# Epoxy on warped table



## tjalex01 (Aug 4, 2018)

I have a table roughly 55" in length that I have built and have been planning to epoxy. Problem is, there is a bow in the table. The center of the table rises about a 3/8" over the length of the table. Obviously, if I do an epoxy pour, it will just roll off the center. Not sure what to do. The table was built with a bunch of 1x4s standing on end and held together with glue and four 5/8" rods through all of them. Can't exactly pull it apart and sand down the table top to take out the bow. Should I apply the epoxy with a brush and do lots of layers instead of pouring on one thick layer? Should I just polyurethane the table with a clear gloss with a bunch of coats and call it good? The bow won't really matter for purposes of table use, but it will matter for the epoxy finish. Please email me at [email protected] and give me some pointers.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

tjalex01 said:


> I have a table roughly 55" in length that I have built and have been planning to epoxy. Problem is, there is a bow in the table. The center of the table rises about a 3/8" over the length of the table. Obviously, if I do an epoxy pour, it will just roll off the center. Not sure what to do. The table was built with a bunch of 1x4s standing on end and held together with glue and four 5/8" rods through all of them. Can't exactly pull it apart and sand down the table top to take out the bow. Should I apply the epoxy with a brush and do lots of layers instead of pouring on one thick layer? Should I just polyurethane the table with a clear gloss with a bunch of coats and call it good? The bow won't really matter for purposes of table use, but it will matter for the epoxy finish. Please email me at [email protected] and give me some pointers.


The 3/8" bow will need to be corrected before proceeding with any finish. Do you have an idea for the reason for the bow? Was it green wood? One fix might be to cut the table apart and glue it back together alternating the bow. By alternating the bow you would equalize the pressure from one side to the other and should cause it to be flat. Then when you do finish the table be sure to put some kind of finish on the underside of the top. This will help stabilize it. 

If the table is important your best fix would be to start over with different wood. There seems to be stresses in the wood you used which has caused the warp in the first place. Some wood is just bad in that way and it can save yourself a lot of grief by starting over.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

Sound like a job for a hand plane or a flattening router setup. Sounds like the table is four inches thick so that allows plenty of room to flatten


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## tjalex01 (Aug 4, 2018)

The bow won't really effect eating on the table or anything like that. I guess it happened because the table has been out in my workshop, which gets really hot in the summer. Also, with 5/8" rods through the length of it, maybe it was squeezed too tight. It was glued piece by piece, so I don't see it resettling in the other direction. This was built with pallet wood, so the wood wasn't green. Too much time and effort into it to start again, and with the rods all the way through it, cutting it into pieces isn't an option. Also, I'm new to woodworking, and have few of the more advanced tools most shops would have. This is actually my first project I've ever attempted outside of rough carpentry (house building). So the router set up mentioned isn't an option either. I may just have to go with putting a whole lot of clear polyurethane coats on it and live with the bow. Problem is, I purposely left knot holes in it that I knew I could fill with the epoxy. I thought they would look cool through the clear finish. Now, I guess, I'll have to fill them. Or could I use a clear glue to fill them, then put poly over that?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Just so you know when wood is sorted by a lumber grader the very worst goes into the market for things such as pallets. There may be issues with the wood warping as it was sawn out of the log and it doesn't head for the dry kiln like the better grades would. Pallets are made with green lumber and it takes a minimum of a year for every inch thickness the wood is so it is possible a pallet could still be green.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

I would plane the 3/8” bow off with a hand plane. Using a metal straight edge and a pencil to mark the high spot, turn the straight edge in 8 different directions and clearly mark where the rise begins. Plane only inside your marks until the table top is level in all 8 directions. Sand and finish.


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## Kerrys (May 2, 2016)

Its a pallet table. Leave the bow, finish it with poly and chalk it up as a learning experience.


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## tjalex01 (Aug 4, 2018)

Okay, the 3/8" I mentioned earlier really looks to be closer to 3/16" at the worst area and spanning about five 3/4" boards on one end. The other end has a little drop, but not as bad. I think I will try to hand plane out some of it as someone suggested, but I think I can live with most of it.

Yeah, it is pallet wood, and they were fairly new pallets, so they were probably green. Not sure what kind of wood. Definitely not pine. Softer and multi-colored, which is what I liked about them. Lots of grays and reddish hues along with typical wood colors.

I'd still like to try to put an epoxy finish on the top. I have three kids under 10 and we want to be able to wipe it off easily. SO here are a couple of new questions. Can I build a frame around the sides of the table to act as dams so that I can allow the epoxy to level out the top of the table. Sure some parts would be thicker than others, but that's okay. If so, once the epoxy dries and I remove the frame, how do I go about shaping the edges to clean it up.

Next question: Can I put a poly finish under the epoxy or will the two chemicals react badly together?

Thanks for all your help guys!

I really thought hard about building a router planing frame, but when I build the table, I purposely cut the wood so that lots of knots would show, feeling like they would look really nice under the epoxy. Not I doubt I could run a router over the top without popping out some of those knots and causing more problems.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I see no reason why you couldn't fill the knot holes with epoxy, sand them level then roll on a couple of coats of epoxy for sealing/waterproofing, then coat over top of that with something like Behlen Rock Hard Table Top Varnish (which, based on the name, sounds ideal for your application 

I use those dense foam rollers for epoxy with good success.

By the way, if you want to avoid more warping, be sure to coat all six sides.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah if you are going to epoxy the top plane it a bit, doesnt have to be perfect just pretty close. The epxy will finish the job for you.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

A warp is mostly caused by an imbalance in moisture content from one side to the other. Sometimes you can flatten a bow out by wetting the concave side and heating the crown side. It may not stay but you could try it. Once dry you could mount it to the table and proceed with the finishing.


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## tjalex01 (Aug 4, 2018)

Can anyone tell me if I can epoxy on top of polyurethane? I've put poly on the legs I built (made of the same wood) and I really like how the clear poly makes the colors pop. Maybe the epoxy would do the same, though.

Eventually I'll take pictures of this thing so you guys can see what I'm working on. Until then, I've attached a picture of the desk that inspired what I'm doing. Mine is square and I have a herring-bone design in the center. Also, instead of all the different painted-on colors, I'm using the natural colors of the wood. On mine, the bottom isn't jagged and the nuts on my rods are exposed rather than inset. Anyway, there are areas where some parts of the table dips lower than others.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Are you using water based poly or oil based? 

Usually, it's the amber color in the poly that pops the grain. Amber colored epoxy should do the same. 

I've heard of varnish on top of epoxy, but I've never heard of the other way around. 
Most poly is finicky about what you put over top of it.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Gary Beasley said:


> Sound like a job for a hand plane or a flattening router setup. Sounds like the table is four inches thick so that allows plenty of room to flatten



Agree!! Could possible even use hand held belt sander for bulk of removal in middle. Clamp straight board to each side for guide.


George


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## tjalex01 (Aug 4, 2018)

What I've used on the legs is oil based. I like the idea of using a belt sander and boards for guides to sand it down quickly! If I can just get it even enough, then I think I can let the epoxy do its job of leveling it all out while saving money on epoxy.


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