# Preventing epoxy from bleeding into end grain



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I’m about to have a piece of woodwork laser engraved and I’d like to fill the engraved recesses with gold colored epoxy. The last time I tried this, the epoxy bled into the nearby endgrain and made colored streaks in the wood above and below the etching and looked awful. 

Any ideas to prevent this?


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

yep ~ it will.

same with painting engraved or routed signs.
the etching or engraving must be totally sealed prior to adding any kind of color.
what are you going to finish the project with after it is all complete ???

for a nice project that you spend a lot of time on, I would take some 
of the same wood to the engraver and have something engraved on it
to practice with . . . . all sealers are not compatible with epoxy.
so there should be some testing prior to doing the real thing.
my thought goes to sealing the engraved part with thinned epoxy,
sand smooth, fill with your gold epoxy, then clear coat as you normally would.
again - testing is essential to find what works for you with the products that
you intend to use.

.

.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Seal the parameter of the etching with what ever finish you intend to use before using the epoxy. If you have the wood sealed that should prevent the bleed.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I’m planning to use lacquer over tinted shellac for the finish. 

If I seal with shellac, will the Epoxy still adhere? How many coats would you reccommend?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Quickstep said:


> I’m planning to use lacquer over tinted shellac for the finish.
> 
> If I seal with shellac, will the Epoxy still adhere? How many coats would you reccommend?


You couldn't use standard shellac because of the wax content but sealcoat would be alright.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

and I mention this again: practice practice PRACTICE on scrap material
prior to doing anything to your project that you can't back away from.

.

.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> You couldn't use standard shellac because of the wax content but sealcoat would be alright.



I often forget that waxy shellac even exists. I’ve only ever used dewaxed shellac from flakes or seal coat. 

How many coats do you think I’ll need? I want to make sure the endgrain gets sealed, but I don’t want too much buildup in the recesses.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

Quick - how deep will the laser etchings be on your project ??
I am thinking that too many layers of anything will not leave
you enough room to apply your colored epoxy with satisfactory results.
looking forward to seeing your project once it is complete.

.

.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Quickstep said:


> I often forget that waxy shellac even exists. I’ve only ever used dewaxed shellac from flakes or seal coat.
> 
> How many coats do you think I’ll need? I want to make sure the endgrain gets sealed, but I don’t want too much buildup in the recesses.


Couldn't go by coat count since it would depend on how thin it was mixed. Apply enough you can see the dried film on the surface.


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