Epoxy bar-top finish?

[Fred Voorhees]

I was paging through a Woodworkers Supply catalog recently and noticed an item that I thought about a number of months ago. With plans to build a large bar for the garage conversion that I am currently in the middle of, this product caught my eye.

This 2 part epoxy that is supposedly "poured on" and is supposed to give the look of a finish resembling up to 50 coats of varnish "only a lot more clear". From the looks of the picture in the ad, it seems to be called Crystal Shine or something similar to that. Is anyone familiar with this product, or other similar products?

It seems to be just what I am looking for and do what I am hoping to achieve. In the ad, it says that it is perfect for bar tops and other projects such as decopage which will be similar to what I want to do with the top of the bar surface. I am thinking of making the bar top a collage of pictures from the sport that I have grown up attending (auto racing) and I have always loved the "built-up" look that this product perports to render.

Can anyone tell me how easy it is to work with? How easily it achieves a nice smooth surface? How messy it might be and what their thoughts are of its end results? I would appeciate it immensely.

[Greg Heppeard]

System Three makes the product too. I've used it a couple of times. Make sure you seal the wood first with a sanding sealer of some type. This keeps some of the bubbling down. If you still get bubbles in the project, you can use a hair drier or heat gun of some sort to rmove bubbles before the epoxy sets. It yellows slightly but not real noticable. Make sure you follow the directions accurately. I've had a couple of customers that were unhappy because the product didn't set and remained tacky. I can only assume that they didn't measure the product accurately and didn't get enough hardener in it or didn't get it all mixed. It's not too messy, just put down some cardboard and keep the drips mopped off the bottom with a brush. You can sand the drips off and brush on a very light coat for the final finish on the bottom.

[Fred Voorhees]

Greg, how is it actually applied? The ad for the one that I saw says that it is "poured on". That is a bit confusing as I ask the question "do you "dam the perimeter" of the surface to be finished so that it contains the liquid/fluid? Or do you simply pour it completely around on the surface and it finds its level? That sounds fairly messy to me.

[Greg Heppeard]

It can be a little messy. I just poured it in the middle...it's pretty thick stuff. I used a squeegie to move the stuff around and a foam brush to cover the edges. It finds it's own level, so, make sure that the surface you are covering is level to begin with...otherwise you end up with a half inch of finish on one side and two inches on the other. :eek: Not really, but you get the idea. Your best bet is to practice on a small piece to get the feel of it.