water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow up

West system *LINK*

Dick Coers

Conversion varnish is incredibly strong product. It really takes the abuse. In my small shop, I'd use this West system barrier coating, than spar varnish as a top coat. By prototype, do you mean this is going to be a commercial product? You're going to need some extensive testing if that is the case. Sell product to the general public, and it could be subjected to harsh lime and rust removers and abrasive cleaning if kept in the shower. You'll need some professional advice from the suppliers.


https://www.westsystem.com/instruction-2/epoxy-basics/barrier-coating/

Re: water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow

Ken Vaughan

Sounds like you have an application that will be similar in many ways to marine applications or swimming pool applications. The advantage is that sunlight and UV effects will be minimal, and the use of harsh chemicals and cleaners will be expected.

Avoiding cracks, crevices, inside corners and such where surface tension will tend to retain water and allow mold and alge to prosper will be important. Black mold is hard to mitigate once established as is red alge.

Marine epoxy should not need the UV protection of spar varnish. It will polish well with multiple applications better for avoiding pin holes, and resisting cleaners.

Do not count on plastic injection into wood being uniform. It does not like dense portions, while soft or punky is a slam dunk. Some woods do not take plastic well, such as snakewood or ebony.

There are commercial firms that will stabilize your wood at a per pound cost.

Re: water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow

David Walser

Jeff -- Would it be possible to stabilize the blanks after you've roughed them to shape? If all you're looking for is a more durable exterior finish, the blanks could be put under vacuum for just enough time for the resin to penetrate the wood 1/4" - 3/8" deep. Once the resin has been cured, you could then finish turn them. As long as you only took off up to 1/8", the finished product should have a hard, durable, resin/wood matrix exterior.

I'm making this suggestion because it is really difficult to get the resin to fully penetrate 2" stock. The stock might have to be under vacuum a week or more (and then soak for another 2 weeks). Larger blanks for pepper mills and duck calls are usually center-drilled. This allows the resin to penetrate the wood from both the interior and exterior of the blank. It also uses less resin.

What are your finished dimensions? Few people have vacuum chambers that will handle a lot of length. That can be another limitation in doing what you want.

Re: water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow

Jeff luedloff

the finish application is similiar size to a 2" sphere- i thought of roughing them and than stabalize-but was also hoping to avoid having to get into the stabalizing world- I think i'll just have to do a couple tests and see what he thinks- thanks for all the advice-

Re: water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow *LINK*

Peter Hyde

Here's a product that I can totally endorse. Very expensive but it works. No need for epoxy just use as you would for any other finish. It's not suitable for continuous immersion but is definitely waterproof and mold resistant


Interlux Perfection

Re: water proof wood finish/stabalized wood follow

William Duffield

To solve your problem, you must start with the wood itself: Your best choice would be teak, followed maybe by angelique or vera. To minimize the finish (I would use West System) failing under stress, (in addition to maximizing the radii of inside corners as Ken advises) do the same with the outside corners. As the wood moves with changes in humidity, the finish fails preferentially at the sharpest corners.