Critter Report post Posted April 1, 2015 I do a lot of woodworking including slab tables. www.antlersandwoodworks.com for pics. When I have a void I need to fill typically I mask off the bottom of the slab with a good quality painters tape. I basically tape the whole bottom anywhere where there is a crack because when you go to fill in the holes that epoxy will ooze out any hole it can so be sure to mask everything really good on the underside. Then you can either use a two part clear epoxy or a fiberglass resin. I have always used a 2 part clear epoxy (Can google shop it and find it easily) but more recently I started using a fiberglass resin... you can buy a big jug of it at Napa auto parts. It comes with a hardener which is a couple small tubes and be sure to follow the directions for the correct ratio. It will dry very dark/black. Once you fill in your voids with the resin it only takes a few hours to cure but it's better to leave it for a day or so before sanding your top smooth. The fiberglass resin dries rock hard and sands nice. Get it sanded down to 400 grit then come in and wipe on either tung oil, linseed oil, whatever you prefer. If you want a good hard protected surface you can mix in a satin polyurethane with your tung oil. I actually use a 30/30/30 mixture I learned that includes satin poly / tung oil / paint thinner. Lightly rub in a coat of your mixture... let dry for at least 24hrs then do another coat. After several coats you will notice the finish starting to build thicker which will protect the wood. If you keep adding more coats it will eventually get a plastic look if you are using a lot of polyurethane in your mixture. You'll know when to stop. I sometimes do 4 or 5 coats or more of tung oil. In your situation you have some mighty large holes... the weight of the epoxy will be hard to keep from escaping out the bottom. You could pile in a bunch of wood filler in the bottom of the voids to create a base, let harden, still mask it off, then pour your epoxy to make sure the epoxy doesn't all drip out the bottom. Tape might hold it by itself if you mask it off really good on the bottom. Another tip... when it comes time to pour your epoxy put your slab on a level work bench, put a towel down, then put some spacer sticks or something under the slab so that the slab is not directly on your work bench... reason is if epoxy does ooze out it's going to bond the slab to the table then you gotta peel it off and a good chunk may rip off. I learned that the hard way. by giving it a bit of air to breathe underneath any epoxy that may ooze out will drip onto a towel. And yes you could "inlay" they call it... some turquoise or I like to use copper chunks. If you do this it is a little more involved and let me know I can walk you through it. It wouldn't hurt to practice on an older piece of wood before doing this on your actual project... especially when it comes to the final finish that way you know what you are doing. Don't use an old Tshirt or cotton to rub in the finish. Use cheesecloth... if you use old tshirts the fibers gets into your finish and in the right light/angle you will see junk in the finish. That's not good. Here are a few pics of some inlayed copper... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThomC Report post Posted April 1, 2015 I have a friend that makes stuff out of mesquite. He puts turquoise in the some of the cracks and leaves some of the holes open. It really looks good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Critter Report post Posted April 1, 2015 Here's a pic of both fiberglas resin from napa and also a different 2 part epoxy I've used that works well. Also.. another tip. If you want to make your epoxy a bit thicker it might help keep it from oozing out the bottom. A lot of guys save some of the finest sawdust from sanding and mix that in with the epoxy. It will turn your epoxy darker but if it is thicker it will be less likely to drip out the bottom. Here's a pic of what the fiberglass resin looks like once dried and sanded down. This is a current table I'm working on.. it's not oiled yet but I rubbed a wet paper towel over it to simulate how it will bring out the color of the wood. Hope this helps! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adicted Report post Posted April 1, 2015 interesting...thx for all the help. I'm going to shoot some PM's over to talk about thison the phone this weekend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naturegirl Report post Posted April 1, 2015 Critter gave some great advice. Wood filler will look horrible on a good piece of wood like you have (mind out of the gutter please). Please post pics of the table when you are done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Non-Typical Solutions Report post Posted April 1, 2015 Good looking stuff there critter........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Critter Report post Posted April 2, 2015 Thanks non-typ. And yeah naturegirl I agree wood filler wont work right. Would love to see the pics when your done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
5guyshunting Report post Posted April 2, 2015 If you can get your wood rejuvenated , please post the process and the results. Im not sure about pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adicted Report post Posted April 2, 2015 Hahahaha. I will guys. Give me two weeks. Incoach little league and work alot 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ringer Report post Posted April 2, 2015 You can use a UTC stain in the epoxy. Get the lamp black color or they have many shades of browns. We buy it for the shop at Frazeee on Cave creek Road. You can buy two part epoxy for cheap on ebay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
