Sonic Epoxy inlays

[cabnet636]

I do these one to two colors at a time as long as there is no "bleed potential" between colors.

basically i leave it on the machine to cure then cut each color separately, The piece is not detached until all is cured

I amy have some phots but we do several at a time

On ours the colors touch or come real close.

[mtylerfl]

Wow, Jim! That looks great!

[potzmannwoodshop]

What is the base material? Corian or some similar synthetic stone?

[ezurick]

That is some great work! I finally decided to try to do some epoxy inlay and I am rather disappointed and frustrated with the results. Maybe it is the epoxy product I chose that is the problem. I purchased this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYK2NAG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 epoxy from amazon. I read the customer feedback and didn't see anything alarming. It claims to be a 1 part epoxy and 1 part hardner. First, I am finding that the epoxy part is very very thick and very hard to work with, especially in small areas. My inlays are usually small and trying to get a small portion of the epoxy (before the hardner) is very difficult. After the mix it is still pretty thick to get in small areas without making a complete mess. I bought small droppers https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F3ZN56V/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but with the mix, it is just too thick to suck into the dropper. So I added more hardner to try to soften it up.. nope. The next problem is curing. Again, the mix is 1 part each. The several inlays I completed were many days ago, and I know I mixed properly. But some of them are still sticky. I am scratching my head why.

Sorry to vent all of this, but can you give me advice on perhaps what I am doing wrong? Is it the product? Should I double the hardner? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ~ Ed

[garylmast]

The several inlays I completed were many days ago, and I know I mixed properly. But some of them are still sticky.

I bought the EPOXY RESIN CRYSTAL CLEAR Kit from Amazon and had the same problem. Maybe it's something they don't add to make it odorless. , I bought the Amazon stuff because it was suppose to have UV protection for a project I have sitting in the sun all day. Although I don't think it's has the UV protection, for everything else I've been sticking with the All-Purpose Fiberglass Resin I get at HomeDepot and have much better results.

Gary

[ger21]

If it's not curing, it's either a bad batch, or not mixed properly. Most likely the latter.

You can try warming it with a heat gun to get it thinner, and warm the workpiece before adding the epoxy as well.

What you really want is a laminating epoxy, which is much, much thinner.

[ezurick]

The several inlays I completed were many days ago, and I know I mixed properly. But some of them are still sticky.

I bought the EPOXY RESIN CRYSTAL CLEAR Kit from Amazon and had the same problem. Maybe it's something they don't add to make it odorless. , I bought the Amazon stuff because it was suppose to have UV protection for a project I have sitting in the sun all day. Although I don't think it's has the UV protection, for everything else I've been sticking with the All-Purpose Fiberglass Resin I get at HomeDepot and have much better results.

Gary

I wish we had a Home Depot closer. It would give competition to our Lowes, which are terrible for products and customer service. Heck, I see Ace hardware carries that Fiberglass stuff... and nope, we don't have one of them either. Grrrrr. But do you have to mix a 1 to 1 hardner to this? and once it is mixed, is it stick thick or can it easily be poured or sucked into a dropper? I have read that all epoxy will yellow from UV sunlight regardless of what the company states. Also, does this fiberglass Resin dry to a gloss? Thanks for posting.

[ezurick]

If it's not curing, it's either a bad batch, or not mixed properly. Most likely the latter.

You can try warming it with a heat gun to get it thinner, and warm the workpiece before adding the epoxy as well.

What you really want is a laminating epoxy, which is much, much thinner.

Well, I use little disposable clear plastic cups to measure the mix, and I am positive I always made the hardner a tad more than the epoxy. But I am thinking it is both the product and the user. But now I didn't know that laminating epoxy was different. I do see that most of the laminating epoxy is a 2 to 1 mix. But I think I'll try that first. The one I see at amazon claims to have a very low viscosity. Thanks for your help.

[ger21]

Different brands, and even types within brands, use different mixing ratios, and these ratios are critical. Adding "a little more hardener" may be a deterrent to curing, rather than helping.

There are some epoxied that are made to be more "clear" than others, but they tend to cost more. But you should still use a UV protectant clear finish over them.

"Fiberglass" resin (actually called polyester resin) typically only needs a small amount of hardener relative to the resin. It does not get thicker after adding hardener.

