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Casting resin tabletop with oak knot base

3/6/13       
Jswarek Member

I picked up a neat scorpion suspended in casting resin at a zoo a couple years back and it's inspired me to take on a new project.

I'm 24, and I've acquired a few things I'd like to keep to remember my life up until now, things like the license plate from
My first truck, my favorite dogs chain collar, possibly some pictures if there's a way the heat doesn't wreak havoc on them, and maybe a few other things.

So I was at the cigar shop one day and decided to start saving cigar bands to make one of the tables like they have where the bands cover a tabletop and there's a piece of glass holdin the bands in place. Then I wanted to add more things, as mentioned above, and maybe a few cigar box lids, and after that the idea became what it is now, all of the above sealed inside a resin tabletop piece just like the scorpion I bought. I tried to find someone at the local craft gallery that could give me
Some Insight but had no luck, so I turned to google. Google told me the proper terminology for what I wanted to do and gave me lots of incomplete references to beer cap tables. I found a link that lead to you guy's forum archive site and figured this would be my best bet for advice before I get started. So here goes, if anyone can give some insight into methods, materials, tips/tricks it would be GREATLY appreciated, as I don't have much to go on currently.

I would love to end with a 4x4 table in order to make it overhang off of a sturdy 2x2 table/stand, but I realize that that's probably very ambitious for a beginner, and I really don't want to have to break all the pieces of acrylic off of my beloved items to start over. Want to go at least 3x3 and that size would be me making a table to mount it in with a frame/support around it for use as an end table

MATERIALS TO EMBED
Cigar bands (some flat, some wavy or on their side to show depth)
Cigar box lids
Pictures (even if I have to print them on a piece of plastic or a tshirt or w/e to safeguard from curing heat)
License plate
And I'm not sure what else, but I'm sure I'll add to the list by the time I start.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated

3/6/13       #2: Casting resin tabletop with oak kno ...
Chicomsuk

Sounds great. What have you made so far?

3/7/13       #3: Casting resin tabletop with oak kno ...
Adam312

Jswarek,
I've seen similar attempts turn into a big,sticky mess.Don't do that.
Adam

4/30/13       #4: Casting resin tabletop with oak kno ...
Art

Hi there!

I regularly embed insects and objects in resin table tops.
Biggest bugbear is bubbles. Easily removed with a butane gas torch flashed over the surface,
The clever thing to do is seal the timber/item FIRST so that bubbles are not generated. A cheap varnish mixed 50/50 with turps will do this.
Secondly if it is a deep recess, build it up in layers max 1/2 inch. Once you get a mass 1' thick or more, the heat generated turns the expoxy yellow and you are lucky if the lot does not explode into fragments.
Photographs I seal first, and then pour a thin layer of epoxy ( max 3/8" )over them and let it cure. THEN I continue building up thickness to the depth required. Does not yellow or obliterate the pic. Test on a duff pic first!
Material is a real bugger for bubbles if you do not seal it first.

Be patient and don't rush it. Better thin layers than one big blob. Just like spray painting aye?

I have found that the E9000 two pot epoxy does a good job and is relatively cheap to boot.

Have fun and observe the safety precautions.

What you want to do is achievable and will become a treasure.

cheers,

Art


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