Epoxy Project Time
Once we have the cherry shaped and the perimeter box built we have to make sure the epoxy we’re going to pour into there won’t leak all over the place or stick itself to anything we don’t want it to. To do that we laid down a barrier of painters tape and then a bead of silicone. The silicone fills in any gaps in the wood and stops the epoxy from flowing out of control.
Then its time to clamp the wood down nice and tight and start filling with whatever objects are on the menu. For this project, we went with brass shells, casings, shot, etc.
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- The cherry slab we started with
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- Ripped down the center, draw knife to remove the bark
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- Tape and silicone prevent the epoxy from leaking
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- Ready to pour
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- Filled with shells and brass
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- Popping bubbles with the heat gun
We wanted to give this piece a lot of depth so instead of putting all of the shells we had in right away we layered the bottom, poured the first level of epoxy (about 1/2″), and then let it cure. Then we put more shells and poured again. Overall we repeated those steps six times. The end result shows some of the musket balls and shot seemingly hovering in the middle of the clear epoxy.
Anytime you pour epoxy be ready with the heat gun to handle any bubbles that might appear. Actually, “might” is the wrong word to use in that situation. They will absolutely appear and you need to be ready for them. A few minutes of work with the heat gun should take care of them but be ready to watch over the piece for a good half hour.
So once everything is cured and ready to come out of the box what are we going to do with it? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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