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I am curious if anyone has every done an Epoxy Inlay in plywood. I’ve never done an epoxy inlay before and my only concern with plywood is on the sanding aspect. Do you think I would be sanding away most the veneer on top of the plywood? Not having done this before I’m just not sure how much sanding there is to get everything cleaned up and smooth at the end.
Also any suggestions/links to the epoxy/resins you guys use would be great. I know that you add the coloring in yourself but I am choosing between white/black inlay.
I haven’t tried with regular plywood but I venture to guess its a “depend” kinda question
Would expect the quality of the veneer will have some effect on colour bleed.
I have however made a couple epoxy inlays recently and my advice is to use long cure epoxy, preferably 24hrs cure time. Reason being it flow thinner = flow better into the pockets, less likely to trap air bubbles. Color can be “anything” such as nail polish added, food colouring, paints (can or spray) etc…
These were done using Easel Pro / v-bit running 1/16" deep.
Haldor is correct, kind of depends on the plywood.
Some have thick veneer and some are thin. I have used red oak ply that was less than 0.040" on surface ply.
No issues, had I got shallower the amount of (or lack) pigment would make it shine through - which could if done correctly become a very cool feature…
1/16" was deep enough for the blacks to be real black.
You could remount the board onto the CNC and skim most of it off prior to sanding it down. For one-offs the sanding by hand is acceptable, if I were to make business of it a planar sander would make sense.
When wet sanding you can go through the epoxy real quick using 120/240grit, then finish it off with 400/800.
Depends on what you are using the epoxy for. I didnt sand anything on the sign I made.
I filled the inlay just a little short of full and as the epoxy expanded I would remove some of the epoxy with the syringe. If any spilled slightly over the edge, I would wipe it with a damp rag wet with vinegar to remove the epoxy.
Vinegar, lacquer thinner or acetone will clean up the epoxy. Just make sure it doesnt remove any paint or stain you may have used first.
Lol. Guess I still somewhat set in my old ways. I’m an old dog learning new tricks little at a time. I’ll have to get right on that and make a box with the app
The few times I have tried epoxy in plywood there was no issue with sanding away the veneer. If you just let the sander do the work then you should barely touch the veneer more than you would normally sand it.
I could see you possibly going through the veneer if you were to get aggressive with the pressure, but I’ve always just let the sander do the work with just light pressure till it meets my goal.
I’ve used totalboat and art resin with lots of success. Both can be ordered from amazon. The use the slow hardener for totalboat to have more working time.
If you plan to use epoxy a bit and dont mind the cure time, West System is good. They have a dispenser system (pumps) that provide the proper mix ratio.
Hello! Read through as many epoxy resin threads as I could find but still have a question: When you sand the epoxy, is there a way to make it shiny? Or is it destined to be “flat” or “satin?” Has anyone tried heating it to make it gloss after it has been hardened? I have a project due (last week) and am struggling with paint flowing into BRASS and I thought I would try epoxy.
