Epoxy and Wood Project Fails & How to Fix Them

We put out a post asking some of the mistakes and mishaps our following has experienced, so we took those stories and turned them in to an educational video for the community to learn from! Here's 20 common epoxy mistakes and how to avoid them.

Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for future videos.
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[danielhanawalt]

Never worked with epoxy myself. A nephew has and told me about some mistakes he's made. I'm planning on making some pieces using epoxy so I'm trying to learn everything I can so I don't waste a lot of money. This video answered some questions. Thank you.

[kimnewburn]

The cheapest and best tip I can give is tuck tape is the cheapest-thing when doing epoxy pours. We’ve all had leaks so double taping will save you lots of cash!!!
Great amount of information was given in this clip👍👍

[Goldstandered]

I have made the same mistakes, and this video is really helpful i wish I saw this before I started working with epoxy.

[jeaiiiandersons]

Haven't done any huge projects to this point. Only worked on plaques and coasters, but so far I've taken time to pay particular attention to correct epoxy, proper temperature and drying times. The video was truly helpful as I'll definitely keep these mistakes in mind when preparing to work on larger and future projects. Keep up the great work and postings, thanks.

[thedoorguycharlie]

Epoxy is a weak point for me. Needed to do a table top pour for my outside dining table in 2016. No way to do it inside. Watched as many video's as I could. Taped the edges, got it level and the pour went well. Popped the bubbles with a torch cuz that's what I had. Checked on it 30 minutes later and found a Bee floundering center left. Dug he out best I could. Let it cure for a while then heated up a nickel with the same torch and pressed it into where the Bee had been. My education continued months later when I realized that table top doesn't do well outside. I've since replaced the top again with redwood fence boards, burned, brushed and coated with Spar Varnish.
Thank you for your effort. This video really helps as I continue to explore the world of epoxy.

[eduardovigil]

Hi Jeff. Great channel. What I like most, from the point of view of a non English speaking person, is the way you express yourself, it’s so clear and neat. I watched this video for the second time because I’m looking for the solution to a problem I have when using my router sled. I’ve got a pretty good router and also a pretty good router bit, but I can’t avoid getting a kind of “crater lines” every time I pass the sled. It’s like if I cut bubbles in have and get have a half spheres line all along the resin. I’ve tried to slow and speed up the router, to pass the sled slower and faster, to remove less resin and wood at a time, but I can’t get any of my creations without a single “crater”. I’m not sure if you can really understand what I’m talking about, sorry for not being able to express myself better. But if you know what I’m talking about and you have a solution I’d be enormously grateful if you share it with me. Thanks a lot in advance. Keep creating content, it’s great.

[BareBottom]

Well I pretty much make all of those mistakes on each piece repeatedly. I have done 30 plus pours, and I still continue to do so, as I am building all of My Kitchen/Vanity/Bar Countertops throughout my entire New Barndominium. I am 67 and do this in my Spare time as I still work full time. Its just a Labor of Love.

[kimditomassi-weiner]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise! I’m in the process of learning to fill-in cracks and open areas on wooden bowls; however, it isn’t going well 😡

How can I build up a wall/ledge so the epoxy doesn’t go outside of the intended area?

[rosemarynishti]

You make this video a year ago. Came across it. And I'm still watching it now. How do you handle a charcuterie board that's half wood half resin. Bubbles formed from the gases in the wood. I'm lost! New at this. Don't know how to fix this problem. I read somewhere to heat the wood first before adding the resin

[benbattino]

I have made several of the mistakes that you mentioned. Once, on a small coffee table pour, I mixed a table top epoxy with a deep pour epoxy by mistake (the containers unfortunately looked almost identical, and I didn't double/triple check). So, of course, it didn't cure properly, just became a rubbery mess. I was actually able to salvage most of the wood to use in another project (didn't use epoxy on that one). There are many ways to go wrong using epoxy. Thank you for the great video!

[brandonm]

I've learned a few of these mistakes myself. One of the most important ones is using the right product for the right application. Another one is liquid pigments tend to stain your wood vs mica pigments. So I've learned to seal the edges for liquid pigment pours. And a big one as you discussed. Proper ratios. I've had a few pieces not cured fully. Always learning the dos and don't on each project.

[toronadogofast]

First pour, I did most of these except wrong the mix.
Added a piece of thick cedar to a cutting board counter top for a reloading bench. The piece was cut over 20 years ago by my best friends dad. He had been a leading supplier of first and violin tops.
Pour went well except for some leaks. Bubbles had came out well for the first half hour, then on whole side started having tons of small bubbles coming up and would not pop or rise to the surface.
Had to grind and send them out. Did a second pour but much thinner. Same thing started to happen but I'm a smaller area. Took a small bristle brush and took small areas out and wiped them off on a shop towel. The used the brush to drizzle small amounts back in and pop the bubbles. When not more bubbles came out, then added more epoxy. Worked great.
I found after a pour and can see small dipples, using flood lights and looking at angles, I keep a little bit of the epoxy and use a bristle brush and drizzle a little in at a litme. A quick heat of heat will level it.

[jimmaguire]

I really appreciate that JMD shares some of their mistakes and the lessons learned. As a casual resin maker, it is really disheartening to make a mistake and lose a project. Watching these videos you learn that even professionals sometime screw up.

[craftsshack]

I didn't pour a table but I did pour a tray with the wrong resin. Other then the massive ripping I got from the fast cure resin I used. I new know I should have use casting resin for trays I guess old dogs can learn new tricks. Thanks for the video this was very informative

[marykedykhuizen]

Thankyou for the video Very helpful. Also instead of measuring I weighed the resin for one project and had a big goopy mess, was that the reason it failed

[daveprokop]

Wish I found your site earlier. Lots of good information I didn't know. Super excited to try some of your tips. That's a bunch

[thehudzik]

Good video. Thanks for taking the time. One more I would add is I did a pour recently and apparently the mix ratio was slightly off. The epoxy never hardened. Instead I have a sticky glue mess. Luckily the pour was just over voids / cracks and not the whole piece. After several attempts to clean up the stickiness I'm at the point of not wasting any more time and will either abandon the project or drill out the troubled spots and fill in. Probably not a good solution either but I'm scratching my head at this one.

[Jacun]

Great video. I feel ready for my first epoxy table top

[alexperalez]

I did my first poor today on eight tables. I used ultra clear epoxy A and B I hope they come out good

[aaronnewton]

I made several mistakes on my first pour, resulting in labor-intensive salvage efforts. The first mistake was that I did not flatten the slabs before putting them in the mold. The slabs were slightly warped, which required more epoxy to fill the gaps (more money). Then, removing the excess epoxy required a lot of work on the router flattening table! The second mistake was I used melamine plywood for the form and didn't tape the bottom and sides. I used a silicone spray-releasing agent (two coats), and the epoxy still stuck to the melamine. Again, a huge chore to router the plywood off of the epoxy. The third mistake was not measuring the epoxy ratios correctly. I had several brands of epoxy on hand. Some of the ratios were 1:1, and others were 1:2. On one pour that was supposed to be 1:2, I mixed it at a 1:1 ratio, and it heated up too fast and cracked in several places. The epoxy was tinted, and when I mixed up more to fill the cracks, the tint wasn't the same color, and the cracks were still visible. Another mistake I made was not sealing the inside edges of the slabs which resulted in thousands of air bubbles that did not rise to the surface and were trapped in the epoxy. I think the epoxy was too cool and was not fluid enough to allow the air bubbles to rise to the top. Additionally, I should have done several shallow pours instead of pouring the 2" all at once.