I have a few cookies that I want to make some end tables out of. I’ve never worked with resin before so I have a few questions.
First, do I need to plane them before I pour the resin in the cracks?
Second, I just want the resin to fill the cracks I don’t want them to be covered in resin. What resin is recommended for that?
The wood is mulberry and they range from 6% to 15% moisture in case it matters.
Any advice is appreciated.
I don’t know much about this but my initial thought is that you’re almost certainly going to have a little slop when pouting the resin. Planing the whole thing after doing the resin will clean it all up. This is perfect Multicam work 
Yep…I’d surface afterwards. Challenging part will be damming up the crack so resin doesn’t leak/drain (unless there are techniques that make this easy?).
You mentioned end tables, but if one in last pic sits stable/flat on the floor, it seems tailor-made (grown? cut?) to be a base for something. lol…outcroppings look like hooves!
That one actually needs the most work to stabilize, but it’s the thickest so it could work as the base for something. I only need 2 end tables so I need to figure out what to do with the rest.
Would it be possible to use 2-part epoxy, which is much more viscous than resin, to create a seal/dam on the bottom and possibly ends of the larger cracks? You could possibly use some crinkled up aluminum foil on the outside of the epoxy dam as an outer perimeter for the epoxy while it hardens.
Maybe…not sure. I have my own set of cookies (actually two sets) I have been dithering about for ~12 months now, so I’ve been mulling this over a bit. My thoughts for my personal solution was to set piece on a sacrificial closed-cell foam surface and maybe use clay or play-dough seal around the outside circumference areas, possibly held/strapped on by some tape around whole circumference…I just wouldn’t want that to dry out too much during the curing period, so maybe there is a better pliable material for that? Or could just dampen a few times as needed over the day or two of curing. But I like the clay (ish) approach since if one pressed/formed it to one of the bark areas first, it would have that profile when the resin was poured in and filled-in the clay nooks-n-crannies.
You might try Fimo or Sculpy. Those are a little more durable than playdough or regular clay. Last time I bought some (ages ago) it was around $2 for a small block. You wouldn’t need to keep it moist. With any of those, you’d need to think about the profile if you use the bark. Undercuts could make it stick. Although, you could scrape the Fimo off fairly easily.
I made some simple cookie trivets from cracked cookies like these. I used 2-part 30 minute epoxy and added turquoise glass frit to fill some cracks. I put blue tape on the underside and the edge then filled from the top. Once dry, I used a belt sander to smooth off the top. Relatively low tech compared to using the CNC, but it worked for me.
Finished with some water-based brush-on polyurethane.
Sorry, I don’t have any photos at the moment.
I’ve also tinted 2-part 30 minute epoxy for making mosaic pins for knives. Just a couple of drops of Testors enamel paint is all you need. Note that the paint will cause the epoxy to kick off more quickly, so don’t dally.
Here’s some knife pins made this way with brass tube, brass rod, and black and turquoise tinted epoxy.
Those knife pins are really nice! How did you use the vacuum pump/brake bleeder? Was it to suck the resin into the tubes?
Do you want to encapsulate it or just fill voids?
It sounds like you’re filling voids so:
Plane the not-show side. Apply tuck form tape or tyvek tape liberally to planed side.
If your cracks go through to the side like in the first picture, tape the side of the crack, this may require some hand work to make the sides flat enough for tape to adhere and create a barrier.
Optional: Get a sheet of melamine and place tape side of cookie on melamine. Hot glue or silicone caulk cookie to melamine base form. This is so that if there are any leaks through the bottom tape, they dont get all over your bench.
Fill voids with epoxy up to thickness prescribed by your epoxy. Do not use normal epoxy and try to fill a massive void like those side cracks. It will overheat, change color, possible spall or not adhere. You can buy thick-set epoxies upto 2" commonly and a few upto 6", but most epoxies are no more than 1/4" thickness.
You can do multiple layers of epoxy after the kick time has passed (check manufacturers recommendation for timing second pour on top of previous pour.)
Wait at least as long as the manufacturer recommends to open the mold after final pour. This may be up to 14 days depending on the resin. Be aware that most curing resins puts off fumes that are… unpleasant… ie, don’t let it cure on your dining room table unless you’re staying in a hotel down the road. Also put a light cloth covering over it to keep dust off.
Pop the mold, remove all the tape, flatten the top (and bottom if you had a leak). May need touchup pours for bubbles/ voids that are exposed after planing. Use a thin / quick set epoxy of the same type as your deep pour to fix these. Re flatten again, sand to ridiculously high grit (micro-scratches will show in the epoxy just like on your phone case), finish.
Theres a million recommendations for finishes out there. High end finishes have a ceramic protective coating, but can be as simple as arm-r-seal.
A few youtube helps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOrSIKFMGrY (these guys make some of the most high-end epoxy products)
Yes. Clear tubing connects to the brass tube and the automotive vacuum is used to draw the epoxy into the tube.
I posted more details here a while back:
I would recommend that you plane them first, top and bottom. I didn’t use clamp to clamp mine to table because it was hard to find any that worked so: First I check the bottom and fill in any fissures with silicone glue, then I use a brush and brush on a heavy layer of resin on the bottom to help seal it to the heavy plastic on the work table then I use silicone or hot glue to go around the edges to seal the cookie to table just in case. Then I use silicon glue or hot glue to build a dam for the cracks. The glue can be a pain to clean up afterwards but with a dremel tool its not too bad. You can waste a lot of resin if you don’t do really good prep work (learned by mistake). Also make sure you pour a thin layer first to seal everything up before you deep pour but make sure you deep pour before the first layer is completely dry or you will have to sand it (difficult to do when it is a deep thin crack.) so the resins don’t separate at a later date thought doubtful it would do that with this project.
Some of those cracks would look really good filled with crushed precious stone material like turquoise or crystals.
Is there somewhere I can buy this local or is Amazon the best bet?
I don’t know for certain but I would be surprised if Rockler / Wood World didn’t have any epoxy in stock.
Personally I would either A- research online and buy a specific resin from whatever manufacturer directly or B - use a referral link from one of the youtubers who is recommending a specific epoxy I want.
There’s a lot of brands out there and they’re not all equal. Issues like yellowing over time, heaving if you pour too thick, paint leaching, dye consistency, settling, etc are all things to look for, and I wouldn’t want to risk buying whatever Rockler is getting cheapest to recommend to me (unless it happens to be a brand I researched and does what I want.)
If you’ve never worked with resin before I recommend doing a little reading / watching to learn some of the tricks. Getting that mix ratio wrong, having poorly mixed A/B etc are all things that can scrap an expensive project and induce hours of swear words and fuming.
Rockler has epoxies - from table top to deep pours… you should stablize the pucks before pouring the resin… there’s a couple that of ways to do it… I just did a table top pour tonight and will be up at the space in the afternoon. If you want to bring the pucks up we can go over the options. I’ll bring the epoxies I use and we can talk through them.
Those look great! I’ll be around the space this morning and then again after about 2:30. I’ll try an come find you. I appreciate the help! This is all new stuff to me.
I was at The Wood Shed in Arlington yesterday and Danny has epoxy
I’m heading to the space now - I’ll look for you later today…
