# fixing imperfections in epoxy resin table top?



## thedudeabides1980 (Jun 6, 2016)

Hello all, I'm having a little trouble with my first table top epoxy resin project. I'm using Rustoleum Parks Super Glaze epoxy resin. Ive poured it twice now and in the first pic you can see that the resin isnt covering my cards completely on that one spot, its kind of driving me nuts! The second pic shows a hair stuck in the glaze ( I have a cat, whos not allowed in the room im working in, but whose hair doesnt abide by the same rules haha) What I'm wondering is, is there any way to repair these imperfections, aside from pouring the whole table again? I'm on a very limited budget so buying another kit just isnt going to work right now, There is some epoxy left in both the bottles of epoxy and hardener. But I'm not sure what I can do to fix this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Is there any way you can take some more pictures in better lighting. There is so much glare in the pictures it's difficult to tell what you have. 

History on the table: Is it a new table or an old one? Are you trying to put the epoxy over raw wood or an old finish? If you are trying to go over an old finish that shouldn't be done.


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## thedudeabides1980 (Jun 6, 2016)

Its easier to see the imperfections with light going across the table and also all I have is my phone camera. Its an old table that I sanded down, glued cards too and painted the area that they didnt cover. everything looked and covered well except the hair stuck in the epoxy as pictured in the second pic, and if you look at the first pic you can see it didnt cover the cards like it did on the other parts of the table and seems to run over the edge but come back from it a bit.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

All I can give you is some possible explanations. Epoxy will resist adhering to some surfaces. If the surface of the cards is too slick the finish can resist adhering and as the finish dries it shrinks and draws away from from the cards. The table being used likely had furniture polish on it and sanding doesn't remove the wax, it just smears it around. Sanding is a poor method of stripping the finish off wood. It tends to remove what is on the surface and doesn't get what is penetrated into the wood. Not being completely stripped and having wax present when the finish is applied it resisted adhering and draws back from the edge. The bad of it is if that is what happened the finish will soon peal off. It will begin with looking a little hazy and gradually getting more white especially in spots. 

What should have been done is the top of the table be first cleaned with a wax and grease remover. Then the old finish stripped with a paint and varnish remover. Then the wood sanded. If the cards were too slick be sealed on the front side with Zinsser Sealcoat. Then the cards could be applied to the table and then the sealcoat scuff sanded. Then the table would be ready to pour.


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## thedudeabides1980 (Jun 6, 2016)

Im sure you could be correct, I just dont understand why its only the one place on the entire table to shrink away and not stick like you said? The table itself to begin with had some sort of almost epoxy resin like coating on the top of it, took forever to sand through I'm really not sure how and waxes or anything would have penetrated that.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

thedudeabides1980 said:


> Im sure you could be correct, I just dont understand why its only the one place on the entire table to shrink away and not stick like you said? The table itself to begin with had some sort of almost epoxy resin like coating on the top of it, took forever to sand through I'm really not sure how and waxes or anything would have penetrated that.


Nobody knows if wax was the culprit. A certain amount of wax can go all the way through a finish into the wood. When refinishing if you use paint and varnish remover it liquefies the wax at the same time it does the finish and soaks into the wood. If you just sand a finish off the wax gets on the sandpaper and you rub it around and when it gets to bare wood it goes into the wood. You never get rid of it, you can only reduce the amount there to a tolerable level. A lot of people that have been here regard furniture polish like it was the plague. I recommend anyone that refinishes a piece of furniture clean the furniture with a wax and grease remover prior to stripping and refinishing. The furniture polish in a spray can such as pledge contains silicone. Enough of it on the wood the new finish you apply tries to bead up like water on a freshly waxed car. Sometimes a person using this polish starts in the same place every time and builds a much higher concentration in a single spot. Then when you go to finish even if you do everything right that spot will fisheye, which is shown in the picture. The finish just draws back from that spot. It's possible that is what happened to your table. Strangely enough the solution for fisheye is adding silicone to the finish. I just don't know if silicone is compatible with an epoxy finish or not. If you want to try that for a solution you might call the epoxy manufacturer and ask them if an additive like that is compatible. It can be found at places that sell automotive paint supplies they sell some kind of fisheye control solvent. The one I use is Smoothie.


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