Making a Wooden Vessel Water resistant

[Brian Kent]

I am pretty sure I will be asked to make about 15 pitchers that will hold water for 3 hours. Not regularly, but for a single use or a couple of times per year. I am planning to make them in 2 or 3 parts, glued and sealed together as a hollow form.

Yes, I know that there is no such thing as waterproof. But here is what I have in mind:

Possibly using White Oak which is less absorbent than many other woods.

Type III glue or epoxy

Using one of the following finishing patterns:
Several layers of de-waxed shellac. Polyurethane, thinned at first then full strength in final layers.
or…
Epifanes Marine Varnish. It works on my white oak outdoor bench and picnic table so shy not?
or…
Waterlox (after all it uses the words "water" and "lox")

[Mark Greenbaum]

I would think a wash of thinned epoxy would be the best for the interior. Perhaps several coats to ensure water resistance (think inside of hand built wooden canoes).

[Bruce Pratt]

You might consider a high nitrocellulose lacquer. I have used Behlen's rattle can, but other brands may also work fine. With a couple coats of the nitrocellulose lacquer, you will have a water and wine resistant finish.

[Mel Fulks]

I've read that old canteens were lined with pitch, you could color some epoxy and try to copy the pitch look.

[Brian Kent]

Mark can you point me to the kind of epoxy you are talking about?

[Paul Gilbert]

I have used acrylic sheet (plexiglass) that has been dissolved in acetone. I make it about the viscosity of molasses. There is a trick to applying it. If you get the solution too thick you can get bubbles in the finish which could turn into pinholes. Put on a couple of layers to minimise the chance of pinholes.

[robert baccus]

Buy some fiberglass poly or epoxy resin with hardner and follow directions--maybe thinning with a bit of acetone for penetration for the first coat.

[Wes Ramsey]

Tim Yoder used 2-part epoxy to coat the insides of a 3-bowl fountain he turned on one of his shows. I tried it over a few coats of poly on a simple walnut vase a while back and it held water for several days without penetrating. I spread it with a silicone spatula and was able to get a pretty even coat. I don't remember the brand, but it was 5-minute epoxy from the local big box.

[Mark Greenbaum]

I have always used Hughes Labs 330 Epoxy (2-part) which produces a crystal clear lapidary grade adhesive. I have thinned it about 25% with acetone which makes it a bit more flowable, but YMMV. It takes 24 hours to harden without heat. Check with the boat builders to see what they'd recommend; I know they use it inside of canoes, and outside to make a stronger exterior, and place a mat in it and pulled out for a textured inside the floor.


Mark can you point me to the kind of epoxy you are talking about?

[russell dietrich]

Brian
Have you ever looked up brewers pitch?

[Klaus Waldeck]

Who says "there's no such thing as waterproof?" Boats used to be made of wood. They still are.

I think a thick enough coating of epoxy is all you need.

[robert baccus]

I just thin it and pour it in and out.

[paul cottingham]

I need to ask. Didnt water buckets made in the traditional way, with staves, hold water just fine without glue? I think with closely fitted joints, you may not need anything.

[Bruce Pratt]

Side grain vs. end grain. In a staved bucket or barrel with fitted ends, the surface exposed to liquid is virtually all side grain and relatively leak proof, (see "Angel's share" in whiskey). A pitcher or mug made out of a single piece of wood will have end grain somewhere, which can more easily absorb and leak liquid.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Brian - do a little homework on West System Epoxies. They're made for protecting wood from water. Coat them inside and out (good epoxy soaks into the interstitial spaces), wash off the amine blush and finish with a coat of Epiphanes to protect the epoxy from UV and you've got the same formula boat builders use to seal wood from water. Let it all cure until it's 'food safe' and they should hold up for many years.

[paul cottingham]

Oops i must have misread the post. I didnt notice that it was a hollowed out vessel.

[Brian Kent]

That's fine, Paul. It helped me think through the possibility.

From everyone's advise, I will go with an epoxy used for boats. I'm sure I will have more questions as I get closer.