This was my first attempt at an epoxy table. I chose an oak cookie that had been curing for over a year.
Mistake 1 - No moisture meter. The cookie had to high of moisture content which almost killed the project. Major cupping, warping, re-planning and such. Pentacryl helped but should have been applied months prior. Because of this, the table ended up up about 1.25: thick instead of 2"
Mistake 2 - using blue painters tape and metal duct tape to create the dam a the large gap. The epoxy softened the tapes adhesive leading to a mad scramble to save the pour. I was able to staple shims against the tape cams which saved the day
Mistake 3 - Did not realize how much liquid pigment was needed to make a solid color. All good though...I decided to show off the river rock instead of hiding them
mistake 4 - not placing plastic under the pour area. Never will do that again! Almost ruined the table and my workbench. Lol
Inspite of all the mistakes and challenges, I am very pleased with how this turned out!
Notes:
1 - use pentacryl to seal cookies - (all end grain)
2 - sealcoated all with bar top epoxy - I placed the epoxy in hot water to warm it up prior to mixing. That worked well
3 - used deep poor epoxy to fill the large gaps
4- river rocks - great fillers as they do no not have pours. Very little bubbling from them
5- liquid pigment - used probably 20 drops each of black, teal, and blue
6 - finish - sanded to 220 grit and applied Odies Oil - Love the finish!
7 - legs - black walnut fastened with 6 threaded inserts and 1/4 20 bolts.
8- remove all bark!
9 - bowties - Not a fan of traditional bowties so I came up with "fang like" black walnut ones. By the time I finished flattening the cupped tops...only 1/8" was left! They were 3/4" when I started
10- not shown, but I inlayed a large rectangle piece of 1/2" oak under the large cracks on the bottom of the table. This not only helped stabilize the gaps, but also created a "floor" which held the epoxy well.
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Adina Clark (South Lyon, US)
Fantastic Pigments!
So far I’ve been loving these pigments. You were don’t need much to even get the desired color. I’ve only been using a few so far but I love how vibrant they are. I used the teal and blue in this piece. Gives that great opaque look 😊
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Paul
I tried two colors so far. I'll see how they look. Tomorrow, they look good in the mold, though. I love translucent colors. I've used their products before, and they look amazing.
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John
Don’t really know what to think about it I am new to trying epoxy
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Brian Smith (Pensacola, US)
Great resin dyes
Our first liquid dyes we have used and we really like them after only using Mica powder in the past.