Epoxy finish for non stabilized curly maple? (As opposed to CA glue)

[adinb114]

Hi all,

Has anyone done an epoxy finish on non stabilized hardwoods? Generally I prefer natural finishing products such as walnut oil and bees wax, but I've found blond wood, curly maple in particular, tends to get dirty and lose its chatoyance quickly with this finish. I'd like to try a CA glue style finish using the devcon 2-ton I have in the shop that dries perfectly clear. I plan to cut it with acetone and apply a few coats, then sand and buff. Has anyone done this or something similar? What were your results? I appreciate any input. I'll probably do this either way, but it's always easiest to follow in someone's footsteps, if there are footsteps to follow.

Cheers,
Adin.

 

[LARRYZ10]

I have not used clear epoxy for anything on the scales except to mix with sawdust to fill burl holes that appear when finishing. I have used a CA product called Zap a Gap that I rub into the scales with a latex covered finger and then cure it instantly with a spray aerosol called Zip Kicker. This allows almost instant resanding and a second coat. It works well on California Buckeye burl and Walnut that has tiny pores. I agree that blond woods need to be sealed up to keep their color. The CA glue will allow some buffing without burning through if you have a couple coats on sanded to at least 400 between coats. I like the idea though of using Devcon to fill the grain. Let us know how it works.

 

[james terrio]

I'd like to try a CA glue style finish using the devcon 2-ton I have in the shop that dries perfectly clear. I plan to cut it with acetone and apply a few coats, then sand and buff.

Definitely try it on some scrap first. My concern is that adding acetone to it will mean it will never cure up. Epoxy can be a little tricky that way, even without adding a bunch of solvent to it.

There's probably a good reason so many makers use CA instead of epoxy for finishing...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

It would probably be a bad idea. If tried at all, Devcon 2-ton would be about the worst epoxy to use ( wrong type). You would want a thin and hard resin like "bar top" or "clear coat".


BTW, the way to seal up wood that easily gets stuff in the pores is using sanding sealer. It is a lacquer based super thin sealer that is applied and sanded in several times. A final coat of hard shell lacquer and some gentle 4/0 steel wool is all that is needed to make the wood glisten and smooth. I am not a big fan of lacquered handles ( nor any finish over the wood) but this will solve your current problem.
A CA finish done right is identical, merely changing the lacquer resins for cyanoacrylic.

 

[adinb114]

I'll defer to your wisdom Stacy. Headed to the hardware store right now. I'll post results later.

 

[J W Bensinger]

By the way, most epoxies are photosensitive and degrade over time in direct sunlight-less than ideal for a tool handle. CA is a better choice, even the cheap stuff from wally world. System 3 or Westsystem epoxies will work as a clearcoat, but again have some photoreactive tendencies.