[CarveOne]

As an example of what ger21 is talking about, West Systems 105 epoxy resin and 206 hardener is mixed at a ratio of 5 to one. Be sure that you closely follow instructions that come with the epoxy. West Systems epoxy is not watery, but is thin enough to brush on with cheap 1" chip brushes or pour into carved pockets, and will be workable for an hour before it gets tacky enough to feel that it is starting to harden at a room temperature of around 75 F. If put in a heat chamber set at about 90 F it will be ready to remove in another hour and will be almost fully cured overnight.

There are color additives for epoxy resins that do not affect the curing times much at all.

CarveOne

[ezurick]

Thanks guys for your feedback and suggestions. I am gonna try the laminating epoxy and see if I get better results. May even try the fiberglass one. But I am certainly going to try the glazing method someone posts a pdf instruction. Happy holidays!

[DarinB]

As an example of what ger21 is talking about, West Systems 105 epoxy resin and 206 hardener is mixed at a ratio of 5 to one. Be sure that you closely follow instructions that come with the epoxy. West Systems epoxy is not watery, but is thin enough to brush on with cheap 1" chip brushes or pour into carved pockets, and will be workable for an hour before it gets tacky enough to feel that it is starting to harden at a room temperature of around 75 F. If put in a heat chamber set at about 90 F it will be ready to remove in another hour and will be almost fully cured overnight.

There are color additives for epoxy resins that do not affect the curing times much at all.

CarveOne

Do you use a liquid or powder for color? I'm wondering if there is a difference in mica powder or Tempra paint powder? I've used liquid, even a few drops really slows down the cure time for me. The powdered, usually the Jacquard Pearl Ex, works great for me.

[garylmast]

I remembered I still had about 1/2 gal. of epoxy that I got from http://www.metalpowderusea.com that I was using for the metal coatings I did on several models. The epoxy is extremely thin so it can be sprayed with a paint gun and the catalyst mixture is about 1oz to quart. I just did an inlay yesterday, where it took about an hour to cure/get hard.

Gary

[CarveOne]

As an example of what ger21 is talking about, West Systems 105 epoxy resin and 206 hardener is mixed at a ratio of 5 to one. Be sure that you closely follow instructions that come with the epoxy. West Systems epoxy is not watery, but is thin enough to brush on with cheap 1" chip brushes or pour into carved pockets, and will be workable for an hour before it gets tacky enough to feel that it is starting to harden at a room temperature of around 75 F. If put in a heat chamber set at about 90 F it will be ready to remove in another hour and will be almost fully cured overnight.

There are color additives for epoxy resins that do not affect the curing times much at all.

CarveOne

Do you use a liquid or powder for color? I'm wondering if there is a difference in mica powder or Tempra paint powder? I've used liquid, even a few drops really slows down the cure time for me. The powdered, usually the Jacquard Pearl Ex, works great for me.

I used Evercoat Marine Coloring Agent for polyester, epoxy resins and fillers, gel paste, and Skid-No-More. 100508 is the part number for black. It is a paste in a 1 ounce squeeze tube. It says nothing about how much to use, so I mixed the slow cure epoxy resin and hardener and added just enough of the coloring agent to make a black colored mix. I don't recall having any problem with curing time or hardness. I purchased it at a local Carquest store. I made two table tops back in 2013 for a local restaurant. The table tops were coated with rolled on MinWax clear satin polyurethane, when cured the text was carved. The text is pocketed 0.2" deep and filled with tinted epoxy until even with the surface, and allowed to cure. These two tables show no wear or loosening of the epoxy text since then. All of the other tables in the restaurant have little or no remaining black paint text left on them due to hot fajita trays being placed on it. The epoxy text still looks new. If I were to do this again I would paint the pockets after cutting them with a coat of polyurethane before filling with epoxy. There was some wicking of the epoxy that is visible.

CarveOne

CarveOne

[martin54]

They look great Jim, really vibrant colours

Sorry to vent all of this, but can you give me advice on perhaps what I am doing wrong? Is it the product? Should I double the hardner? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ~ Ed

As ger21 says mixing ratios are critical with most resins, if it says 1 to 1 then thats how you mix it, is it by weight or volume? Lots of different types of resin on the market & you should make your choice depending on the type of work you are doing to some degree

What sort of temperature are you working in? If it is really thick then it may be that the temperature is far to cold, low viscosity means runny so if a resin claims to be low viscosity then there shouldn't be a problem using a syringe for measuring as long as the resin is warm enough.
Lots of problems caused by poor mixing, most decent resins should come with a full set of instructions on how to use

I have tried different methods for colouring, usually when I didn't have the proper pigment in the right colour Some have affected cure times & some the colour hasn't been as good as I had hoped for, tried various dyes, inks, food colourings lol