Serving Tray

[culpepersmoke]

Just finished a serving tray. Made it out of branches around the yard and epoxy. My first time working with epoxy so I’m a little proud of it.
Thanks for looking.

 

[JLeonard]

Man thats cool. You did good. Of course that would end up more of a display piece for me. Too pretty to use.

Jim

 

[chopsaw]

I love that ! Using the stuff out of the yard is something I do too .
You should be proud of that , it's fantastic .

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I've been playing around with epoxy filling a slab lately.
Early shot

 

[culpepersmoke]

I've been playing around with epoxy filling a slab lately.
Early shot
View attachment 683369

Nice piece of wood.

 

[MJB05615]

That looks great! You did an excellent job.

 

[clifish]

Just finished a serving tray. Made it out of branches around the yard and epoxy. My first time working with epoxy so I’m a little proud of it.
Thanks for looking. View attachment 683365

That is soooooo cool, I would love write of how you did that!

 

[culpepersmoke]

That is soooooo cool, I would love write of how you did that!

I didn’t take pictures along the way, it started off as a test and I wasn’t sure it would work out. Basically I built a form out of some scrap MDF a little bigger the what I wanted. Lined everything with Tyvek tape, used silicone chalk in all the seams to prevent the epoxy from leaking.
Gathered up a bunch of branches and some apple pieces from my smoking wood pile. Cut them down to about 1 1/4” and stripped off the bark.
Then it just a matter of putting the branches into the form, mix the epoxy and pour it in. I had to get creative as many of the branch pieces started to float.
After it cured, I ran it through the planner. I ended up taking it down to about an inch thick. I suspect I took it out of the mold early because a couple days after I planed it down, it started to warp. I ended taking it down to 3/4”.
I used a router to hog out a little in the center so there would be a lip around the edge.
After that it’s a matter of sanding. I went from 60 grit to 1200.
If I was to do this again I would seal all the Branch pieces with polyurethane. The little bit of moisture left in the wood created a ton of bubbles in the epoxy.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice serving tray. That is something to be proud of.
I really like working with the 2 part epoxy,

Did my " SandBar " bar top that way .
Using a torch lightly or a hairdryer. or even blowing on with your warm breath will bring the tiny bobbles to the top and burst.

David

 

[BigW.]

I just got done with an 8ft bar made from Ash. It was a fun project, would be easier making it the 2nd time. Learned some things the hard way and had to do some extra sanding.

 

[clifish]

yeah, when I did the live edge red oak shelves, I opted out of epoxy (scared) and used wood filler, sanded down to 800 grit.

 

[Winterrider]

culpepersmoke , that looks beautiful! Nice work . . .

 

[02ebz06]

Just finished a serving tray. Made it out of branches around the yard and epoxy. My first time working with epoxy so I’m a little proud of it.
Thanks for looking.

That's pretty cool. Nicely done!!!

 

[pushok2018]

Very nice! Piece of Art!

 

[Brokenhandle]

That's really cool! I'd be really proud of that!

Ryan

 

[chopsaw]

many of the branch pieces started to float.

I've seen guys build the form , then put a base of epoxy in the bottom and add the wood . When it starts to set , they add the rest of the epoxy .
I haven't worked with it yet . I worry about the VOC . How's the smell ?

 

[culpepersmoke]

I haven't worked with it yet . I worry about the VOC . How's the smell ?

It wasn’t bad. I ran my dust collection system to draw out some of the fumes. Since I’m in N. Michigan I had to crank up the garage furnace as the instructions said to keep it over 70 degrees. After I poured, I turned off the dust collection cranked the heat and let it go.

 

[DRKsmoking]

I've seen guys build the form , then put a base of epoxy in the bottom and add the wood . When it starts to set , they add the rest of the epoxy .
I haven't worked with it yet . I worry about the VOC . How's the smell ?

That is what I had to do with my bar top . I did a test run and the items would float. So in the bar boarder i layered all the sand and the items where I wanted . Poured in the first layer and made sure all was placed right after the first pour. Used a very light heat to bring up the air bubbles . Than made second batch and poured over the first and let it find level as it poured over the wood edge. The pour in total is approx. 3/8" thick

And I did not find that the 2 part epoxy let off a strong over powering smell at all.







David

 

[chopsaw]

. Poured in the first layer and made sure all was placed right after the first pour. Used a very light heat to bring up the air bubbles . Than made second batch and poured over the first

There ya go . That's the way to do it . Looks great David .

 

[chopsaw]

made from Ash

Nice . Gotta love the boring beetle damage on Ash .
I just took mine down . Mostly for firewood , but have some cross cuts I want to do something with .

It wasn’t bad. I ran my dust collection system to draw out some of the fumes. Since I’m in N. Michigan I had to crank up the garage furnace as the instructions said to keep it over 70 degrees. After I poured, I turned off the dust collection cranked the heat and let it go.

My shop is in the basement . I have an 1100 CFM dust collection system and a exhaust fan to outside .
Biggest problem is nothing wants to dry down there , and if I run the exhaust it sucks any heat out .
I'm assuming that stuff has a hardener that gets mixed in ?