Use of epoxy for levelling

[Boyan Silyavski]

Mixing definitely is not the error if you mix the epoxy 10 minutes. Though i agree that it could be if not careful.

I believe i showed all already how to arrange and pour epoxy properly on even very big table, + saving 1 liter mixture at least on doing it with one bridge only. i hope my experiments and waste of money was not a waste, so people repeat the same mistakes over and over again, just because they want to do it their way or reinvent the hot water.

We could speak and speak, but - the errors are the following below. Only one of them or a mixture of them. Nothing more, nothing less.

1. Epoxy:
-poor choice / epoxy not fit for casting/
-shrinkage /not pure epoxy, cheap epoxy/
-cast thickness -ideal 5mm, no less than 3mm


2. Temperature:
-less than 15C or max 35C, ideal 22C
-differential between material temperature / heating the room shortly before, bringing the epoxy from other room/

2.Mixing:
-not weighting precisely the mix parts
-too much air in mix
-mixing less than 7-10 minutes
-not changing the mixing bowl with new, just before pouring

3. Surface preparation
-not cleaning the surface with acetone prior to pouring
-dust on the surface or hidden at the corners

4. Dams
-varying distance between dams on same rail
-too flexible dams
-dams from different material at different places
-hidden leaks between dam and material that don't show outside leak -not impregnating and check beforehand with thin epoxy layer for leaks
-dam leaking or absorption due to wrong dam material


5.Bridge
-not positioning it right so when it shrinks it sucks from channel
-not making extra long dam structure at the long rails
-not making bridge and dam extensions strong enough
-wrong bridge and extensions material,

6. Heating/degassing
-heating too much/too slow pass with the torch/
-making more than 2 separate passes /leads to orange peel/
-heating from different angle,not trying to be 90 degree with the torch
-heating too much the dams if they are from plastic
-accidentally heating the bridge more than the epoxy mixture

7. Drying
-dust when drying
-checking with finger if the epoxy is dry, during the first 24h
-laying the rails on top during the first 3 days to check how it looks
-mounting before a week has passed from pour

8.More
-not checking for dust particles that integrated during drying and scraping them with the straight edge
-not cleaning properly the rails and epoxy from dust before mounting, seat with the edges and scrape when laying down so no dust gets trapped
-heating the epoxy during drilling
-not chamfering the holes properly to clean the raised epoxy
-knocking the epoxy when dropping something or checking with the rails, and so making invisible raised points

9.later
Exposing the machine to >50C/ direct sun when outside temp is >25C/ will lead to problems.


Thats all folks. Do it properly and you will have 0.01 precision. Do it right and you will have great machine. Miss one point and you will have woodworking machine. Miss 2 and you will have a problem. Though of course people could lie to themselves and believe they have done it ok.