Resin?

[reb78]

I have a couple of lengths of ash made from a 12 inch diameter straight limb about 5' long that I have cut in half lengthways. I want to carve my house name in them on the flat face and place one on either side of the driveway.

My plan was to carve out the eight letter and then fill this with a black resin and seal the face of the wood.

Can anyone reccomend what I need to look for for a suitable resin?

 

[tom2207]

I have a couple of lengths of ash made from a 12 inch diameter straight limb about 5' long that I have cut in half lengthways. I want to carve my house name in them on the flat face and place one on either side of the driveway.

My plan was to carve out the eight letter and then fill this with a black resin and seal the face of the wood.

Can anyone reccomend what I need to look for for a suitable resin?

try west systems epoxy and color it to suit. but maybe it will depend on what your finishing it with , the wood will move ,,, you will no doubt have to clear epoxy the whole thing.

 

[Old Dog]

The wife's hobby is burning names, designs etc into wood, over the last couple of years i've found out how difficult wood can be, as it dries it twists, shrinks and splits no matter how you dry it we've now settled on oiling it. I,ve played with different finishes and left it to weather and oiling is the only one that doesn't peel or crack.

 

[ukracer]

The wife's hobby is burning names, designs etc into wood, over the last couple of years i've found out how difficult wood can be, as it dries it twists, shrinks and splits no matter how you dry it we've now settled on oiling it. I,ve played with different finishes and left it to weather and oiling is the only one that doesn't peel or crack.

What type of oil??

 

[julianf]

I use glass cast 50 for work stuff.

The 50 is the depth of the pour, which isn't relevant in your case, but it does mean it's both thin, and has a long setting time. This will allow it to creep into the wood more than a thicker faster setting product, which may help you.

But...

This can also carry stain into the wood. To get around that, making then black out of one of the perl pigments will work. I guess the particle sizes are larger so they don't stain into the wood in the same way.

 

[Shiny Steve]

I second the glass cast resin it's good stuff and cheaper than west systems.

The wood needs to be very very dry and stable, then it needs to stay dry and stable otherwise when it moves the resin won't and things will crack.

To stop the stain into the wood, put a thin clear coat of resin on first then add the black when the first coat goes tacky/ not fully cured.

 

[Old Dog]

What type of oil??

We are using Osmo oil comes in different colours for different woods.

 

[reb78]

Some useful comments here. Thanks.

I cut the wood about two years ago (maybe more) and these two halves have just stood in a shed in the dry waiting for me to do something with them (or cut them up for firewood which seems a shame). We were looking at getting a couple of those old sandstone rolls engraved but that was going to cost a lot and what I have in mind will be cheap and a nice project with a good finish. I can finish the wood in whatever way is suitable so keep suggestions coming there. I had thought that sealing it with some sort of varnish like lacquer might do but I guess that wont allow the wood to move and breathe gently which may therefore not be the best thing.

 

[bourbon]

https://www.dwrplastics.com/black-fast-cast-resin.html.

This is my go to place for stuff like that

 

[Mart63]

https://www.dwrplastics.com/black-fast-cast-resin.html.

This is my go to place for stuff like that

Danny Roper, I use him a lot for silicone moulding rubber. His products and prices are excellent.

 

[James1979]

Danny Roper, I use him a lot for silicone moulding rubber. His products and prices are excellent.

Thank you. Both. I use Bentley rubbers and the service is good but pricey. I’ll try DR as above. Thank you.

 

[Mart63]

Thank you. Both. I use Bentley rubbers and the service is good but pricey. I’ll try DR as above. Thank you.

Another company I use regularly is Easy Composites. They have been great.

 

[Agroshield]

Is it worth using some kind of projecting pin in the wood (I was thinking a stainless steel woodscrew with the head cut off) to provde a mechanical fixing between resin infill and timber? Then even if the wood moves, the letters won't fall out.

 

[arian]

Don't know if this guy's video is relevant
Epoxy Resin Inlay Sign

 

[mike os]

I would speak to a supplier as you will want a uv stable resin for that

Osma polyox goes well over most casting / epoxy resins ime

 

[reb78]

The polyurethane bourbon mentions above should be uv stable and flex a little??

 

[bourbon]

The polyurethane bourbon mentions above should be uv stable and flex a little??

the one I used for some scale head lights was a hard plastic. But he does lots of different stuff. Give him a call, he is a sound bloke

 

[Old Dog]

I have a couple of lengths of ash made from a 12 inch diameter straight limb about 5' long that I have cut in half lengthways. I want to carve my house name in them on the flat face and place one on either side of the driveway.

My plan was to carve out the eight letter and then fill this with a black resin and seal the face of the wood.

Can anyone reccomend what I need to look for for a suitable resin?

Ash finished with Osmo clear oil

 

[reb78]

View attachment 363412
Ash finished with Osmo clear oil

Wow. That looks great.

How does the burning work? How does she keep it so tidy?

 

[Screwdriver]

You may want to seal the lettering prior to any coloured epoxy.

I follow this guy on YouTube and he does quite immaculate work with epoxy: https://www.youtube.com/c/BlacktailStudio

(He is also pretty damned funny...)