Request for Help...Question about small epoxy pour on a Christmas present.

[Todd Trebuna]

Good morning all,
I have a quick question on a Christmas project I'm putting together for my daughter.
Background: My youngest daughter and her husband have a dog. She's 2 and chews on everything. She will destroy almost any toy within minutes. They recently moved into a new apartment and she asked for a box for Willow's toys.

I am constructing a box out of Maple and Walnut. I scroll sawed a "W" in one side and "Victims in the other. I would like to epoxy the inlay, so the letters stand out. I'm going to pour the epoxy this weekend, and my thought is to use painters tape on the underside to keep the epoxy from pouring out the bottom. The other thought I had was to hot glue some 1/4 inch ply on the underside to accomplish the same thing.
Looking for suggestions on how to keep the epoxy where I want it, and should I overpour? I'm wondering if the epoxy will settle and cure lower than the top.

Thanks,


-Todd

[ChrisA Edwards]

Painters tape will work fine. The epoxy will bleed into the grain making the edges of your cut look a little furry. You can coat the inside of your letters with De-Waxed Shellac and this will stop the bleeding.

I did some epoxy fill, in a couple of cutting boards. I slightly over filled and then sanded back to make it flush. I made a dam around the area to be filled to allow the epoxy to not flow where I didn't want it.

Before routing out my design I put a sheet or Oramask on the cutting board and then routed out the full design. I then applied two coats of Shellac to the routed areas.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS1.jpg

At this point, in the photo, I've poured both the white and red epoxy and the dam area is for the green epoxy pour. I used plumbers putty to build the dam.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS4.jpg


Sanded and finished
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS8.jpg

[Todd Trebuna]

Thanks Chris!


Painters tape will work fine. The epoxy will bleed into the grain making the edges of your cut look a little furry. You can coat the inside of your letters with De-Waxed Shellac and this will stop the bleeding.

I did some epoxy fill, in a couple of cutting boards. I slightly over filled and then sanded back to make it flush. I made a dam around the area to be filled to allow the epoxy to not flow where I didn't want it.

Before routing out my design I put a sheet or Oramask on the cutting board and then routed out the full design. I then applied two coats of Shellac to the routed areas.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS1.jpg

At this point, in the photo, I've poured both the white and red epoxy and the dam area is for the green epoxy pour. I used plumbers putty to build the dam.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS4.jpg


Sanded and finished
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS8.jpg

[Alan Lightstone]

Beautiful work, Brandon.

That's on the bottom of the cutting board? Does the top just look like the pattern without the inlay?

What's it like working with the Shaper Origin?

[Bryan Lisowski]

Blue tape works, but I prefer clear packing tape, I believe it holds better than blue tape.

[Jamie Buxton]

Good morning all,
I have a quick question on a Christmas project I'm putting together for my daughter.
Background: My youngest daughter and her husband have a dog. She's 2 and chews on everything. She will destroy almost any toy within minutes. They recently moved into a new apartment and she asked for a box for Willow's toys.

I am constructing a box out of Maple and Walnut. I scroll sawed a "W" in one side and "Victims in the other. I would like to epoxy the inlay, so the letters stand out. I'm going to pour the epoxy this weekend, and my thought is to use painters tape on the underside to keep the epoxy from pouring out the bottom. The other thought I had was to hot glue some 1/4 inch ply on the underside to accomplish the same thing.
Looking for suggestions on how to keep the epoxy where I want it, and should I overpour? I'm wondering if the epoxy will settle and cure lower than the top.

Thanks,


-Todd

I use good ol' blue masking tape on the underside of an epoxy pour. It will peel off the cured epoxy, whereas the 1/4-inch plywood you propose will be glued firmly in place. The plywood also will not seal tightly to the workpiece, and liquid epoxy will leak out.

Yes, you'll find you need to overfill the hole. The epoxy kinda "settles in" as it is curing. After the epoxy cures, you sand it down flush.

For filling big holes like this, use a slower-curing catalyst. Bulk pours like this self-heat as they cure, and the cure can get out of control if you use a faster catalyst.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Beautiful work, Brandon.

That's on the bottom of the cutting board? Does the top just look like the pattern without the inlay?

What's it like working with the Shaper Origin?

Here the top side, Walnut, Cherry and Maple.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS7.jpg

I also made this smaller one out of the left overs. These were both forwarding presents for a fiend's Son and new bride.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/AnneBrandonS10.jpg

The Shaper Origin is a great tool for doing stuff like these, especially if you don't have the space for a gantry style CNC. Both of these could have been done with a CNC gantry a little quicker and with less effort, but I could have actually done the routing of these in my kitchen with minimal mess. The dust collection is about 95%. I use a Festool CT26. When finished, tool goes back in the Systainer.

[Brian Tymchak]

Excellent work Chris!



I used plumbers putty to build the dam.


Thst's some good thinking right there.