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allen levine

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new york city burbs
So after finding out the only doctor who can fix me is in Hartford Connecticut and hopefully in 3 weeks I'll be able to get in and move on with my life I'm planning my next project but have no clue what product to use

I have a new great nephew and I want to build him a small table and chair for his first birthday
He may be too young for it but I can't wait and need a project

I want to build a box approx 24 x 24 inches maybe 2 inches high and fill it with hot wheel cars then pour clear epoxy and make that th table top
My question does anyone have experience with making a table with epoxy and if so what brand should I buy?
I'd like something I don't have to worry about bubbles or cracks just an easy pour if there is such a product
Any help is appreciate
 
I have poured a lot of epoxy for filling in wood defects, Fina sells epoxy products for earrings, necklaces and window accent things oh and keychains. Last summer had two weekends where all the grands were staying over and we would mix and pour in the evening. Take out of molds the next afternoon and do it again. We got three pours each weekend.
Man you will frustrate the little guy seeing those cars and not being able to play with them!! Your pour will be at least an inch thick to cover the cars. All epoxy pours will have bubbles. It comes from the mixing of the resin with the hardner. How you mix can eliminate a lot of bubbles or create more bubbles. You will have bubbles and need to babysit it for a while as the epoxy will find its way into the car's interior thus creating a bubble situation as well as lower your level thus you need to watch it so you can add more. Makers and products, will try to check what is in the woodshop, worst case will get that info to you tomorrow. I am in the welding shop rest of the day.

This is the first video I ever watched on pouring epoxy. Great hints and you will learn how to handle bubbles.

Have a couple others I will try to find tonight and help you out. I am not an expert, but Fina paid and attended a week long class on pouring epoxy (couple hours a night). She told Lou about it and that nothing worked right. Either it was so brittle it broke or was sticky. Lou then told her, "your dad has been pouring epoxy for a few years now". Showed her how and that is when she brought her two large boxes of molds over and we began production pouring for her craft shows.
 
Once I get you the names of the epoxy and hardner I use, I will look and see if there is a small set and you can build a trough and put a hot wheels in it and do a pour. The cars will probably need to be glued down so they don't float to the top. Anyway, the first pour, finished up your Grandson will probably want it. So no waste. I don't weigh anything, I do by two identical cups with a line drawn at same distance on each cup. Science department tells me it is near impossible to keep little portable scales. :unsure:. This will give you an idea of what is needed and what to watch for. In some later videos I provide, they talk about using rice, create the pour and fill with rice. In the container that is equivilant to the amount of epoxy to mix. All kinds of fun stuff, oh and Fina's teacher on the epoxy, thanked her for helping her get things right and have successful pours. :headbang:
 
Jonathan Shively said:
Once I get you the names of the epoxy and hardener I use, I will look and see if there is a small set and you can build a trough and put a hot wheels in it and do a pour. The cars will probably need to be glued down, so they don't float to the top...
Click to expand...
The cars are hollow, so there will be some encapsulated air that may cause problems. Epoxy creates heat as it cures, so the air may expand and form bubbles.

Sounds like a neat project, Allen.
 
Jonathan Shively said:
I don't see it being a waste. Will help you and walk you through it.
Click to expand...
once i finish up my current intarsia, Im going to do a thorough clean out of scraps and just clean up shelves.....after that Ill get started.....IM wondering if I pour the mixture only a half inch at each pour will it prevent excess bubbles? I tried some epoxy years and years ago, dont even recall the brand, the bubbles ruined the look plus it had a crack or two when finished....could have been my fault...this time Im willing to purchase a higher end brand epoxy.
 
I've seen where waving a propane torch over the surface to warm it, not heat it to burning, softens it enough as it's drying for the bubbles to rise to the surface. Watching some of the videos involving this technique might help, but epoxy makes a nasty fire, so be careful, and ready to throw it out the shop door if it catches fire, or at least keep a good fire extinguisher close by. I cringe when I see this, but it seems to work. Don't burn your shop down doing this.

Charley
 
I've made several river tables and pouring epoxy is not difficult. Messy but not difficult. Couple of things you want to do is seal coat the top and sides 2 or 3 times. This helps to eliminate air trapped in the wood from coming up thru the deep pour. The other thing is seal all joints with silicone epoxy will find any crack or void and run, Cover your work surface with a 2 or 3 mill plastic.
If you are pouring over 1/4" depth you will need a deep pour product I've had good success with Total Boat products.
Use a disposable graduated plastic measuring cup. Products vary in their mixing ratio 1:1, 2:1 or 3:1
Either a propane torch or a heat gun will remove bubbles from the surface. you will need to stay with the pour for several hours to remove the bubbles as they come to the surface, deep pour products harden slowly.
I would recommend pouring an 1/8 to 1/4" layer, placing the cars in this layer the way you want and letting it harden locking the cars in. You will not see the joint between the layers of epoxy.

Every product I've used has a calculate on their web site to help you calculate volume.

Hope this helps some. Lot of how too's on You Tube.
 
