I finally got around to trying a small project using epoxy and all in all, turned out much better then i thought. One issue i did have was the black colour spread a little bit which id like to avoid in the future. The box is made from basewood and i used a black opaque dye to colour the epoxy. Was basewood just a poor choice, or should i have top coated the basewood first? Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!
Sanding sealer prior to epoxy?
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I always brush in a little clear epoxy before I go for the colored pour. Adds a day, but it works.
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I didn’t do any sealing prior to the epoxy. I carved the design, poored epoxy, let cure then surfaced to remove excess. I then did a couple coats of shelac at the end.
I typically seal the area with clear resin prior to the colored pour. You can also use a quick coat of basically any wood sealer.
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My sister is saying 3 coats of diluted sanding sealer. With the products she uses, she allows 1 hour between coats.
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I really appreciate all the advice, thanks! My mistake was definitely not doing a couple of sealing coats first.
The sealing advise is good and I agree. However I use dewaxed shellac as my seal coat. Likely the best would be a clear coat of epoxy but as @neilferreri said you need to let that dry before pouring more epoxy. That extends your project. Basically what ever method you pick you just need to seal up the pours of the wood to keep the dye in epoxy from soaking in around on the surface of the wood.
When pouring epoxy you need to slightly overfill. If you do not overfill when epoxy cures it tends to shrink just a little. So if you fill your pocket up just to the top when dried you will have the surface sunken in and likely in an uneven way. So I like to put a tape dam around the perimeter of the pour. Some epoxy is very much like water when poured. Some I have used is about like jelly and will let you overfill but not run all over the place. By overfilling you simply surface off the excess either with the Shapeoko or with a sander.
Seal up your wood and the lighter the wood the more sealer you want. So I give you an A for effort and C for delivery. The good news is next time you get an A+ for both effort and delivery. Everyone must start somewhere and seems like you have started pretty good.
Ha, thanks for the report card, I’ll take it 
I have a few ideas for epoxy coasters so I’ll definitely be taking what a learned from my first attempt and carry it over to my next project.
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