# Laminated Burlap



## Jschrum (Aug 29, 2015)

I have created a way to laminate burlap coffee sacks that may interest some of you. I have editted the original post to make this one the Tutorial thread. I don't want to muddy up the forum. So here we go. First of all, thinks you need.
1. Caulk Gun-I use a cheap like $4 one from Lowe's. It's a pressure one rather than a ratchet, the ratchet one has too long of strides and when you crank on this stuff you need every little bit of push you can. Also, this thing will no longer be able to caulk your bathroom because it will be covered in laminate. I have been using the same one for a while and the resin just builds up, this is all it is good for anymore.
2. Fiberglass Resin-I use Bondo Fiberglass resin, it can easily be purchased for $15. this will make 2-4 pieces depending on how well you judge the mixing process.
http://i.Rule #2/wSnvCii.jpg
3. Parchment paper-This stuff is a must. The resin will not stick to it, it just pops off once its dry. I cover everything with this stuff. I mean its a real life saver and prevents a lot of headaches.
4. Gloves- You gotta glove up on this project, I wear 2 layers of them and after I finish putting my fabric in the tube, I peel off the outer layer and toss them. Prevents making a major mess. Also, this resin will not come off until you wear it off your skin, so do your best to not get it all over your forearms, elbows, and wrists. I tend to do that.
5. PVC- I get the thin walled tubing from Lowe's. It was like $5 for 10 foot or something crazy. I use 1.25 for mine because I am making knife handles, you guys could probably use 1" or 3/4".
6. Burlap Coffee sack or any fabric that you would like to use. Cottons can be used, but the big fibers of burlap are what I like.
Note: You will have to grind the plunger on your caulk gun so it will fit inside the PVC.
Note 2: I used 2 pieces of scrap steel for a stopper (placed at the end of the PVC, it is bigger than the PVC but small enough to fit snuggly into my caulk gun square. I used the second piece as another plunger, it fits perfectly inside my 1.25" PVC and the plunger pushes it into the fabric, I did this so that there would be less of a chance of my plunger getting stuck inside the PVC.

Here we go!

Step one: Get our your sharp scissors and your burlap sack. I used 3 different pieces of burlap on this one, with three different colors. but here is one that I cut the pink off of the top. You will want to cut these in 1.5"-2" squares, it seems to be the easiest to handle and push down in the PVC tube.
http://i.Rule #2/JF17Iyp.jpg

Step two: Cut your piece of PVC to the size you want. I marked mine roughly 5.5" so that I kind of knew where I was shooting for.
http://i.Rule #2/GE8StLp.jpg

Step three: Prep your station, make sure its fairly clean and free of dust and that you lay down a big piece of parchment paper. This resin is some wicked stuff! Line both your metal stop and the metal plunger piece with parchment paper, this will help it not get glued into the laminate your making. Also, line your mastic gun with parchment paper. just put parchment paper on everything.
http://i.Rule #2/Pqcec6A.jpg
http://i.Rule #2/nAWiIf0.jpg
http://i.Rule #2/OR8CahV.jpg

Step four: Glove up. Do this step twice :thumbs up:
http://i.Rule #2/fk1vGVA.jpg

Step five: Mix your resin up. This stuff has a pretty short working time, say fifteen minutes, so you kind of have to work fast. Its no so much you have to work fast, you just have to be conscience that time is ticking.

Step six: I don't have any pictures of this step because I was gloved up and time was ticking. What I do is take one piece from each of my stacks of cut up material and put them in one hand, stick my other hand in the resin and then lather them up. You can tell when they have soaked it up, then shove it down in your PVC tube. I have a junky file that I push it down in the tube with and then pack it in as I go. Do this until your at the top.

