Finish For Small Slab End Table?

[kmmcrafts]

I am making a wedding present for a family member that will be finally using some of my slabs I have had for 15 years, LOL. I got a whole big stack of these that I got from my brothers mill several years ago.. before the big epoxy resin table thing really kicked off, LOL.. 

Anyway I've been sanding the edges down as they was really rough.. run through the planer to smooth it all out and now have sanded it down to 320.. I will be doing some small carving with the cnc on a small portion that will have the names and date engraved in. Wil be adding pin legs I guess is what you call them. Wife want it to be a nice gloss finish.. I've not really worked with epoxy but I do have a small amount that I intended to use on a different project but changed coarse on that.. However it's a very small kit and I'm not wanting to run out of it in the middle of this project either. I am more comfortable just spraying something on it but what? Also that epoxy that I do have is not a "thick" epoxy it's supposed to be gloss but not a thick glass type.. I think that's what the wife is kind of after.. I don't mind spraying several coats of clear to achieve the result she thinks she wants, LOL.. Epoxy is probably the real way to go on this but thought I'd ask more opinions from someone that maybe has been there done that.. I'd really like to "seal it up with clear before running the carve on the cnc.. that's typically what I do and then after the carve I paint it and then clear over the whole thing but I'm not sure that'd work with epoxy either. 

I wish I had taken a photo before I started planing and sanding.. you'd have a hard time knowing how beautiful this grain pattern really is.. I did several large planks.. some was way too big for the planer so I ended up having to surface them on the CNC and even had to "tile" it on there as some are 3 ft x maybe 5 ft.. all are nice looking but this is the one she chose so gotta go with what the boss says, LOL

Edited June 7 by kmmcrafts

[Bill WIlson]

There are different types of epoxy and they aren't necessarily interchangeable.  If you want to use epoxy for a finish, should probably buy a product that is designed to be used as a finish, as opposed to a casting resin.

[TAIrving]

Kevin,

I have posted a few projects I have done using epoxy.  But what you are asking is a very different use of epoxy and my experience does not apply.  

BTW, what kind of wood is that?  It is a beautiful slab.

Thurman

[kmmcrafts]

20 minutes ago, TAIrving said:

Kevin,

I have posted a few projects I have done using epoxy.  But what you are asking is a very different use of epoxy and my experience does not apply.  

BTW, what kind of wood is that?  It is a beautiful slab.

Thurman

It's Walnut 

[ChelCass]

WOW that is some slab of wood, can't wait to see it finished.  The grain is beautiful.

[scrollerpete]

I would use “Osmo” oil, if you want it shinny choose the glossy one and the more coat you apply the shinier it gets after the buffing.

BTW a great piece of black walnut

[preprius]

Arm R Seal

or

Osmo

[kmmcrafts]

I've never heard of either of those finishes so I guess I'll have to do some research.. Very tempting to just use automotive urethane clear as that stuff I know.. though I've never used it on wood, LOL. 

I did like the spar varnish stuff I used on a outdoor sign I made a couple years ago and have a can left.. might do that too.. not really sure what the best option is..

[preprius]

my brother has been in woodworking and was a Rockler store manager. He told me to check "General finishes" out and try them on my wooden cowboy hats scraps.  I tried water based general finished side by side with oil based finished from "General finishes"  Arm R Seal is oil based wipe on wipe off. 

The oil based is so much better to bring the magic of black walnut. 

When I did the tiny feet drawers I tried the Osmo (oil based) hard wax. side by side with Arm R Seal.  Both look great.  The wax Osmo won't be as durable be it will make it feel like furniture polish.  Kid toy safe.

I also did this side by side on the recent feathers I did.  All 3 feathers were different wood.  I went with Arm R Seal because of the softer wood Butternutwood I wanted it to be stiffer. 

Osmo is very expensive but it does not need much.  It is also considereal toy safe.  Kids can chew on it.   

 

Edited June 8 by preprius

[MarieC]

Kevin, haven't you made some crazy glossy toy trucks?  What did you use on them?  I have used Osmo gloss which gives a nice finish.  Make sure you wipe off the first two layers really well, then I put in a very thin final layer....there is a good article on fine woodworking in 2017 on how a guy did it on a walnut table top. I think it was the July issue...

