Pour in epoxy filler to inlay

[bill.young]

I have no experience with filling inlays like this but do have a lot of experience with all kinds of resins used in boatbuilding.

Polyester resin has 2 properties that I think might cause problem. One is that it's pretty brittle when cured which could be a problem if there's much material movement, but the one that I would worry about more is that it shrinks when it cures, which might keep it from having a good bond with the cut.

If I was doing this I'd feel better with epoxy...

Bill

[drodda]

This is meant for use on a table top indoors to fill some inlay designs. The customer wanted a few ideas to get a design on the table besides the typical v-carved groove. I was going to use a wood inlay but thought maybe the solid color of an epoxy might add a different look.

Not sure though after hearing all the horror stories about shrinkage and such?

[cabnet636]

dave i have done many a bat top and several very thick and one that was 8 inches deep, filled the base with sand and some items to look like the bottom of the ocean, filled in slowly and over three weeks of daily pouring, 140 gallons over 4 weeks of twice daily pours (lot of money) the place was known as club malibu, did one for a bar owner who got impatient with us and tried to pour on his own in one night and against our knowledge, he tried to pour over 1 inch thick to fill in a logo, it cracked from the heat stress and mucked his bar up big time!! i was always able to get a client to listen to me after that all i had to do was take them to that bar for a few minutes and show them what he did!!! (it looked real bad) i would not wory about using a little epoxy to fill in letters such as a vcarve, the wood will shrink before the epoxy when used outdoors, for an interior application to fill in a carve on a table i would not think twice about it, just remember if it is a broad area do not fill more than 1/8 to 1/4" inch at a time, for lettering just fill it and sand.

always test a piece before a major pour, i poured the table below in 02 and it still looks great

jim




38942.jpg

[ed_lang]

After reading Bill Youngs post quoted below, I would not use the material that I posted above that I get from Lowes. It works great for what I use it for, spoilboards and small inside projects. Sorry I lead you down a wrong path. Thanks Bill for pointing this negative property out before problems happened.

"Polyester resin has 2 properties that I think might cause problem. One is that it's pretty brittle when cured which could be a problem if there's much material movement, but the one that I would worry about more is that it shrinks when it cures, which might keep it from having a good bond with the cut."

[cabnet636]

i have used an awful lot of greers products with success

http://stores.ebay.com/AeroMarine-Products

http://www.jgreer.com/

[cabnet636]

on a further note you could use casting resins, easy to color and no shrinkage! i have some of this on my desk and can photo on monday,

http://www.jgreer.com/casting%20resin.htm

[alister]

I used the coloring linked below to do my floor...worked for me.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=7886&familyName=Evercoat&# 43;Coloring+Agents

[waynelocke]

I don't have any experience with this but check out http://www.inlacebook.com/text/produ...FRRhnAodT1vT1w. This seems to be what you are looking for.

[dakers]

Here is what the guy at West Systems told me
Dick:

Epoxy typically does not hold up well with exposure to sunlight. It initially looses its gloss and the color can change fairly quickly and eventually it becomes yellow and chalky. You can protect it for exterior applications by applying a good varnish or one or two part clear polyurethane (this is the best of the three) over it. If you use high percentages of dry pigment or mineral base powders like stone dust the epoxy holds up much better. It looses its gloss with exposure to the sun but retains the base color because the pigment and stone particles cast shadows that protect the epoxy below. If you get a chance and if you are interested, give me a call next week and I can fill you in with more information on the topic.

Best regards,

Tom Pawlak

Technical Service

I called him and here are the west system products he recommended for exterior.

I called them./
They said use the 105 with 206 hardner. The 206 does not turn yellow as fast.
Also they said we can buy the 404 high density filler. It is off white but he says it looks white.
He said we can also use thinset grout. Pour the resin and while resin is wet apply the thinset grout . When dry vacuum off.
He said that would also protect the resin from uv.

[dakers]

continue from above post
We have also used one shot lettering enamel to color the resin. I should mention that our application is always outdoors and alway using polyethylene sheets as the substrate we rout.