I saw on a tv show this past weekend (In The Workshop, Canadian HGTV) about routing out or drilling designs into wood and then filling them with a tinted two part epoxy. Here are the steps:
carve out the design
mix tint into a slow drying two part epoxy
allow to dry
sand flat
run a small torch (he used the type that works off a lighter) over to remove air bubbles
then finish as normal
Any thoughts about this, is there any steps missing. He had poured to much epoxy and it over flowed on to the wood. Would you scrap this off before it dries? I would assume that it would take alot of sanding to clean it up…
Replies
Not sure what issue it was in but I can remember reading a issue of FWW that covered this exact topic. Maybe someone can remember what issue it was. The guy was using a plane blade to shave off the excess epoxy. He would begin his clean up before the epoxy had fully cured.
Scott C. Frankland
I use West System epoxy to fill natural voids in figured wood. You have all the steps but they're out of order. Use the torch while it's still very much wet.:) I overfill and let it harden. Fully cured epoxy sands realitively easily. Mix it before you tint it. I didn't do that once and it didn't go off, what a mess. I use polyesther colorant that I get from a marine fiberglass supplier.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
That sounds better. I would think running a torch over dried air bubbles,in effect, making them burst, would mean more filling to do. Brian
If you hit them at the right time, they just pop and subside, and no filling is theoreticaly required. I say theoreticaly, because often there is leveling to do anyway.
You can also try the woodturning suppliers for this kind of stuff. Probably jewelery also.
I used to make resin castings and what we used to do was put the epoxy or resin in a clear plastic bag. We would then allow the air bubbles to come up to the surface. Once most of the major bubbles have surfaced we would then cut a small hole in the bottom and let the mixture pour out. It was just like applying frosting on a cake. There was little or no air bubbles in the cast by using this method. It also made applying the mixture to just the right areas a lot easier. Scott C. Frankland
You can get special kits and media (not that you need them) from Woodcraft, including minerals and so forth that can be inserted.
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