10 EPOXY Mistakes Beginners Make

After years of experience, I have compiled 10 EPOXY Mistakes Beginners make when they're working with epoxy resin on builds and projects.

I get lots of emails and DM's from people trying out epoxy, so In this video I list out the top 10 problems I have found over my years in working with epoxy. Even as someone with experience, I still make these mistakes now, as you can see based on the $500 of epoxy on my shop floor.

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If you Like this video check out my other Epoxy Tips video!

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[russgoodwin]

I used to work for a construction chemical manufacturer here in the states, and had to mix epoxy resins for field demos regularly. John's right about keeping your tools clean. One trick I used was I kept a 5 gallon pail with a reusable lid, that had ~2 gallons of play sand in the bottom and about a gallon and a half of acetone. There should be enough acetone in the mixture to have the top of the play sand ~2 inches below the top of the acetone when fully settled. Once you are done mixing any epoxy with a drill mounted mixing paddle, keep the paddle in the drill, dunk the paddle into the sand / acetone mix and run the paddle in the sand for ~45-60 seconds in both forward and reverse and you will get a clean paddle with little effort.

[TotalBoat]

This is awesome. We actually recommend the opposite of your #5, though. WE say NOT to scrape the sides bc you might leave behind unmixed Part A or B. When you dump that out - the TOP of your project becomes anything UNMIXED that you scraped out of the bucket. It's now the sticky, uncured top parts and might be little areas, but generally is a pain and not what you want. So we suggest you DO pour your mixed resin into a new cup once combined. This leaves behind any unmixed resin in that first cup and now Cup 2 is only combined resin. The unmixed parts remain in Cup 1. We say this because we get this problem OVER AND OVER again. Why little spots of uncured resin on my piece? That's why!

[michaelvila]

Way to stay positive John, instead of sulking, you came back strong and ripped out a video to save the rest of us from making the same mistakes, you are the man, thank you sir.

[tadik]

This is proffessional tradesman! Even tools hanging on the wall make perfect square! Pleasure to watch

[deborahborse]

I've made a lot of these mistakes over the years : ) I added 2 steps recently - 1: after sealing the mold I fill it with 1/2" of water, from a graduated pail so I know how much water I put in, and let sit overnight. Answers the question - will the mold hold water?. 2: I then fill the entire void with water, keeping track of how much I put in, and then remove it all. Answers the questions - how much epoxy do I need to mix and is my mold level?

[RexMunger]

Great info. I’ve been pouring resin for nearly 20 years. To this day it’s a bit stressful and unpredictable. These guidelines will save users a ton of headache.

[pebkacz]

Hi from Australia John & Sam. I've been pouring epoxy since 1975 in the communications industry and it definitely is a Science. It ws used to fill containers where cable was terminated ( just like filling empty beer cans). Always the same type and always handled like a medical clinic would handle blood in syringes. Great message and great pour projects. Stay Safe!

[CraigStrong]

Great tips. On the volume vs weight measurements, if weight ratio is unavailable from the manufacturer, I mix my first batch using volume then convert my volume measurements to weight measurements by weighing two cups with the proper volume of both minus the weight of the empty cups. Mark it on the bottle (e.g. 1 : 0.85) and I'm weighing from then on.

[Mastercreeper]

I just did a massive river table for the first time and lucky me it didn’t leak but I wish I saw this before I did mine

[lexwilkinson]

Made an epoxy fill on a 26” poplar slice after watching this. About a 6” hole in the center but the grain was nice.. Taped it up nicely with tuck tape and duck tape.. solid. Then after I pored a bit I got the great idea to put a nice little slice of red cedar in the hole.. It was floating up so I put a little weight on top, and you guessed it, I broke the tape seal.. epoxy dripping all over my bench and ultimately the carpet lol. I put some scab lumber under it and kinda re-sealed it and saved about an inch or so of the epoxy. Of course the tape and scabs are nicely stuck and had to pound the scab and slice off the bench and slice! Lesson learned. Love your videos!!!

[batman]

Love the advice. I'm planning on making one for myself in the future. Would like to see a river chair instead of a table with a river style seat and back.

[brandonkeaveney]

New watcher and want to get into making tables w epoxy and wood. Love your videos, keeping doing what your doing!

[pdlremorquage]

first off, you are freaking funny. 2nd, thanks for all the tips. started working with resin and decided my first project to be a dinner table with 25 liters pour and reclaimed wood plank. hopefully your guidance will help me thru this!!

[Nomadboatbuilding]

Johnny boy. Yes yes yes. Great advice across the board. One thing I'll put out there: West System, which is my personal choice for epoxy, has excellent user manuals related to a range of epoxy uses that has a ton of solid information applicable to all epoxy products. West System was pretty much the first outfit to bring epoxy to the home user market and they do a ton of comparative testing. This isn't a plug for West System specifically but for educating yourself as much as possible.

[michelgauthier]

This should be a channel on how to do a YouTube tutorial video. Just to the point and clear! Just about to mess around with epoxy for first time and these videos are spot on!

[fleetswoodshop]

THANK YOU FOR THE INPUT .THAT HELPS A MILL.FROM DOUG IN HOUSTON

[angim]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on doing a small side table for practice. I'll be sure get the proper stuff to make a mold.

[kosinskiarek]

I think someone commented on your other video in the same way I feel about this, You are not only great maker but you are entertainer. Thank you for providing quality content to us DIY bastards that rather watch YouTube then another episode of Cardashians ( I think that's how you spell it) Thank you John you are awesome!!!

[Wolfnstone]

I once worked as a fiberglass laminator here in the U.K. Mostly making boat hulls. Was a "shoddy" operation in an old RAF storage shed. We had a curing room that was just a section in the corner lined with plastic sheeting with a propane heater and a thermometer. Was great overtime sat for 24hrs turning the heater on and off😂

[danielcampbell]

Thank you for the info. Great video! I'm just a beginner and your video helps me a lot.