Segmented Planter

[Gerold Griffin]

This is the planter that the finish gave me a fit with. The finish is fiberglass resin and hardener which would not harden up. After several failed attempts I buffed it with wax paper. Creating a little friction heat took the wax off the paper and transfered to the planter and that hardened the finish.
By the way its a 10 inch planter, with 300 pieces of red oak and walnut.
Comments welcome and if any of you ole pro's see something I could have done better on, that would be very welcome indeed.


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Thanks for looking.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Gerold - that's a good looking planter! Wonder why the resins would not cure on your finish? Glad you were able to figure out a way to help it cure! Nice color combination - great looking joints! Thanks for sharing!

[jason lambert]

Yea that resin issue is odd. Anyhow great planter one day I hope to be able to do what you did.

[jack richington]

nice segmenting..you are gonna put dirt in that?? YIKES I'd faint dead away if my partner in crime put dirt in my segmented work!!!

[Richard Madison]

Gerold,
Dimly recall from half a lifetime ago that there used to be a problem with polyester resins called oxygen inhibition which prevented exposed surfaces from completely setting. By waxing the surface you excluded the oxygen, allowing the resin to finish curing. I was not the resins guy in our group, so that's all I remember about it. May or may not be relevent.

Looks like a slight misalignment of two rings near the top, but still a very nice piece that you can be proud of. I would put it on the mantle with NO dirt in it.

[Gerold Griffin]

Jack, gonna fill it to the rim and let the wife do her thing to it. Only way I know of to see if the finish will hold. If it don't, well I guess I'll just have to do another and try something else. I get oak for 2.35 a board foot and walnut for 5 something so it's not like I'm breaking the bank. Beside's it keeps me out of trouble!!
Jason, all it amounts to in a nutshell is, cut, sand, glue, glue and glue. It can get as complicated as you want it or as simple as you want it. For me I prefer the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach.

[Gerold Griffin]

Richard, I really don't know what happened. After I put the first coat on I let it set for a full day before messing with it. It was tacky feeling then so I put on another coat with more hardener. Anyway I ended up putting on around three coats before I sanded it off and started over with the same results. After hitting it with the wax paper I left it alone for a week to see if it would remain stable. By the way I am no glass man as this was my first attempt.

[Will Hunt]

You might try a low viscosity epoxy such as West Mirrorcoat. I usually do a coat before any finishing to make sure there are no voids -- if there are, they will show on the outer surface and this can easily be sanded away. Then a second coat anyway.

Generally do this on the lathe a very low speed with a heat lamp set to run for at least 45 minutes to prevent slump and accelerate bubbles. Wipe out the inside several time to eliminate bubbles from trapped air in the bare wood surface.

And as LOML advises, drill a hole in the base to allow excess water to drain away\

Will Hunt

[Gerold Griffin]

Thanks for the tip Will. Got that wrote down in my little book of things to try. Know what you mean about that hole in the bottom.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Gerold. Really like the finish. Looks pretty good after the wax paper.

[Jim Kountz]

Thats got to be the fanciest planter Iver ever seen. Fantastic job with it, came out great!!