Natural Edge Walnut Bar Top

[Richard Wolgemuth]

Looking for some advice on a pour-on epoxy. I was commissioned by a friend to put together a natural edge bar top for his new brewery/restaurant. I have not worked with epoxy before and would appreciate some input on what products work best. Here are my concerns: he has several large windows and so the bar top will be exposed to more natural sunlight than most and so obviously UV is a consideration. I know we have to deal with run off over the edges and so any advice in that department would be appreciated (are there products that handle this better than others???). Since we are using black walnut, I was planing on a coat or two of BLO followed by a seal coat of shellac and then the epoxy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Wayne Lomman]

Richard, I would not use other products under the epoxy. You will only weaken the bond between the wood and the finish. The pour on epoxies are very high in solids and designed to flow and fill the grain. As a general rule with coatings, it is a bad idea to put a weaker coating under a stronger coating. UV causes epoxies to go chalky if left untouched. Chalking is unsightly but does not affect the integrity of the coating. Being a bar top it should get plenty of use and will therefore remain glossy. I can't advise a specific product - the range available in Australia is different. Good luck. I have worked with epoxies for 20 years now on everything from teak yacht fittings to painting the largest bridges and still enjoy using them. Cheers.

[Richard Wolgemuth]

Wayne thanks for your input. I will be skipping the oil.

[Steve Schoene]

Epoxy is not good in uv light. And if or when it deteriorates almost impossible to repair I would use multiple coats of a good varnish.
It will look better longer and be repairable if damage occurs. You could use a single coat of a low viscosity epoxy as a sealer but that would need protecting by multiple coats of varnish.