Replies

1. 
   Alan | Feb 21, 2003 05:06am | #1

   Schooch,

   In the right circumstances, epoxy is a wonderful product--but only on some projects and only when used properly.  I've used it on the sailboat I built, a wood tonneau cover for my truck, and some other outdoor stuff;  I also used it on a darkroom sink.  Epoxy is wonderful for isolating wood from its environment:  specifically, if the wood is completely encapsulated with epoxy its moisture content will not change with changes in the weather.

   Fiberglass cloth with epoxy resin (what I used on all the above mentioned projects) makes an extremely durable, abrasion resistant finish.  So for a wet environment, like a bar top, it could be a good choice.  However...

   Epoxy resin itself isn't all that tough or attractive.  It is more easily scratched than, for example, a good bar top varnish.  Also, epoxy doesn't look that great all by itself.  It has a plastic look and feel to it that doesn't do much for the appearance of the wood.  You can still use it, but to make it look pretty you should put a few coats of good varnish on top of it.  Wood coated with epoxy that's been varnished looks great, and has none of the objectionable plastic look or feel.

   But if you have to varnish it anyway, I think you could skip the epoxy.  A few coats of bar top varnish would do much the same job as would epoxy.  Bar top varnish is very scratch resistant and very water/moisture resistant--though not the barrier to moisture that epoxy is.

   My advice would be to experiment a bit.  Try out all the materials and see how you like it.

   Alan