Understanding Epoxy Applications

Epoxy has become a preferred top coat finish over other traditional finishes due to its' structural integrity. Not only does it afford a nice shiny table top luster, it stabilizes cracks, knots, holes, etc. Therefore epoxy has become a popular choice in rustic furniture building to exploit wood cavity features. One coat of Table Top Epoxy is equivalent of 40 plus coats of polyurethane and is self leveling which  prevents brush marks.    Another collateral benefit of using epoxy is that the wood grain is not exposed, therefore requiring minimal sanding.    Epoxy can be applied directly over existing conditioned wood or can be utilized to bridge a gap between two or more pieces of wood. The caveat is that the curing process of epoxy generates an exothermic heat reaction. Therefore, applying too much table top epoxy (over 1/4")  at one time can result in inconsistent curing and compromised structural integrity. This can also result in “waviness” of clarity when seeing through clear epoxy. Table top epoxy will fill voids and gaps if you are willing and able to make multiple pours which allows for adequate curing between coats. However, if you wish to minimize your time and energy, a “Deep Pour” or “Casting” epoxy can be used to achieve  a single pour up to 2" thickness.  Casting epoxy uses a different concentration of catalyst monomers to mitigate excessive heat generation and requires a longer cure time than a single layer of table top epoxy. Finally, the resulting cure of casting epoxy is inherently soft  therefore requiring an additional harder table top finish coating over the casting pour.