# Epoxy for madrone slab?



## JHB PhD (Jun 11, 2010)

I've got a big madrone slab (about 8' long and varies from 3' to 4.5' wide) that I plan to use on a kitchen island countertop. I got it rough cut and after several days of sanding, I'm now just about ready to start the finishing. What I'd been planning was to finish it like a wood boat, but without the fiberglass. Specifically, I was going to use 3 coats of West System epoxy (105 resin and 207 "special clear" hardener), followed by 3 coats of spar varnish. The process is discussed here:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/Uploads/varnish.pdf

I was just wondering if anybody had any thoughts on whether this is a reasonable approach or whether something else might be better. Thanks.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

aply 3 coats of danish oil, recoat every couple of yrs it will last a life time


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## JHB PhD (Jun 11, 2010)

I ended up coating it with epoxy, then a 2-part linear polyurethane. I had a lot of trouble with the latter, so I finally put on a few coats of a regular 1 part polyurethane to get a nice smooth (and fairly glossy) finish. I've attached a couple of pictures.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

looks very nice. alitle shinny for me you wanna make sure no one puts any hot or very cold items on it
not liking the poly over the epoxy, but it looks very nice now. id like to see pics in about 3-5 yrs


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## comp (Jan 15, 2008)

going to be cool :thumbsup:


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## JHB PhD (Jun 11, 2010)

jack warner said:


> looks very nice. alitle shinny for me you wanna make sure no one puts any hot or very cold items on it
> not liking the poly over the epoxy, but it looks very nice now. id like to see pics in about 3-5 yrs


It's a long story, but I couldn't get the flawless surface I was looking for with the epoxy---always a few bubbles and such---which was just due to the nature of epoxy, I believe. So, I got some 2-part linear polyurethane (LPU) designed for boats. According to the epoxy manufacturer (West System), LPU is the best thing you can put on top of epoxy and as a bonus, it includes some serious UV protection. But, I had lots of problems with that stuff and had to sand after each coat. The result was certainly bulletproof, but had a very "flat" look to it. A couple of coats of regular polyurethane gave it the semi-gloss look it has now. At this point, it would be easy to change the gloss level either way, but I kinda like it as it is. 

Btw, it's going to stay outside. I'm confident it'll last a long time, since the finish on it is at least as tough as most wooden boats.


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## comp (Jan 15, 2008)

JHB said:


> It's a long story, but I couldn't get the flawless surface I was looking for with the epoxy---always a few bubbles and such---which was just due to the nature of epoxy, I believe. So, I got some 2-part linear polyurethane (LPU) designed for boats. According to the epoxy manufacturer (West System), LPU is the best thing you can put on top of epoxy and as a bonus, it includes some serious UV protection. But, I had lots of problems with that stuff and had to sand after each coat. The result was certainly bulletproof, but had a very "flat" look to it. A couple of coats of regular polyurethane gave it the semi-gloss look it has now. At this point, it would be easy to change the gloss level either way, but I kinda like it as it is.
> 
> Btw, it's going to stay outside. I'm confident it'll last a long time, since the finish on it is at least as tough as most wooden boats.


 did you do the underside ?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

If you use a 2 part epoxy ever again make sure you get one that is "thin". It takes more coats to build up a deep coat but the thinner epoxies don't have as many bubble issues. passing a torch with a wide flame over the surface (very quickly) will pop the surface bubbles and promote the deeper ones to the surface. A heat gun also works. 





.


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## JHB PhD (Jun 11, 2010)

TexasTimbers said:


> If you use a 2 part epoxy ever again make sure you get one that is "thin". It takes more coats to build up a deep coat but the thinner epoxies don't have as many bubble issues. passing a torch with a wide flame over the surface (very quickly) will pop the surface bubbles and promote the deeper ones to the surface. A heat gun also works.
> .


I did use the propane torch trick, and that definitely makes a huge difference. But, I could never get a completely flawless surface. Maybe I was just looking for something too perfect, and there were always a few little flaws that needed sanding. And once you sand epoxy, there's no getting back to a high gloss finish. Anyways, since it's going to stay outside something was necessary for good UV protection, so the 2-part LPU was probably worth doing. I think I got a defective batch of that LPU stuff which made it exceedingly difficult to work with (the manufacturer had a recall and they refunded my money). The bottom line was that the LPU took a lot of sanding and, again, there was no way to get the gloss back once it had been sanded. Thus, the final topcoat of the old familiar poly.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

oops i didnt catch gonna be out side part, danish would not work sorry.
next time you use epoxy instead of aplying a poly over it to get your gloss i would have buffed it with a finishing compound, 3m puts out a good one


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## JHB PhD (Jun 11, 2010)

jack warner said:


> oops i didnt catch gonna be out side part, danish would not work sorry.
> next time you use epoxy instead of aplying a poly over it to get your gloss i would have buffed it with a finishing compound, 3m puts out a good one


I tried the 3M "Finesse it II" compound which a lot of people rave about. That didn't do the trick---it was still a fairly cloudy surface. I tried lots of other stuff but nothing really gave a good clear gloss finish. Some ultra-ultra-fine sanding pads (I've forgotten the brand) did the best job, but still not that great. Anyways, I tried everything...


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