# Stabilizing a spalted maple table top



## sean.o.farrell.52 (Jan 12, 2019)

I have a large maple slab, about 8'x3'x3" which I am going to be using for a dining room table. It is very spalted and has some punky sections that would be too soft without attention. I have searched around and seen lots of opinions and lots of products, but I'm not sure what the best option for my situation would be. I need something that will penetrate deep, and look good. Also, I will likely be filling some cavities with resin, so whatever I use needs to play nice with it. And with resin filled cavities in mind, I am leaning toward an epoxy top coat, but I have never used one before. I normally finish my projects with BLO, Tung oil, or Wipe on poly.

So, the options I have been weighing are a wood hardener, like minwax or pc-petrified, or BLO, possibly thinned to absorb deeper... but I dont know how BLO works next to resin. Also, I dont know if there is something else that might be a good option.









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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

What would thin CA glue do in the softer sections? Will it soak in deep and be fairly neutral to finishes?

David


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## sean.o.farrell.52 (Jan 12, 2019)

I've used CA on smaller projects before and it worked well, but never something so large. 

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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

If you decide to try it just make sure you have either a good respirator or good ventilation from the CA fumes, especially in the quantity you'll be using.

David


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Would a vac bag work?*

Resin impregnating using vacuum seals/fills up all the voids, so why wouldn't it work on a large scale for this? I don't know, just askin'


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## Brian T (Nov 3, 2018)

I'd use transparent acrylic resin meant for fiberglas boat hulls & decks = durable.
I'd 1/2 fill the cracks and let that set up. Then I'd fill the cracks with crushed turquoise stone
and top that up with resin = turn a flaw into a feature.
Last, load the whole slab. I think that resin is runny enough to soak into the most punky spots.
Or, chop out the punk and make features out of them as well.
PS: brass dust out of a hardware store key cutting machine just looks dirty.


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## sean.o.farrell.52 (Jan 12, 2019)

Thanks, I'll look into that. I am planning on doing something with the cavities, but not sure what yet. One is a about a 2x3 inch oval and is maybe 2" deep, I am pretty sure I will use it to inlay a geode or maybe some loose crystals to make the hole itself look like a geode. 

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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Id probably go with a penetrating epoxy on the softer/punky areas:
http://www.totalboat.com/product/penetrating-epoxy/

Then use a regular pouring epoxy to fill in the larger gaps. Seems to be the best balance of cost to performance in my eyes. The penetrating epoxy should do a good job hardening up the softer areas, thats what its made for after all, but also wont be terribly difficult to apply. That said though, epoxy finishes are a different beast than the finishes most woodworkers are used to. Be sure to thoroughly read the instructions, and possible run a test piece. I would bother with anything like BLO or any sort of thinned-down wood finish, i doubt youd get the wood hardened up enough to be useful

Resin impregnation in a vaccum bag would be a fantastic way, but the size of the vacuum bag youd need, as well as the quantity of resin, would be somewhat cost prohibitive. Youd need a way to bake all the moisture out of the wood (250f for several hours per inch of thickness), a vacuum bag large enough to hold the piece and thats airtight, a vacuum pump capable of getting the inside of the bag to 99% vacuum, and enough resin to completely fill the bag (figure roughly the volume of the wood. Assuming your plank is 3'x5'x1.5", 14 gallons of resin). Youd also need a way to bake the piece after the resin is infused into it, but you need that for drying anyway. Now, the amount of resin you need is going to be a lot less than that, since the resin only needs to fill all the places in the volume of the wood that arent wood, but even if the number is only 20% of the volume of the wood, thats still 3 gallons of resin at $90 a gallon. Dont get me wrong, i absolutely love resin stabilization, but as a process its pretty well limited to smaller pieces


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## sean.o.farrell.52 (Jan 12, 2019)

I looked into that penetrating epoxy, and I think that is what I will go with... sounds like just the right option

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