End Grain And Epoxy Resin

Sorry for the Iphone pics, wish I could give you better detail.

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I'm attempting my first effort at using epoxy resin as a finish. I'm using Aristrocrat Liquid Glass 2 part epoxy. The scales are red oak sanded to 220 and cleaned with mineral spirits. They are mounted to a piece of wood supported by dry wall screws and held in place with double stick tape. The screws allowed me to adjust the height for level. I put the stand in a cigar box to keep the dust down while curing and then applied the epoxy. Then I closed the lid for two days.

It's cured finish has some lint or dust in it which I kind of expected. What I didn't expect was what appears to be unsealed end grain. Would the epoxy have been drawn that far up into the grain normally or is it because it's red oak and other woods with tighter grains not have done this? Would a wash coat normally be applied to prevent it? Contamination of some kind?

There's also a couple of spots on the top of one of the scales that looks like the grain was exposed and it sucked in.

Attachment 117475
Attachment 117476

Aristocrat said to add electrical tape to the bottom surface to prevent drips. After 4 hours of curing, remove the tape and the epoxy comes with it. Seems to have worked. The epoxy spread out to the edges of the tape and dripped off there. All I was left with was a thin film on the side of the scale.

Any suggestions? This was really a practice run so I'm not concerned about scewing this up. I could dump them and not lose any sleep over it. But it would be helpful if I could get some help with the end grain question.

I have tried to use three different types of clear epoxy to finish my wood scales -- None have worked that well in my opinion.

I have since moved on to different sealing and finishing techniques. The best I have found yet is to use stabilized wood and then do all of my shaping and sanding. Once sanding is finished, I use Crazy Glue to get a high gloss finish.

Crazy glue is also the best finish I have found for unstabilized wood (best to use some dried wood). It will permiate into the wood and it will seal the wood somewhat, while also leaving enough surface material to sand. Mulitple coats will be needed, and a soft hand when sanding will help prevent sanding through the layers of glue. I let each coat dry for 24 hours prior to sanding. I also coat both side of the scales so that all of the surface is sealed. I usually try to get a minimum of 8 layers of glue, depends on the wood and how much is absorbed initially. Sand to 400 or 600 each layer, making sure that there are no white spots (air bubbles) left before I put on the next layer.

There are so many different posts and pieces of advice on this forum. Google has taken me to a variety of wood working forums that have provided tons more on working with wood. While it may not be a cedar chest, the techniques are the same regardless of the project size.