Table Top & Coating Resin

Is Table Top resin right for your project?

Choose Table Top resin for coatings. It is thick like molasses, so it gives controlled drips on edges and a smooth coat on flat surfaces. It also works over photos, paper and puzzles. For deeper work, choose another formula:

• Art & Craft Resin: moulds, coasters and small casts up to about 3/4 inch per layer.
• Deep Pour resin: river tables and casts up to 2 or 4 inches per layer.

Prepare the surface and plan your coats

Most tables and countertops get two coats: a thin seal coat, then a self-levelling flood coat. Our article Epoxy resin for countertops and tables explains each step.

• Sand bare wood with 180 to 220 grit and remove all dust. Stain, paint, wood filler or polyurethane must be fully cured first. No primer is needed.
• Apply a thin seal coat. It seals the wood and stops air bubbles from rising into the flood coat.
• Pour the flood coat when the seal coat is tacky but a fingernail still dents it, usually 4 to 10 hours later. If you wait longer, sand with 180 to 220 grit first.
• Spread a full 1/8-inch flood coat. A thinner coat may not level and can leave ripples.
• For more thickness, pour more layers of up to 1/4 inch each.

How much resin to buy

Measure the length and width of the top. Enter them in the epoxy calculator and choose 1/8 inch, the depth of a flood coat. The calculator adds 5% for normal losses.

Then add resin for the seal coat: about one third of the flood-coat amount. Edges and drips need a little more. Read How much epoxy resin do I need? for examples.

• Kit sizes: 32 oz (946 ml), 1 gal (3.8 L), 2 gal (7.6 L) and 4 gal (15.2 L).
• The kit size is resin and hardener together. For example, the 2-gallon kit has 1 gallon of resin (A) and 1 gallon of hardener (B).

Mixing, working time and cure

All the steps are in the Table Top instructions. Wear gloves and eye protection, ventilate the room, and read the safety data sheets.

• Mix ratio: 1:1 by volume, or 100A:85B by weight.
• Room and resin: 21 to 24 °C (70 to 75 °F), with 40 to 60% humidity. Warm cold bottles in warm water first.
• Mix slowly by hand for about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the cup.
• Pour right after mixing. You get about 20 to 30 minutes of working time on the surface, but only about 15 minutes in the cup. Do not scrape the cup when you pour.
• Pass a torch quickly over the fresh coat to pop bubbles.
• Cure: the resin is hard in about 24 hours and cured in about 3 days. Wait 7 days before regular use.