Thick, see-thru clear finish?
I was asked about building tables with items underneath a built-up clear finish. I’ve seen this done before at bars/restaurants, where pictures or coins are suspended underneath a thick (1/4″?) finish. Anyone have experience doing this?
C
Replies
You're looking for a liquid epoxy resin. One brand name is Liquid Glass. Google "Epoxy Bar" and you should get lots of hits.
Coming to you from beautiful Richmond, Va.
West Systems and Systems 3 are other choices. Their's are low-toxicity, pretty easily handlible 2-part epoxy mixtures. Not nasty like the polyester epoxies. But you HAVE to read the book, consider the temperature, pot life, container size and a few other things. The stuff is not cheap but it works great. I've built four wooden kayaks with it and they've taken a beating very well. A friend is building his airplane with West Systems if you want an indication of trust in the concept.
I'm out of date, but it is something like $50/gallon in quantity. So a 1/4" over a 3' x 8' table would cost about $200. An 1/8" thickness would be half that cost and you'd have to worry less about heat generation as it cures.
Man, the Seventies are coming back! Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
My impression is that the "thick" stuff on bar tops, etc. is a bit different than standard epoxies used for boat building and what not. The bar top ones are thicker, while still being clear. I'm not aware of West Systems having one, but that doesn't mean they don't. But I suspect coverings suitable for places with food have some other requirements, and checking with places that specialize in bar and restaurant supply or build is a good idea.
My experience:
A couple years ago, my oldest daughter came home from school for the holidays with an idea for a xmas gift for me. She came into my office armed with a screwdriver and proceeded to take the top off my desk, saying "take a couple days off - it's xmas!".
She vanished into the basement, where for 2 days I heard power tools, water, smashing glass and a fair amount of 'oh craps' etc.
Christmas morning, there was my 'new, improved' desk top - she had built up a 3/4" lip around it, poured concrete, embedded shards of broken colored glass, and covered it with a 'bar top sealer' (turned out to be Behr Build50 - Super Gloss - about $30 at HD).
It looked great - we put it on my desk, neatly arranged all my 'stuff', and she headed back to the west coast. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that it hadn't quite set up - everything on the desk had sunk in a little, and removing it resulted in a gooey mess. It also smelled like hell.
I called Behr with my sad story. The customer support was phenomenal - they walked me through a process, using solvents, to get the unreacted goo off the desk, then gave me a store credit for a new batch. They also gave me a stern warning about following the directions on the package this time - the basement failed to meet the temp and humidity requirements (read Dave Thomas's warning - he's absolutely right!)
Once I cleaned it up and recoated it by the book, it's been really awesome. Of course I never told my daughter any of this. Or pointed out the globs that are still stuck to the bathroom corian counter where she washed up. Sigh ....
Edited 10/19/2005 9:10 am ET by BillW
I've done just that. It's a mess at best. The end effects can be very cool, though.
Look for "Bar Top" acrylic, as that's designed to be clear, non-reactive, etc. Just don't look for it to be inexpensive.
Get a design decision up front as to whether the tables are to be edged, or self-edged. If self-edged (the resin "rolls off" at whatever its natural "curve of repose" is), then bill at twice the cost (you need to "drip" the top coats off the edge and lose more than a bit).
If they want flat stuff under the table, it can be very profitable to use a thin piece of glass over the items, and then resin over that. The items are less likely to "wander around," and there's less risk of a future pour "melting" into the setting pour.
Oh yeah, tiny "lifts" (as small as 1/16") are much better than bigger lifts. This is particularly true with 35-40 tables to do. But is much harder with only one 40' bar, or a couple of 25-30'-ers.
A lot of places (hardware, craft, & paint stores) carry the Envirotex brand, which I've used quite a bit of for covering TV tables that my fiance hand painted.
Biggest issues are:
1) Maintaining a dust-free environment while it's setting up (12 hours plus - I use a box over the item), so you don't end up with blemishes.
2) wetting out the edges to avoid holidays.
3) Sanding off the drips from the bottom edges.
4) Finished surface, even after complete hardening, still will take an impression from hard or pointy objects left on for any length of time.
Makes for a great looking table, however, really accentuating the painted scene.
Don