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Hardyrod1974

I need help fly casting at my tying bench

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My currently under construction fly tying bench is built around a 2 1/8" thick white pine slab. I'm thinking about carving/ routing a 4" x 6" x 1" deep pocket off to the side somewhere and creating a small "stream scene". I'd like to line it with some pebbles and sand and sticks and also have a short length of leader with a streamer tied to it.

I know how I'd set everything up but what kind of clear "stuff" can I fill this pocket with? It has to dry clear.

 

I've seen some bar tables and counter tops coated with some sort of clear material (epoxy?) but I don't know what it was.

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

Thank you

Richard

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Yep ... that stuff wr1nkles posted. You can buy it in quart sizes, if you're only going for a small area. You can also buy colorants, to make blue water. Some of them will take food coloring dyes, too.

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Thank you guys very much!!!

 

I looked around at the various versions of that kind of epoxy on Amazon and it seems it is just what I want.

I put some on my "list" for the future.

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I used to finish hardwood floors. Clear casting resin of any kind will give you a flat surface--over the carving area. Sand that with a random orbit sander. 100 grit then 220 then even finer.

 

Then finish off with several coats of clear water based floor finish, sanding lightly in between with fine sandy paper. VOC floor finishes are more durable but they stink to high heaven and usually require 8 to 12 hours curing between coats. Water based floor finish can be recoated 3 hours later. And it's hard enough to walk on for 5 years, before needing a touch up. For a tying bench it would last forever.

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Seems like your "what to use" question is answered. Please, pretty please, post pictures when you're done. This would be a tremendous addition to a fly tying table! I love the idea.

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Seems like your "what to use" question is answered. Please, pretty please, post pictures when you're done. This would be a tremendous addition to a fly tying table! I love the idea.

 

Yes, be sure to post pictures! Maybe even document the whole build?

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That's a great idea! I just put a live edge slab in my kitchen. I used west system epoxy to fill cracks and worm holes, sanded flush then put 6 coats of water based poly over the entire slab, top, bottom, sides and ends. I did not ever fill large river like voids however. Any epoxy will work just be mindful of controlling bubbles and removing bubbles from the finish. Some apoxies "blush" meaning it develops a waxy film over it after curing. Some apoxies blush some don't just make sure if you have an apoxy that blushes that you clean the blush off before applying poly. I didn't use the bartop stuff because it was way to shiny for me.

 

I assume the slab is air dried and has been properly aired dried. If it is be sure not to use tight fitting joinery when joining the top to the base/legs/whatever. Even if the slab has been properly aired dried it will continue to dry and shrink when brought into the house. Use a fastener like a figure 8 that allows for this movement to prevent cracking and splitting as much as possible. The top has to have some floating ability from the base yet still be secure to the base. I've also seen some people leave the bark on their live edge. Don't do this. It will eventually chip off. I have seen where people cut the slab down the middle and turned the live edges inward to create the river effect. It's quite stunning and is on my very long project list. I too would love to see how you do this.

 

Here's pictures of my kitchen island slab. It's an ambrosia maple.

 

post-48414-0-61544500-1544751632_thumb.jpg

post-48414-0-59030300-1544751997_thumb.jpg

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Interesting observation. I never noticed it before but now that you have mentioned it, it does look like a school of fish moving up river.

 

They call it an ambrosia maple because the tree was ravaged by ambrosia beetles. This was one of the more highly figured slabs I could find. It's the signature piece of the kitchen.

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Nice work, Poopdeck! Any way to get a picture of the complete sink/counter?

Love that wood!! Thanks for sharing with us.

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