Update A Piece With A Gloss Coat l DIY Epoxy Resin Tutorial
Did you know you can add a glossy finish to your furniture using table top epoxy? Watch Jason from Upstart Epoxy show you how it's done!
Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate/Expert
Estimated Working Time: 24-36 Hours
What You’ll Need:
- Upstart Epoxy Table Top Resin
- Serving Board
- Denatured Alcohol
- Blow Torch (Optional)
- Heat Gun (Optional)
Preparing Your Epoxy Finish
Ever wondered how to do apply epoxy resin for wood? Let’s use Upstart’s table top epoxy to do a full mix and pour, complete with a glossy coating! We have a small-sized serving board here that we’re planning on giving a new look. We chose this board because it has chamfered edges, cut outs, unbroken edges, undercuts, and a couple small spaces that we need to fill. This is going to be a good pour.
Now, let’s start working with the epoxy and figure out how much we need to pour. On the back of the package, you’ll see a handy weight calculation- 100 parts resin, and 83 parts hardener. We will be doing our pour by weight, which is great for smaller pieces like this. For this piece, we will pour our table top epoxy in batches- which are pours of 100 parts to 83 parts by weight each.
You want to be as accurate as possible when it comes to your measurements. If you have too much of either part, the piece will remain tacky and won't fully cure, or it could cure too fast, possibly causing warping, cracking, or bows. Don’t be scared to use the coverage calculator on our website if you’re not sure!
We started off mixing one batch of table top, as we want to see what type of coverage we get with just the first batch. If we need more, we can always mix up another batch. As you mix the two parts together, it will start to become cloudy, but keep mixing! When the cloudiness starts to disappear, you will introduce bubbles into the mixture, which is normal for self leveling applications.
Pour Your Table Top Epoxy
From a distance about 10 to 12 inches, slowly pour your mixture over the wood. As it starts to level, make sure the epoxy is dripping over the sides. We're going to use our spreader to move the epoxy around the project, dragging it along the surface and letting gravity do its job.
We realized we needed more table top epoxy to get the job done, so we poured up another mixture. Make sure your finished product comes out as clear as possible! Evenly distribute it over the surface.
Leave it to Dry
Now that we've got our epoxy on our project, it's leveling itself out and the bubbles are starting to release, but we're going to help out with that. Feel free to use a torch or a heat gun from a distance, not directly on the surface. The resin has an exothermic reaction, which means it generates heat during its process. If you add too much heat, it will accelerate the process, causing the project to crack.
If you’d rather not take your chances with that, you can use denatured alcohol right on the surface. Alcohol is a solvent for epoxy, and it helps break up the surface tension that releases bubbles. This pour is beautiful- it turned out great! Now we have this gorgeous wood finish that is going to cure to an extremely durable, glossy coating.
Now, it’s time to let it cure! We allowed the project to sit for about 24-36 hours, checking periodically for bubbles, and spraying them with the denatured alcohol. Epoxy drying times vary, but it's important to let them sit for at least a day. When the cure time was over, we came back to admire our work. This glossy coating is going to give this piece a longer lifespan, and bring out the character of the wood. Beautiful!