I have not done a deep pour yet and I will be watching this thread closely. Lots of YouTube vids on this topic. It is my understanding that deep pour epoxy is designed for deep pour, it is not just any old stuff.
 
just got a setback on my woodworking....stent doc nurse contacted me today, seems due to the complicated nature of this stenting, the doctor will only use enough dye to do one this thursday.
I will have to then undergo two more surgeries if both others need stenting, one more for sure. she said there is a slight chance he can do two if the first one isnt bad...not her word, but I forgot what she said, after she said possibly two more surgeries my head went blank. Im not pursuing anything else woodworking because besides surgery, there will be a week or two I wont be allowed in shop according to release papers from last surgery which nothing was done. my life now sucks. but I was thinking along jon and steves thoughts, only do a couple of cars first in a box, small level pours, let dry then pour again.....that was my plan of attack, my main concern is finding a good deep pour made for dummys. my second plan of attack is to be here to do the project....Im getting an extreme lack of optimism from these surgeons, seems noone wants to work on me. I know I bath and treat them all nice, so I dont know why they are so down on me. its killing elen also. Im the worlds biggest pessimist and they are just feeding me more and more.on a postivie note the tiger oiled is dry and tomorrow Ill poly it one quick light coat and start working on frame. that project will most likely be done by mid week before I quit.
 
Yesterday I saw my pacemaker doctor. The third wire lead to my heart from my pacemaker hasn't been working perfectly for about 3 years, and he said that now it isn't working at all, so this is the major cause of my heart not pumping enough to keep my legs and feet from filling up with fluids. So surgery for me to fix this lead or replace it is now a must, if I want to last a few more years. They gave me a date today of Feb 23 for the surgery, but no time yet. As it gets closer, they will give me a time on that day when it will take place. I may be released that day, but will likely spend the night so they can watch me close, then let me out the next day.

With all of the trouble that I've been having, I am ready for this fix, but I'm a bit worried, since this will be heart surgery #10 for me. Ten heart surgeries in 26 years. This seems to be what it takes to live long passed your parents now days. My dad died of a heart problem at 48. My mom at 62. Back then, when you had a heart attack, they gave you nitro pills to take when it hurts and told you to go home and rest for a couple of months. They did this with my dad after his first heart attack at 45, and with the several months rest and the nitro pills he lasted 3 more years. My mom was having trouble with fluids building up in her for several years. Then she went quick one night. Congestive heart failure. This is what I am trying to keep from happening to me now. If your heart doesn't get the excess fluids pumped to your kidneys for removal, it builds up in your legs and feet first, then further up around your heart and that keeps it from beating well.

Charley
 
Allen,
My heart work, all of it, has been done by the Sanger Heart Group in Concord, North Carolina. The Atrium Health Hospital in Concord, NC is where they are located. Concord is about 24 miles Northeast of Charlotte, NC along I-85.

About 2 years ago an entire 5 story heart wing was added to this hospital. The Sanger Heart Clinic offices are in the Professional wing that's about adjacent to the heart wing.

One of the very best stent install doctors there is Dr Paul Campbell. It's all he does most every day. He installed all 9 of my stents, and has been my heart doctor for the last 26 years. He saved my son's life and installed a stent in him 4 years ago. My #2 son was 52 at the time and he works as a senior refrigeration technician and certified welder. Highly technical, but physical too.

704-403-6100 is the main phone number of the Sanger Heart Clinic. Dr Tom Christopher is their pacemaker expert, and the one who installed my pacemaker 6 years ago. There are about 6 other heart surgeons in the group, but I have had little to no contact with any of the rest of them.

If you are willing to travel for your needed work, you might want to give them a call, even just for a second opinion. For my triple bypass work, a Dr Tackla was my bypass surgeon, also of this hospital. He is partners with a Dr Christy, who is also a leading heart surgeon for the Open Heart Surgeries. Both do the heart work that can't be fixed with stents. The real open heart surgery work.

Concord, NC is about 740 miles from NY City. There is a train from Penn Station to Kannapolis, NC, which is only about 5 miles from the Concord hospital. By car or train, it's about 12 hours from NY. Air travel from NY to Charlotte is about 2 hours if no stops half way, then a 20+ mile drive from the Charlotte Airport to Concord, NC will get you here too. I happen to live about 7 miles NW from this hospital, so it's always where I go when I need a doctor badly. They have kept me alive for 26 years so far.

Charley
 
Thanx Charley but my doc is optimistic this doctor is qualified and I'm in Thursday to see if he can
Seems like I don't have any options
If stents can't get into my twisted arteries it's over
I'm guessing I'd live on many meds until they stop working

On a positive note my son said he'd come over tomorrow despite the temps and help me cut down that massive piece of sapele so I can use it
I cannot move it even with help from elen
13 feet long 13 inches wide 12/4
Elen said she won't let me do anything like that until after stents but we will see just how cold it gets
Shop is closed but I need to break that down soon as I'm running low on sapele and as soon as I get ok I'm back in shop
 
OK, I just had to provide you with the information. The long trip wouldn't be all that good on you anyway.

