# 2 Part Casting Epoxy for Wood



## Normie (Aug 5, 2020)

Hi Guys,
I was lucky enough to have been given to me a whole cherry burl from a friend/co-worker. I hung onto it for oh a couple of years just waiting to do something with it.........so I finally last week got the chainsaw out and decided to do the deed!! Well let me tell you I wished I'd done sooner........beautiful stuff!!
I decided to make some xmas presents with it by doing some cutting boards with it using the 2 part epoxy casting process. I have watched several utube videos about the process..........most guys debark the live edge of the wood then do a seal of just the edge before the pour. I would prefer to leave the bark on as I like the look. Has anyone done this process and if you have have you ever left the bark on?????


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 6, 2020)

My only thought is the bark would be soft for a cutting board. Only way to harden it deeply would be a vacuum chamber. I'd probably remove the bark.


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## Normie (Aug 6, 2020)

Thx Greg.................I guess it depends on if the finished casted surface is all epoxy vs epoxy and wood..........in other words there will be a thickness of lets say 1/16" over the wood where the softer area of the bark is......does that make sense?


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## barry richardson (Aug 6, 2020)

@BBEpoxy maybe this member has some input...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Normie (Aug 6, 2020)

Greg
I think I'll remove the bark as I just checked the burl pieces and I'm noticing a white fungus between the bark and the wood which I don't want to reflect in the finished pieces..........good call!!


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## whitewaterjay (Aug 7, 2020)

I would recommend removing the bark unless the board is going to be fully encapsulated in epoxy. If not it seems like the bark will eventually separate from the sap wood. I don't see failures between the epoxy and sap wood, but I do see them between that bark layer and the sap wood.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Normie (Aug 10, 2020)

Thx Jason for your feedback!!

Reactions: Like 1


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## whitewaterjay (Aug 10, 2020)

Not a problem. you may be able to cheat the situation a bit if you're using a pigment in the epoxy by using some dowels to a connect each of the two boards to each other through bark to keep the structure good even with the bark attached and then pour the epoxy between them


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