All You Need to Know About Resin

Jess, I'm not sure you're aware of this, but there is a dizzying array of resins in the marketplace. And I'll give you this, when Jenny and I were doing some casting stuff we bought some form of resin because I know what I'm doing. Which is why you're here. We poured it into a mold that was probably this deep and it was like Armageddon. It was foaming and doing all sorts of weird stuff.

So, I think I picked the wrong resin for such a deep pour. Yeah. So can we talk about, can you please help me with right tool for the right job. Right resin for the right job. So you've got some penetrating stuff on the end there.

What's the deal, where would I use penetrating resin? So a penetrating resin is going to work as your sealer. It's going to stop all of those little bubbles that you would have that would ruin your more expensive tabletop pours. Because as we put a liquid over wood. Yup.

Air is going to come out of the woods cells, and then we're forever fighting that the bubbles coming through the resin. Yeah, absolutely, and it's really difficult when you're putting like a tabletop formula on there. Those bubbles are thick because the resin's thick. So sealing first with a penetrating epoxy, do a light sand after 24 hours and then you can move on to-- Okay. So in our finish world in woodworking, it's like sanding sealer before lacquer.

Yeah. _ Okay, so that one's easy, penetrating. Then let's do, before we hit on the tabletop one I know that's next, but part of, I know how you categorize stuff is like one to one, two to one, five to one. So give us the a hundred thousand foot view of how that categorizes the uses of the resins. Yeah, absolutely.

So a tabletop formula is just like what it says it is. It is about an eighth inch to a quarter inch pour is the maximum you can do with it. So this is, and what's the ratio on that one.? These ones are one-to-one. So generally, is it safe to say a tabletop application resin is going to be a one-to-one mix?

Yes. I have seen most of the ones on the market are all one-to-ones and kind of trick way to do it. If you're unsure is look at the bottle size, you can see that these two are a little bit different, but all of these are the same. To know what the ratio is. To know what the ratio is.

Of course the caveat on this is always, read the directions. Yes, read all of the directions. And/ or ask the manufacturer about what the application should be, but typically one-to-one is gonna be a thin layer kind of a product. Yeah, absolutely. As far as I am aware there's not a single product on the market that's a one-to-one, that you can pour more than a quarter inch..

Okay, cool. All right. So, and then the other thing with tabletop we were talking about this before. If you just pour this as a layer where you can mess with it, like you pour it on a piece of plastic and then peel it off and mess with it, it's rubbery, that's flexible, but that's what you want. Right?

Because you're pouring it over wood, which is still a living thing. I've always wondered about this is that would expand and contracts. How does the resin deal with that? But because that's tabletop, it is specifically designed to allow that movement, which is a really important thing. Yes, sir, it gives you that flexibility to be able to do that instead of that super hard durable finish that you would get in a thick set, or a two to one, or a five to one.

Okay, so we're going to overpour a table, pour over a table, tabletop-- Tabletop. -bunch of working characteristics that are important to them. Okay, the center one, so this must also be one-to-one, Mm, hm! because they're the same size. Then what's the difference?

What differentiates this from the tabletop stuff? So these ones are more artistic based epoxies. So what they're made for is clarity, accepting color, and then durability is a little bit higher than a tabletop formula. So a harder product when it's done. It's got a harder product, it's as if a tabletop and a two to one, had had a baby.

So I mean, that's the best way to explain it. So with these ones, it's got great color, color use for it. It is a little bit clearer. The downside is they definitely need to be warm. So you need to have a good warm shop environment for them.

So more so than the tabletop? A little bit more so, yeah. A little bit more idiosyncratic to that, than the tabletop? Yeah, just a little bit. So what, could I use this as a tabletop pourer?

Yeah, absolutely. This particular brand works great for a tabletop pour, So this can do what this does-- It's a little more durable. but this can't necessarily do what this does. Yeah. This can do it a little bit better.

You can somewhat achieve on a tabletop formula, the same thing but you might have to work a little bit harder for it. Okay. All right. Then this guy on the end, what's the skinny there? So two to ones are made for, you can pour a little bit deeper with these.

So knot filling, if you're going to make like a skateboard or like boat builders. A lot of times they'll use a two to one or a five to one. Crystal clear coverage, but they are super, they're like water. They're absolutely like water. So you can't create with these.

These are more of a honey. Because it's not going to lay out. Like if I pour that on a table, it'd be a train wreck. Just spill water. That's the same effect.

You'll see a lot of times those come with pumps, that a lot of people might get confused. Because you think two size jars, it's a two to one. Those pumps are specifically designed one pump and one pump and it automatically does the calculations. They're metered to match. To match.

Okay. So then let's do a couple of things. I'm in my shop and some of those we've spoken to, big live edge slab, and I want to get that bar look to it. I don't know I'm going to put pennies all over the surface and I'm going to overlay the whole thing. Best choice of resin for that is?

Are you inlaying the pennies? Yes. Okay. So if you're inlaying you're going to want to use either a two to one or a deep pour epoxy, would be the preference for that-- Because you would be over a quarter inch. You're gonna be over a quarter inch so a thick set is definitely your best friend.

Then as soon as you have that finished, either one of these tabletop formulations would be your flood coat, your final finish coat. Okay. So I'm not putting childhood memories in the table. I'm just, I just basically want to use resin as a finish. Finish.

My choice is... Still these two. Either one. - Either one of these, either one of these would be your best choice. Unless you have a situation where you've got a frame, then you could go ahead and use the two to one.

A frame being like I've put a lip around the table and I want it to have some depth over the surface. Absolutely, a lot of people are looking for that, even on their slabs. They'll pocket out a section to put two to one into. Okay. So really the big line in the sand is depth of pour.

Yes. - From here to here. Okay, then live edge table. it's got a crack in it. I'm gonna add some color to a resin and fill that void before I do some other form of finishing, maybe resin, maybe not.

What's my best choice for that one. Your best choice is either going to be a two to one, or a thick set. Because you're going deeper than the quarter inch here. You also want it to be more water-like to get into all of those small checks and cracks. So, and water-like to, my guess is with that kind of depth that provides more opportunity for bubbles to evacuate out, which is good.

We want the bubbles to come free, hit them with a heat gun and then thicker stuff, it's not going to let that-- Yeah, the thicker stuff works better if you're using a heat gun. If you're using a thick set or a two to one, a quick flash with a torch will pop the bubbles immediately. Okay, and then casting call. So I wanna cast a thing that I'm then going to put on my lathe and turn, maybe resin in a borough, or whatever. So what's the one for that.

So you're going to look specifically for a casting resin. So there are plenty of brands out there that specifically say casting resin and they're made for a lot of lathe workers, and people who want to do a good deep pour on them. Okay, different from this, that's a different product from this. It's a different product, yes sir. Okay.

I dunno, as far as my experience with resin, I think we covered the bases. What do you think? Anything else in the, I think what's cool about, it's like looking at wood glues, there's there's 8 billion out there, which one do I need? So same thing here. Like I was saying earlier, I think, especially with the cost of this product, you want to make sure you're using the right one, for what you're trying to do.

Anything else that will help people identify-- Reading the directions. I know that's really, really hard to do, but so much money can be saved if you read the directions on the epoxy that you're using. The call the manufacturer's 800 number. Yeah, absolutely. Ask them questions.

Most of them all have a social media account. You can reach out to them that way. If you have a question. It'll really, really make your project shine. Is that a pun?

Yeah, maybe. Good enough, all right. Thanks for all the info. This is very good, and gonna save people a lot of messing around in their resin projects. Yeah.