How do I sand and polish wood/brass/epoxy casting

[Roger Feeley]

I have a friend that wants to make a charcuterie board. I had to look it up.basically it’s a cutting board that will only be used for serving. He wants it to be end grain which is no big deal. But he also wants to incorporate rectangles of brass and objects cast in clear epoxy.

I can help with the making of the cast blocks and gluing will be tricky because we will use epoxy for the non-wood elements. Sanding is no big deal but how do I polish the epoxy blocks so the objects are visible. Wouldn’t the polishing compounds discolor the adjacent wood?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

How about coating it in two part, pour on, bar top finish? I do not know if it is food safe.

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[Richard Coers]

You have a tough situation there. The epoxy will need to "grip" to the epoxy and wood. Usually that includes a rough sanding to allow a mechanical grip. But when you do that, it will be visible through the epoxy. If you don't scuff it up, then any bubbles in the epoxy adhesive will show through. I suggest you do a few experiments before you both commit to this design.

[Walter Plummer]

This couple in Florida make similar products. Here is how she does it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27lh-sfvrWc

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks for the link Walter. At the beginning of the video, I could see how their work is very similar to what I want to do. But they skipped over the polishing process. Grrr…. I’m still left with the question of how they brought the epoxy to a high polish without discoloring the wood.

Richard mentioned above that getting things to stick would be a problem. Maybe I didn’t describe my project well enough. This will be an end grain board so we have a bunch of wood blocks standing up side by side. Think of it as a cobblestone street. Now remove one block and replace it with a cast block of clear epoxy. It would be glued with epoxy on 4 sides. And it wouldn’t ever suffer the traumas of a cutting board. All that said, I agree that tests are warranted.

[Roger Feeley]

How about coating it in two part, pour on, bar top finish? I do not know if it is food safe.

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Maurice, if I read you right, you are suggesting that I embed the whole board in clear epoxy. Then I don’t have to worry about the two materials. That’s definitely food for thought.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Maurice, if I read you right, you are suggesting that I embed the whole board in clear epoxy. Then I don’t have to worry about the two materials. That’s definitely food for thought.

Yes, It is something I have seen in bars and restaurant's. It is sometimes poured over paper memorabilia that complements the theme of the place. It is not exactly a woodworking technique.

Regarding getting your inlay ready for a film finish, I use a random orbit sander with dust collection and start at 120 grit then "go through the grits" with brass in the mix, I would go to 400 grit, working very slowly to avoid grinding the spoil from the hard, dark material into the soft, light color material.

[Jim Becker]

Any clear film finish applied to the charcuterie board will essentially "polish" the resin/brass/whatever. These are serving boards and not intended for cutting. It's common for them to have a film finish. I actually cut charcuterie boards on my CNC for a guy who does custom resin inlay and they generally get coated with a film finish; often matte, but sometimes "gleaming glossy" depending on what his customer(s) want(s). While you can do a full resin surface, that's not really necessary. All finishes sold today are "food safe" once fully cured. Do keep in mind that restaurant requirements are higher for wood serving items because of the cleaning/disinfection process necessary for commercial use.