[Woodworkers] Resin Table

[Dave Heitstuman]

Interesting question.  I have helped on a couple of tables where we poured resin mostly to fill bigger cracks, not so much as a design element although on one of them it really was.  We actually had the top basically done and used masking tape to keep the resin off the top.  The tedious part was using narrower masking tape and carefully following the edge of the crack.  Once that was done we put wider tape on to protect the top further out.  Then when we poured we poured very carefully to only fill the crack and not overfill it.  We learned to pull the tape before the resin cured.  Some light sanding around the edges and then we used 6 coats of Enduro as a finish.  After the first couple of coats any sanding marks in the resin disappeared.

From: Woodworkers [mailto:woodworkers-bounces at lists.sawdusters.org] On Behalf Of chuck.steger--- via Woodworkers
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 9:23 AM
To: woodworkers at sawdusters.org
Cc: chuck.steger at gmail.com
Subject: [Woodworkers] Resin Table

   I am making my first resin table. I decided to start with a nightstand size table since it's my first time doing a resin table. I chose a board with a big crack in it. The crack is not wide enough to call a "river" table, so we'll call it a "creek" table. Making the form for the top and pouring the resin went well. It released from the form fairly easily. One lesson learned was to screw the top down from the bottom. I didn't expect the wood to float so I had to improvise and weigh it down with some bricks. Most of the brick removed easily but one was epoxied to the wood pretty good. I tried to belt sand it out but red brick is real hard! I ended up chiseling out the brick which worked well (dulled my chisel!) since I'll have to sand down anyway. Which leads me to my questions:
   What do you use to level the table and sand the resin? I tried a belt sander but it loads up real quickly. Will the resin dull my planer knives if I send it through the planer? I have a drum sander but if the belt sander loaded up, wouldn't the drum sander? I thought about putting it back in the form and use a router to level. The top wasn't totally level but I could use wedges to level, then route. The underside of the top has a good 1/8" to 3/16" of resin and I'd like to take that down to the wood. One YouTube video said they liked Micro Mesh sanding pads because they are porous and vacuum easily but that would be a lot of sanding to remove 1/8" or more.
   Advice? Thanks!

Chuck

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