That is one beautiful sounding piece of Sapele. Maybe it should be cut into sections right for making a table top and leaves. Then taking the ugliest piece for the scroll saw work. With the scroll saw, you can eliminate all of the ugly parts and make some great things with the rest. I've never even seen Sapele that was 13" wide, and most that I can buy here is only 6-7' long.

When my wife fell 4 years ago and broke her back and pelvis, they ended up injecting epoxy into the broken places to glue her back together. Only one traveling Surgeon in North Carolina does this, so she had to remain basically untreated, until he came to town. I think the two breaks in her pelvis healed well, but the break in her back did not. I told her to go back and get them to try again, but she won't do it. She is quite bent over now, and the bones seem to have joined some and holding her in that bent shape now. That was some very expensive JB Weld. The pain she went through must have been very bad. She still has me putting pain patches on her back and pelvis every morning. She can't manage the pain without them. She has been on the arthritis Tylenol since she fell too. She won't take any of the pain pills or injections.

Charley
 
Last edited:
Charles Lent said:
OK, I just had to provide you with the information. The long trip wouldn't be all that good on you anyway.

That is one beautiful sounding piece of Sapele. Maybe it should be cut into sections right for making a table top and leaves. Then taking the ugliest piece for the scroll saw work. With the scroll saw, you can eliminate all of the ugly parts and make some great things with the rest. I've never even seen Sapele that was 13" wide, and most that I can buy here is only 6-7' long.

When my wife fell 4 years ago and broke her back and pelvis, they ended up injecting epoxy into the broken places to glue her back together. Only one traveling Surgeon in North Carolina does this, so she had to remain basically untreated, until he came to town. I think the two breaks in her pelvis healed well, but the break in her back did not. I told her to go back and get them to try again, but she won't do it. She is quite bent over now, and the bones seem to have joined some and holding her in that bent shape now. That was some very expensive JB Weld. The pain she went through must have been very bad. She still has me putting pain patches on her back and pelvis every morning. She can't manage the pain without them. She has been on the arthritis Tylenol since she fell too. She won't take any of the pain pills or injections.

Charley
Click to expand...
roberts plywood in deer park ny, he has only sold me boards in every species 13 to 16 feet long. I hate it, makes them tough to handle, but if I dont go and pick it myself thats what they pick.
i request all wide boards now for scroll work and intarsia. staying with grain orientation sometimes those narrow boards are useless. before intarsia, I always requested 6 inch width, easy to use with my jointer. less prep work, not cutting down. now the narrow boards are 8 to 10 inch width.
 
3M has a pretty neat site and epoxy for almost anything a person would want to do with it. There is a lot of info at there site also. I subscribe to their newsletter, which is really a pretty nice little magazine with lots of info and instructions. I have subscribed to it for many years and look forward to receiving it. I used their products to glass my little sailboat that waits in my garage to be finished. Just needs paint, a boom and a mast, and sails. Time is running out.
 
everything is on hold...besides, id rather not order epoxy in the cold weather and have it sitting on truck for a week...not sure if I mentioned that....went to michaels this morning, just trying to kill time....looked to see if they sold molds, they did, but only tiny ones. i decided today was the day I start massive cleanup which translates to Im finally going to dump boxes and boxes of scraps.
no more neighbors with fireplaces or firepits, so I stopped by the local liquor store, he always has boxes in front to take, he only had 2, today, but said tomorrow, so I filled up 3 boxes so far, and taped together strips....Im sure at one point in my life I might find use for some of it, but its been in the shop for as long as 5 years, time to go....Ive done well with turning and scrolling as far as wasted wood, but it got to a point I wanted to clean out and stop tripping on scraps. it hurt but only for a few minutes. and thats my work this week. not even looking at any projects as my date approaches.
 
Charles Lent said:
OK, I just had to provide you with the information. The long trip wouldn't be all that good on you anyway.

That is one beautiful sounding piece of Sapele. Maybe it should be cut into sections right for making a table top and leaves. Then taking the ugliest piece for the scroll saw work. With the scroll saw, you can eliminate all of the ugly parts and make some great things with the rest. I've never even seen Sapele that was 13" wide, and most that I can buy here is only 6-7' long.

When my wife fell 4 years ago and broke her back and pelvis, they ended up injecting epoxy into the broken places to glue her back together. Only one traveling Surgeon in North Carolina does this, so she had to remain basically untreated, until he came to town. I think the two breaks in her pelvis healed well, but the break in her back did not. I told her to go back and get them to try again, but she won't do it. She is quite bent over now, and the bones seem to have joined some and holding her in that bent shape now. That was some very expensive JB Weld. The pain she went through must have been very bad. She still has me putting pain patches on her back and pelvis every morning. She can't manage the pain without them. She has been on the arthritis Tylenol since she fell too. She won't take any of the pain pills or injections.

Charley
Click to expand...
This is the piece originally 16 feet but I used 3
Feet for legs
Hopefully my son or
Son in law will help me
Cut it down soon
 

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