Slab Bar top - Woodworking Talk

nhwoodsman · 10-01-2007, 12:03 PM

Hello
Im new to the site and I joined because Im a novice woodworker looking to start building a bar out of a large pine slab I reciently aquired. The slab is about 4'' thick and I've framed the whole bar out but I need to know what the best way to finish it is. Every one that I've seen looks like its been finished with something thicker then a regular stain. If anyone has any info on how to attack finishing this piece please feel free to leave a post.

Thanks!

Buffalo Bilious · 10-01-2007, 12:10 PM

That's be an epoxy finish you're looking for. Do a search in the forums, you'll likely get a good base of knowledge for what's involved.

Big Dave · 10-01-2007, 03:00 PM

I do these all the time. Matter of fact I've got an order for 70 table tops for a restaurant made out of 3 inch thick slabs.

What I do is sand the top til you work your way to a 120 grit sandpaper. Stain the desired color and seal the top with Zinnser seal coat. Let that dry overnight then you will need to prefill any cracks or holes with the epoxy finish. If you don't do this then when you pour your finish coat over the whole top the finish will cave into these cracks or holes and not leave a perfectly flat top. You would then have to put another coat over the whole thing and the finish is expensive. You could also fill these cracks and holes with a wood filler before sanding and staining. The choice is yours.

For the epoxy I use Aristocrat Liquid Glass. I buy mine locally but here is a link for the product.

http://www.kimandorsales.com/

**Daren** · 10-01-2007, 04:39 PM

nhwoodsman. It would not hurt a bit to pop over to Big Dave's website http://www.bigdaveswoodworks.com/ . There are some nice examples of what I think you are trying to do.

Joe Lyddon · 10-02-2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhwoodsman

Hello
Im new to the site and I joined because Im a novice woodworker looking to start building a bar out of a large pine slab I reciently aquired. The slab is about 4'' thick and I've framed the whole bar out but I need to know what the best way to finish it is. Every one that I've seen looks like its been finished with something thicker then a regular stain. If anyone has any info on how to attack finishing this piece please feel free to leave a post.

Thanks!

Take a look at this project... Looks like it will do what you want.

http://www.woodworkstuff.net/EpoxyPour1.html

**TexasTimbers** · 10-02-2007, 10:15 AM

Hey woodsman I haven't used any yet but in my research a couple months ago I located this company. The product is the most reasonable in price I found ($33 a gallon)but they have excellent price breaks on top of that.

They also have a highly detailed pdf application guide that also includes a table which tells you exactly how much to mix, down to the ounce, for your particular project. There are two tables. One for a "seal coat" and one for a "flood coat".

There are tons of choices out there but this is the product which caught my eye.

Dave with that many tables to do you could buy their 16 gallon kit at a cost of $22.75 per gallon and put the difference in your pocket. I did a google search on the product back then and found nothing but good things said about it.

U.S. Composites Kleer Koat