So I got a commission to create a counter top for Lily & Rose, a wonderful local flower/florist. This will be my biggest project to date. First challenge was to build a mold to hold the resin. The mold is 70”x26” and 2.5” deep.
With the mold made, taped, and edges sealed, and me praying that I did a good job caulking all the edges and that it wouldn’t leak when I was finally ready to pour the resin. I started planing and jointing the spalted maple to create a frame for the countertop. Shout out to my good friend Stan for bringing over his jointer/planer to process the maple boards. Then I started laying out the flowers, Lily & Rose had given me flowers to dry, using silica beads, the flower included roses, gerbera daisies, carnations, eucalyptus, lilies, peonies, as well as flowers that I don’t know the name of.
I poured the resin in three sessions. The first was a thin pour to lock the flowers in place. Lightweight objects in resin want to float as the resin is pretty dense. After that cured for a little bit, I crossed my fingers and poured an 1.5” of deep pour epoxy into the mold. The wooden frame was set pretty tightly in place within the mold so I knew it wouldn’t float, and I was pleasantly surprised with no leaks, when I poured 6 gallons of epoxy. I discovered that I needed a little more epoxy to completely cover all the flowers, so I needed to let the pour cure and add an additional pour a couple of days later. Then came the sanding, and the sanding, and the sanding. From 40 grit up to 400 grit. I knew I was going to pour a top coat to protect for daily use so I stopped at 400 grit.
Once the sanding was done, it was time to pour the top coat. I ran the ceiling mounted dust filter for 4 hours praying it would clear the shop from any airborne contaminates. It would have been so much easier to have a dedicated paint booth, but alas the shop is lacking that. I poured, spend 30 minutes examining at every angle to eliminate any dust motes that got trapped, put on a dust cover and prayed for the best.
Finally, with all the work of two months it was time to deliver. Big shout out to Johnny B, who took these pictures and helped me load it into my pickup for delivery.