[kmmcrafts]

Well, since I really don't a bunch of time to get this right.. even though I started this idea / project over a month ago.. custom orders and life have taken a lot of time up that I normally would have been done with this by now.. 

Anyway, today I just did the pattern design in my CNC software and since we want to "paint" the carved areas and then topcoat it, it works best to "seal" the wood before carving with whatever finish I'm going to use and then seal the carved area with another couple coats, then use the acrylic craft paints on the carved area then I seal it all up again. Not knowing how these other finishes will work with the craft paints etc. in this process and being somewhat limited in time I went ahead and sprayed the gloss spar varnish stuff I've used in the past on it for the first couple coats to seal it up.. SO, I guess I've made my decision up.. Still very interested in options / opinions for future projects I will be doing some more of these natural edged slabs since i have quite a large pile of them.. Most are Walnut but have many other varieties too. 

 

 

 

 

This is somewhat how the design will look carved out of the one upper corner of the slab. It'll be the upper left with the white edge below it.. trying to put the carve in the less grain area if that makes any sense, LOL In the first photo it'll be in the farther corner closer to the bike tire.

Edited June 8 by kmmcrafts

[Richard Hotchkiss]

Kevin,

Just finished a butternut live edge slab table for my wife last week. Sanded it to 400 grit and then applied 5 coats of minwax warm gloss polyurethane. I went over lightly with 000 steel wool between each coat, tack clothed it then applied the poly and repeated this process for all 5 coats. When completed it had a beautiful finish and just as beautiful as any epoxy resin that I have done and seen.  Good luck with your table!

Richard

Ashland, VA

 

[Bill WIlson]

On 6/8/2024 at 9:56 AM, kmmcrafts said:

I've never heard of either of those finishes so I guess I'll have to do some research.. Very tempting to just use automotive urethane clear as that stuff I know.. though I've never used it on wood, LOL. 

I did like the spar varnish stuff I used on a outdoor sign I made a couple years ago and have a can left.. might do that too.. not really sure what the best option is..

If my memory is correct, I think spar varnish generally cures softer than a normal interior varnish.  Since it's made for outdoor applications, it needs to be softer to allow for more wood movement.  For future reference, it may not be as desirable for projects that will be subject to wear and some abuse, such as a table top.

[kmmcrafts]

10 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

If my memory is correct, I think spar varnish generally cures softer than a normal interior varnish.  Since it's made for outdoor applications, it needs to be softer to allow for more wood movement.  For future reference, it may not be as desirable for projects that will be subject to wear and some abuse, such as a table top.

Hey Bill Thanks for that info.. I'm not liking the way it feels and I did get some dust / grit of somesort in it and it needs a light sanding and another light coat.. That being said, because of the slow drying and it needs a sanding and light coat.. I've been tempted to run it through the planer and starting over using Lacquer I use a lot of lacquer and I didn't remember this stuff drying slow.. I'm not sure how the edges would do with some Lacquer getting on them though.. I doubt I'd be able to sand "all" the lacquer off out of all the nooks and crannies of the edges and ends.. so maybe best to continue on.. either case I'm going to end up having to buy more as I haven't sealed up the bottom side at all yet so thinking starting over with lacquer has been in my thoughts ever since I sprayed the spar on it. I'm just not sure how to handle the edges since I'm pushing the deadline.. 

[tomsteve]

if ya haven't picked a finish yet and have the capability to spray, check out general finishes conversion varnish. 

 

https://generalfinishes.com/wood-finishes-professional/water-based-topcoats-and-sanding-sealers/enduro-conversion-2k-varnish

[kmmcrafts]

Just a small progress update. Got it carved and sealed the carve area so the wife could paint it and she decided she wanted to leave it as is. Wish I had known that ahead of time because I would have used the nice epoxy finish I’ve had for a while now. Bought pin legs but didn’t like them so ordered some different style legs on Amazon that just came in. Now to decide how / where to mount the table to the legs as one end is a bit narrow and the leg sticks out from the edge about 1/4 inch or so. Wife says she has a unique idea for this so I’m turning the project over to her. 

[rjweb]

Kevin, that looks great, RJ