# Casting burl cut offs in epoxy



## Matt3d03 (Dec 27, 2020)

I've been hoarding up burl wood of sorts in order to build a multi wood burl and epoxy coffee table. I'll be doing cast resin legs. My question is of thickness. Obviously some are set thickness pours and others can slowly be stacked. Can this be a 1" thickness or do I need to go thicker?


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## Nature Man (Dec 28, 2020)

Seems like most I've seen have been much thicker than that, up to 3". I would like to build one some day, so am quite interested in what others might say myself. Chuck


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## Matt3d03 (Dec 28, 2020)

Would there be a reason other than rigidity for pouring it up to 3"? I imagine I'm going to go through quite a bit of epoxy as the pieces absorb the epoxy.


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## Wildthings (Dec 28, 2020)

I would think the first step would be to paint on a layer of epoxy on all the burls. Twofold that would stop the epoxy absorption and keep air from coming out of them that would form bubbles

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Matt3d03 (Dec 28, 2020)

I'd like them to be able to completely fill in voids/holes with colored epoxy. If I do 1/4" pours, would that be small enough to grab air bubbles with each pour?

Reactions: Sincere 1


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## Gdurfey (Dec 28, 2020)

I've been watching a lot of epoxy videos here of late and it seems like you could do a 2 inch square leg at one time, horizontally of course. Seems like the products I have been investigating all of deep pour mixtures for 2 inches. it is also slower drying and allows the bubbles to come up and you can use a torch to pop them. Of course, the same can then be done for your table top; will just take a lot more epoxy at once.

My first epoxy attempts used a pressure pot, but that using a 6 x 2 x 3 inch mold. Thus my investigation into deep pour epoxy mixtures and such.

Just my thoughts; there are others on here that do a lot more epoxy work including some table builders; just going blank on user names at the moment Matt. Best wishes, keep us posted so we can learn!!!


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## BangleGuy (Dec 28, 2020)

I have cast a lot of wood, but always in a pressure pot using Alumilite Clear or Water Clear. I would not recommend those two epoxies for open pours with thick sections. I just went to the Alumilite website and they sell a product called Amazing Deep Pour which sounds more fitting. Without more details, my biggest concern for casting wood with lots of voids is getting the resin to flow into those crevices. 
If you will be cutting into the wood after the pour, then you might have some touch up to do with epoxy (which can be difficult to match if your original pour uses mica or dye for color).

I always dried my wood before casting, and when I say dry, I mean in an oven at 250 degrees for several hours kind of dry. I also stabilized right after casting, so that made sense to me for the process sequence. I don’t have experience in open pour casting, so I am not sure how much of what I learned applies. I did cast some 4x4x6 blocks of Maple Burl, and the heat creation with the Water Clear was noticeable and caused unexpected shrink in a few places.
I have watched some open pours on YouTube and that would be a good resource. 

Good luck!
Oh, and if you need more burl scraps, I have boxes of the stuff! :)

Reactions: Great Post 1


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## Matt3d03 (Dec 28, 2020)

@Gdurfey thanks for the info!

@BangleGuy I believe I've used allumite black dye and I know I can't replicate the same coloring. If I were to set it up to where the top of the table faces toward my pour surface and burl caps facing the ceiling, wouldn't that fill in on itself pretty easily? I know I'll have to do a flood coat after for the places it didn't get into. Send a pm with cut offs you have. I can always use more material for this or other projects lol.


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## BangleGuy (Dec 28, 2020)

Matt3d03 said:


> @Gdurfey thanks for the info!
> 
> @BangleGuy I believe I've used allumite black dye and I know I can't replicate the same coloring. If I were to set it up to where the top of the table faces toward my pour surface and burl caps facing the ceiling, wouldn't that fill in on itself pretty easily? I know I'll have to do a flood coat after for the places it didn't get into. Send a pm with cut offs you have. I can always use more material for this or other projects lol.


Yes, if you’re pouring resin onto a typical burl cap surface, then you should be good. I have cast a lot of wood with voids like the resin vein Eucalyptus shown below and this type of burl wood would be difficult to get a complete fill without pressure. But again, if you’re not cutting into the cast material, then you should be good.


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## Matt3d03 (Dec 28, 2020)

I think other than trimming the edges and sanding. That shouldn't blow anything out?

Reactions: Like 1


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