Step seven: Now peel off your outer layer of gloves and toss them nasty suckers. Take that PVC tube full of beauty and lay it in the caulk gun and push your metal plunger piece in. Then line up the caulk gun plunger and start pulling the trigger. Protip: If you make cool sound effects its way more fun. I pull the trigger until its resin coming out the end rather than air bubbles. it will actually be so tight it wont move anymore, that is when I give up and lay it down. I lay it outside top down and pointed towards the ground so the run off doesn't bugger up my beautiful mastic gun. I'll add this in now, it has to be fairly warm to make this stuff, I am not sure what the directions say, but it was like 45-50 one evening when I made it and it never cured right. I am not sure why, but when its hot it dries fast and cures fast.
http://i.Rule #2/RmsRxez.jpg

Step eight: This can be a bit tricky, you have to get the PVC tube out of the gun and the plunger out. I will take a cut off wheel on my angle grinder and go around where the plunger is, try not to go too deep. It may take a few hits with the hammer. Once you have it out put it in your vice and use your angle grinder to cut all the way down the PVC on both sides. Once you have it cut, take a screw driver and just pop the PVC off. it will look like this.
http://i.Rule #2/2Z7u0Ug.jpg
The further you get towards the middle of it, the more of the colors there seems to be and the crazier it looks. I ground this one down a bit and then sanded it and buffed it for your viewing pleasure. 
http://i.Rule #2/6lug6Vm.jpg

I hope this tutorial has been worthy of a read and I hope some of you give it a try. I would love to see what you come up and also what ideas you have for fabric combos/different tricks. Thank you for taking your time to check this out.

Reactions: Like 2 | EyeCandy! 1 | Agree 1 | Great Post 4 | Way Cool 13 | Informative 1


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## Blueglass (Aug 29, 2015)

Very cool looking. Love the knife too.


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## Final Strut (Aug 29, 2015)

I would love to see a tutorial on that. That is a pretty sweet handle.


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## Jschrum (Aug 29, 2015)

All right guys, I'll go make a batch and take some pics along the way and post pictures this evening. and update the thread. Anyone on this site has the ability to make it, its easy. Will update later.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (Aug 29, 2015)

That's cool! Thanks for the tutorial.


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## Final Strut (Aug 29, 2015)

I have a guess on how your do it but I will wait for the tutorial to see if I am right.


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## Jschrum (Aug 29, 2015)

I have updated the tutorial and completed it, if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. I will do the best I can to help you.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 3 | Great Post 1


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## manbuckwal (Aug 29, 2015)

Very cool Joe !


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## SENC (Aug 30, 2015)

Very cool indeed! I like the idea of a burlap reelfoot call, may have to give this a try one day.

Reactions: Like 1


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## barry richardson (Aug 30, 2015)

Thanks for sharing that Joe! I imagine you went through a lot of trial and error figuring that all out...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ironman123 (Aug 30, 2015)

Very very interesting. Thank you for sharing this.


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## winters98 (Aug 30, 2015)

Any finish product to show how it turns?


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## ripjack13 (Aug 30, 2015)

Joe, very cool process. Thanks for sharing this.


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## justallan (Aug 30, 2015)

Very cool, thanks Joe.
I had an uncle who used to do stuff like this and he would add a little color sometimes.
Just a hint on the working time for fiberglass resin, if you want it to start working faster just add an extra drop or two of hardener. If you add to much though it will start jelling faster than you may want. Another trick with resin is to fill a bucket with water as hot as you can get it and put the can of resin in it to thin it up a little. DO NOT boil the dadgum can!


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## Jschrum (Aug 30, 2015)

@justallan I have played with the hardener to resin mixture and I have not really noticed a drastic difference in working time. It has never started getting hot (when it starts to set it gets really really hot, hot enough you cant pick it up) or jelling up. I have considered coloring the resin but so far, i havn't had any requests and I like this so far. Thank you for the compliments. 
@ripjack13 @ironman123 @SENC @DKMD @Final Strut No problem, I am glad you appreciated it. 

@winters98 Yes, here is one I completed before. 
http://i.Rule #2/ZXsTBmg.jpg

Reactions: Way Cool 7


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## ripjack13 (Aug 30, 2015)

that's awesome....


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## Sprung (Sep 1, 2015)

Great tutorial and results! Might have to give this a try sometime...


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## NeilYeag (Sep 2, 2015)

This is one of those things when people look at it, I am sure they have to say "what the heck is that?" Cool idea, and as you say probably endless variations. Thanks for the tutorial.


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