.
keep an eye on the slab for the next hour or more, topping up each dam as required.

once the epoxy has cured, you can dress and finish the slab using conventional wood working techniques -- planing, scraping, sanding.

if you want to get a clear glass like resin finish across the entire top do this after refinishing the slab following the filling step.


budget on needing at least 4 kg of the material.

[ian]

oh
and any loose material in a void will float !!

[jayendra]

Thanks!!! An art friend also suggested fill the holes a small amount then heatgun to remove bubbles and keep doing this

[ian]

if you use a heat gun you risk making the bubbles worse.
Epoxy is exothermic -- gives off heat -- using a heat gun speeds up the reaction and can cause the mix to boil.

[jayendra]

I think we are going with a product called whittlewax ;)

[ian]

I think we are going with a product called whittlewax ;)
so you have decided not to fill the cracks and voids?

[jayendra]

Still going to use the resin for the voids but finish with whittle wax

[lewisc]

I saw this one on Youtube and bought some. It's the cheapest epoxy I've found so far and it works well. They sell some different sizes.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EPOXY-RESIN-Ultra-CLEAR-Casting-2-1-6-Lt-kit-UV-Platinum/143000345153?hash=item214b7c1a41:g:6iUAAOSw5cNYFEwU (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EPOXY-RESIN-Ultra-CLEAR-Casting-2-1-6-Lt-kit-UV-Platinum/143000345153?hash=item214b7c1a41:g:6iUAAOSw5cNYFEwU)

[lewisc]

if you use a heat gun you risk making the bubbles worse.
Epoxy is exothermic -- gives off heat -- using a heat gun speeds up the reaction and can cause the mix to boil.

If you leave the heat source on the epoxy too long it could be bad. Waving a heat gun or blow torch for a few seconds over the epoxy helps pop the bubbles.

[jayendra]

Tonight I'm going to apply tape on the back side (and/or some hot glue) then I'm going to apply hot glue and / or bluetac around the edge of the cracks as a wall, then resin.

Do I need to worry about the hot glue leaving a mark?

Jay

[ian]

Do I need to worry about the hot glue leaving a mark?
No
you will plane, scrape, sand any marks out when you finish the slab.

[jayendra]

Blow torch was perfect for removing bubbles https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181225/7b5904bdf3be02941c11de02fdd2bcc6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181225/dd084e64a91daa60975086546d6fc7a1.jpg

[jayendra]

Little bit of bleed under the tape but sanding and scraping working well https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181226/53b78c727a3f0cbb2c1417f6a79856e3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181226/77e28967a5528b541ad6a4d9f815b669.jpg

[dpdhaynes]

What type of resin did you use?

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[jayendra]

Clear wood epoxy from solid solutions

[jayendra]

Thanks everyone for the help !!!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190103/8dcfc793d04aa6279da01938ed268e96.jpg

[cava]

Well done, that has come up a treat. 👍

[Petethebutcher]

Sorry about reopening such an old thread.
Jayendra that table is amazing but the question I would love to have an answer for is the timber cypress pine, Callitris columellaris?
if it is cypress pine I would be very interest in how the glue joints have survived time.
Did you use some sort of dowel/biscuit support on the joints and what glue did you use?
cheers Peter

[jayendra]

how the glue joints have survived time.
Did you use some sort of dowel/biscuit support on the joints and what glue did you use?
cheers Peter

I'm sure others could answer this as I purchased the local board made ready.

My cousin also does similar stuff with Titebond III Titebond III Ultimate – Titebond Glues and Adhesives: Woodbond Adhesives Pty Ltd (https://titebond.com.au/products/titebond-iii/)

[Lappa]

What finish did you use on the table?