# Help with oil and epoxy...



## JoePascal (May 12, 2015)

Hello all,

I made a coffee table about a year ago, the top is English elm and the only finish on it is a couple of coats of danish oil. The top has a couple of small cracks and a dent which I didn't mind or worry about when I made it but which over time have started to bug me. I would love to fill these in with clear epoxy which I think will look great. However I'm not greatly experienced and despite googling the hell out of it I can't figure out the best way to go about doing this after a finish has already been applied. 

I can't work out whether I should simply fill the cracks with epoxy, gently sand down and then apply more danish oil or remove the oil finish from the area, fill and then refinish. I also don't know how doing this to only specific areas will effect the final finish of the slab, will this result in a blotchy or imperfect look? In which case do I then need to remove the oil from the entire top and start from scratch? 

I've attached a couple of pics

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Probably shouldn't respond(nuthin to do with you).....but there isn't anything IME,"gentle" about epoxy.It is in our...here at our shop,opinion,a "smack down" product.Meaning,when we use it we're going to stack the deck(doing everything right for it's application),so to speak and get on with it.We spray it...we spread it...we build with it,yadayada.

How well it "plays" with other finishes is the stuff for chemists,engineers,and interweeb keyboard heros.You're going to have to test,pretty much in all cases where there's an interface between epoxy and another product.What are/is your criteria?What works for us here could be out in left field when compared to what you are requiring.

Can go on....but one way to think about it is volume.Take a "chunk"(think,deep crack))of epoxy with "X" amt of surface area and try to coat it with this or that product.Compare that to spraying a thin layer of it(think boat deck) and then doing a cover coat?Two completely different animals.

Good luck,I say test it,


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Epoxy shouldn't need a finish on top of it, given that it is a finish. Only doing epoxy in those spots would lead to the epoxy being shinier, but some steel wool would take care of that. 

What I'd do, and I preface this by saying ive never actually tried it, but anyway. I'd seal off the cracks you want to fill in by applying a light cut of dewaxed shellac. After that, mix epoxy and apply. Once the epoxy I'd cured, buff it with steel wool to match the sheen of the rest of the top. Alternatively, you could apply a sealer coat of shellac to the entire slab, then epoxy the entire thing, which would result in a more durable finish. 

If the danish oil has been there for a year, the finish should be pretty well cured, so it shouldn't interfere with anything used to overcoat beyond the normal adhesion issues. Fortunately, shellac cures most adhesion issues. 

I love shellac


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## JoePascal (May 12, 2015)

Hey guys thanks for the advice, right well I've ordered some dewaxed shellac and I'm gonna try just filling the cracks with epoxy as opposed to covering the entire top. I'le test everything on scrap wood first and then hope for the best, if it all goes pear shaped I can just start from scratch lol, thanks again for the input.


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