Help! Epoxy/Color Powder Inlay

[Harris Ogburn]

I'm doing a bowl and want to experiment with a mixture of epoxy and colored powder for part of the rim. I tried a test, but I'm having trouble getting the "inlay" to sand out shiny. Should I be expecting the type of finish you get with acrylic pens. I've tried micro mesh pads. Any suggestions would be appreciated. BTW, I mixed green powder from the artist store with 5 minute epoxy. The wood is cherry. Thanks

[Brodie Brickey]

Harris,

With the epoxy you used, does it normally carry a high gloss? I've done what you did with Thick CA glue & turquoise and had very good results. If you can't get a good shine on it, you might sand it as smooth as possible, but then apply a high gloss finish over the top. CA, poly, or another finish.

I hope this helps. When it comes to epoxy, I've only used Mirror Coat from 3M. That will definitely give a high gloss finish, but I think its too late now, for that on this piece.

[TYLER WOOD]

I think the quality of the finish will be determined by how much air was present in the mix. if there were lots of little micro bubbles, the finish will not get glossy. If it was bubble free it should get glossy if the powder did not create too much of a rough surface.

[Wayne Bitting]

Harris - I've never done it with 5 min epoxy, but with CA mine come out bright and shiny. I finish sand the entire piece and mask off the non-inlay areas, turn flush and sand starting at 220 and work up to the match the rest of the piece.

[Harris Ogburn]

Thanks for the comments. I did the test on a waste piece of wood. Yes, I had air bubbles that appeared after the epoxy dried. How do you get them out?

[Harris Ogburn]

Thanks. How do I control the bubbles?

[TYLER WOOD]

Ummmm not sure. Pressure pot/vac them out maybe?

[Paul Engle]

Try cutting with DNA just a little and don't stir so hard......:D

[Glenn Hodges]

I mix my epoxy in a small paper cup. I use a heat gun (I think a hair drier would work) to remove the air bubbles before I pore the epoxy over anything.

[Pete Simmons]

The clear epoxy finish such as you might see on a boat floor.

The trick they use is epoxy in one hand and a propane tourch in the other!

Pass the heat over the epoxy and the bubbles come to the surface and out.

When you end up with a huge fire remember you never heard this from me. It must of been someone logged on as me.

Always use care when using FIRE around things that BURN - Like wood and epoxy!!!

[Pat Salter]

I recently took a class from Stephan Hatcher who was a guest at our club. Instead of using epoxy he uses CA glue. I know that may sound bad because of the fumes but we had 6 people working with it in a shop with fans going and the double car size garage door open so it wasn't bad.
He has the technique on line at:
http://www.stephenhatcher.com/Basic%20Stone%20Inlay%20(Ver%201.0).PDF
I did one (and am going to do more) and It came out great.

[Barry Elder]

When you have the time, you might want to check out some of the rod finishing epoxies used by custom fishing rod builders. There used to be some water-clear epoxies that were formulated to release air bubbles without burning your shop down. Don't know what's available any more. On the other hand, if you have time to experiment, I used to thin my epoxy with a drop or two of Xylene. Helps to release bubbles also.