Resin Coating/Void filling

[James Baldwin]

I recently went to an Arts in the Park show in Paso Robles, Ca and looked at some turnings that were for sale. They had been done with resin finish and had some voids filled in with resin also. How is that done? Curious about it. Jim

[Wally Crawford]

I do mostly twice turned bowls. If rough turned blanks develop cracks during drying I will sometimes fill the voids with tinted epoxy and then finish turn. Hope this answers your question.

[Robert Hayward]

Resin infill in wood turnings is another whole learning process from just turning wood. Numerous how to Youtube videos online. Do a Youtube search trying different terms and you will come up with more to watch than you most likely have time for.

The actual filling the void with resin can be as simple as filling a container. Or as messy and complicated as it gets if your container leaks or bulges or... I dabble with resin and have probably made every mistake in the book at one time or another.

Get comfortable using the lathe then dive into other aspects of turning like resin infills is my suggestion.

[James Baldwin]

I doubt that I'll get into the resin thing I was just curious as I had never encountered it before. Jim

[Bill Howatt]

Void filling is a matter of personal taste. My taste is to avoid filling larger voids with some "gaudy" resin. I will fill small voids, often with a mix of coffee grounds and CA or even epoxy sometimes but I always strive to have it look somewhat natural. This means my fills tend to be light-brown to black not fire-engine red. What I do not like is a somewhat large, bright patch that screams "look at me" to the detriment of the shape and natural quality of the wood.
Yes, I have seen nicely done resin filled pieces but they aren't my first choice. Sometimes natural void in the piece can be beautiful on its own and if it has a bunch of cracks that I don't like, it will still have a bunch of filled cracks I don't like. I also consider turning cracked wood to be dangerous. Just my opinion, YMMV!

[David Walser]

Jim -- Zac Higgins has a YouTube channel devoted to resin casting and related topics. Here is a link to his Resin Casting 101 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoeB-EPC_91sNmfaYAlVFZQsY7wL4myyv

WARNING: Resin casting and stabilizing wood can be as addictive as woodturning. DAMHIKT!

HTH

David