Thread: Epoxy resin finish, the how to

does pinning mar the finish like it can on Ca finished scales?

I go to bed and look what happens. Some quick replies…

Originally Posted by Doc

can you post a pic of the suspension set up?

Yes I can but it will have to wait until later today when I get home.

Originally Posted by jscott

how hard is it to drill your holes in the wood after they are sealed up?

Originally Posted by jscott

also, what type of epoxy/hardener are you using? can you post a link to it please

It is harder than wood alone, but not like drilling steel. A drill press and sharp bit will cut through it without a problem. I don’t know that I would try a hand drill. The finish is relatively slick so the bit may want to dance around if you use a hand drill.

The resin itself, you can get it at any wood working store, even Lows carries it (or use to). I used a high gloss furniture resin.

Originally Posted by mike_ratliff

does pinning mar the finish like it can on Ca finished scales?

I will let you know next week when I pin my first set. I am new to razor scales but not wood. I have my kitchen table finished with the same epoxy, two years of family use and it looks nearly as good as the day I poured the finish. There is a reason they finish restaurant tables with epoxy. Water proof, easy to pour, sandable and hard to mar. You can quite literally hit a reason finished board with a hammer, hard, with little more than a light scuff from the rough hammer head. I would suspect that you would not mar the finish with the light tapping that pinning requires.

What do you use to buff the finished scales with?

Ty

Originally Posted by mongrull006

What do you use to buff the finished scales with?

Ty

A clean cotton towel. If you get the pour right, nothing needs buffed. The finish dries smooth and high gloss. You could put a little carnauba wax on them if you wanted, but that may make them a bit too slick when wet. That is part of the beauty; you don’t need to do anything to them. Cut, sand, pour, cure, use. The left two in the photo have not been touched beyond pouring the resin. The others were my first attempts so I hit them with some 000 steel wool and put two coats of high gloss urethane over the epoxy to restore the shine to see how it worked out.

I have never had to buff out a scratch, but the commonly recommended procedure is to wet sand it, I would go to 1500, maybe 2K. Then use a little polishing compound and then polish. That is pretty much the same procedure for buffing out scratches in any paint coat. You just have to be a little more gentle than buffing on metal, you do not want to burn the finish for buff away the epoxy. Again, I have never had to do it so this is all theoretical knowledge. If anyone as more hands on knowledge, please speak up.

when used on a table you just pour it on and let the excess run off? on a tarp or?

My camera batteries went dead so I will have to take a photo tomorrow.

I ground off the drip nubs on the back of the blood and purple heart wood tonight. My resin is old, a couple of years, and the reason is starting to granulate so once it was cured I had small bumps on the scales from the pin head reason blobs. So I wet sanded them with some 800 grit and gave them two coats of high gloss polyurethane tonight. That is much easier than buffing the finish back up. They are looking darn spiffy. I will get a photo or two tomorrow with the sunlight. It accentuates the 3-D effect the resion gives the wood.

The finishing jig, if you want to call a scrap hunk of cherry with 8 chopped down pencils (could not find an appropriate sized down at the time) glued to it that is what I pour the epoxy on. The excess just runs off the scales and drips on the wood. I put the wood on a sheet of wax paper to keep from gluing the entire works to my workbench or kitchen counter. It is to cold in Ohio to pour a finish out in the garage right now so I bring the finish in the house.

Dave,

Does the epoxy have much of a smell? One of the things I don't like about CA is the fumes...

I'm going to have to give this a try. It's a great excuse to visit Home Depot ... I've only been there once this week, and I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms.

Josh

great idea, thanks for posting this.