# Best Place to Buy Epoxy Resin for River Tables



## MarksCaribbeanWoodworks

Hello Everyone

I am starting a new "river table" project. For those unfamiliar this a table with a epoxy center that can be tinted in different colors etc such as the picture here.

I am trying to locate the best place to purchase the epoxy online as I live in the US Virgin Islands and will need it shipped to me.

Does anyone have a good supplier and reputable manufacturer of this material that you could refer me to?



thanks


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## Nubsnstubs

Search Alumilite resin. It's good stuff. damn good stuff..

Sprung has caused me to do a retake. Alumilite has different resins for different applications. Some require pressure/vacuum, and others just need to be done in a dry place with several pours to bring it up to the thickness.

His concern about just epoxy making the connection would be a concern for me also. 

I'm just about to assemble a river table top in Palo Verde, but will have a glass top made for the entire top. One end will be joined with dowels. The other will be about 1" open and hopefully I can find a base that will be tree stump with 4 trunks on it to support each half. ......... Jerry (in Tucson)

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Sprung

Alumilite is a great resin, but a poor choice for this application, especially because it sets quickly and needs a pressure pot to take care of air bubbles - and I'd hate to see the price tag on a pressure pot large enough for a table to fit in it. Most who are doing this style table are using EcoPoxy (the 2:1 ration version). I've seen a few using Total Boat or West System. The advantage of something like EcoPoxy is the very long cure time - days - which allows air bubbles to float up and be taken care of.

Perhaps it's worth checking out the websites of the above and seeing if any of them have a local distributor of their products. Unfortunately I can't recommend any one specific distributor or seller to you - I considered making one of these style tables, and did a lot of research, but the very high cost of the resin and some concerns over long term integrity of the wood/resin bond with seasonal wood movement left me deciding not to.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Informative 3


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## rocky1

Could try Silmar 41, it's great to work with, reasonably priced, and pretty flexible with adjusting catalyst and thus your cure time. It is however a polyester resin and those do not always play well with urethane dyes. I've had batches that worked perfectly, I've had others that turned into something totally different than what I poured. Thought it was something I did wrong, but after digging extensively, found on craft forums that this is not altogether uncommon with polyester resins. 

One thing I have found is, the quicker your cure time, the more stable the dye is. Red seems to be stable, greens and unfortunately blues, I've had issues with using Alumilite dye. 

Cheapest source I've found for it on-line is here:

http://www.carbonfiberglass.com/Res...-41-Clear-Polyester-Casting-Resin-Gallon.html 

I always order 2 gallons at a time, save money on Haz-Mat Fees in shipping. To my zip, 1 gallon costs right at $20 to ship, the second one ships for $4 more. There is a contact link there, likewise a questions and answer section bottom of the page, that contains a good deal of information on Silmar 41.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## gman2431

I know nothing about this except I do hear ecopoxy is used a lot by people when I read about their work.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Blueglass

I've got quite a bit to do on some upcoming projects. I will be going to FloridaFiberglass for their Table top epoxy. I will ask some questions and if they have suggestions I'll more than likely go with it.

Reactions: Useful 1


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## MarksCaribbeanWoodworks

Thank you so much everyone for the response!!! Awesome information.


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