# Epoxy and a drum sander question...



## pjaromin (Nov 28, 2007)

The top on my current project features a couple fairly significant knots that we've decided not to remove. Instead I'm planning on filling them with a pour on clear epoxy-the kind you might pour on a bar top. I'm also going to be adding an inlay to the top and would like to run the whole thing through my drum sander when complete to flatten it again.

The only thing that concerns me is what might happen to the epoxy if I run the top through the sander after applying it. It occurs to me that the heat might soften some of the epoxy, gumming up the paper, resulting in a serious burn mark on the top.

Does anyone have any experience with doing this? What are the odds that the epoxy will cause problems?


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

Patrick, from what I have heard about the product you intend to use there would be no need to sand it . I have a similiar product but have not used it yet. Would be interested to know how it turns out.


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## pjaromin (Nov 28, 2007)

I'm not really using it to cover the entire top - just fill a couple knot holes…so I'm sure I'll need to do a final sanding to flush it with the top. The product claims to be sand-able, but the directions also discuss using heat to clean off tools with dried epoxy.


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

Patrick,

I use the West System epoxy though my blurb should apply to all epoxies. Epoxies rely on a chemical curing process and heating or sanding should not cause them to melt or soften. I fill voids with epoxy and sand as necessary. Also I am attaching a project I did where I epoxied the top and sanded it with my ROS from 100 grit down to 500. It never softened or anything. I also just re-fiberglassed a snowmobile cowl and had to sand that with the ROS, no problem there.

What I would be concerned with is that after the curing process a waxy film develops over the cured epoxy. This wax gunks up sand-paper like you wouldn't believe. I would recommend spot sanding it with some left-over sandpaper to remove the wax before running over your drum sander.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/8777


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## pjaromin (Nov 28, 2007)

Thanks so much, Rich! This is just what I was looking for….oh…and….

Go Bills!


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

If you use t-88 epoxy, and add some paint to it, you get a perfectly sandable material.. It will work fine


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

I generally clean up my epoxy repairs with a metal hand scraper before sanding .

Bob.


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## herg1 (Mar 27, 2008)

I did the same as Rich, I used my ROS rather than take a chance on fouling up the belt on my Performax. I used a very slow speed on the ROS and had no problem. In most cases, I underfilled the hole with the apoxy and added additional as needed to reduce the amount of sanding.


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## pjaromin (Nov 28, 2007)

Sounds like I'm gonna take the cautious approach here. Thanks, all!


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## AlanWS (Aug 28, 2008)

Epoxy continues to harden long after it feels dry and hard to the touch. The epoxy I use most (System 3) would gunk up sandpaper if you tried to sand it the day after it hardened, but a couple of days later it sands beautifully, without any problem.

Whether a waxy layer forms (called "blush") depends on the type of epoxy, and the weather. You can avoid it by buying a non-blushing epoxy.


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