joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
Bc’z: I kinda like the patch. Look at it closely. It looks like a little ghost sticking his tongue at me.
Scasa:
I built 2 tables with it while in Texas. I brought back a hunk I might be able to get a couple blanks out of if I do hunter style stocks. Mesquite is interesting to work with, and fickle. Be careful of your equipment. Some boards will work nicely and others can be as hard as a rock. Literally!
When doing my first table, I bought some boards. I noticed they were heavy. A 9 ft. X13”X 2” weighed 100 pounds.
I tried to put one thru my table saw and ruined an $80 blade in the first 12 inches of the first cut. I ended up using a Skilsaw , a straight edge and 20 cheap carbide blades to make the cuts. I used a router instead of a jointer to finish the edges. I think that took 6 bits.
The boards for the second table were from a different tree and cut much easier.
I used a 2 to one slow cure epoxy that’s used for bar tops and river tables. On my first test filling cracks, I mixed turquoise dust in the epoxy and poured it in a crack. The next day, I found the turquoise dust had settled to the bottom of the crack, leaving the epoxy almost clear at the top. The problems of slow cure. My solution was to color a batch with the cheaper mica additives and fill the crack to 1/4” below the table surface and let it set. The second fill was thickened to “peanut butter” with turquoise dust and chips. If I had a bigger crack, I’d place larger chunks in the top coat. They require the use of a grinder with a diamond blade to cut them level with the top.
A couple tips:
Tyvec tape is unaffected by epoxy. Use it to seal the bottom of cracks and end grain. The epoxy will not dissolve the adhesive and leak.
You can make a thick turquoise paste to seal a crack, then tape over it, invert it, and finish filling from the other side.
I bought most of my turquoise from Amazon. Dust to large chunks I could break up with a hammer. Be careful of the fake cheap stuff! It’s dyed, not real! Blue on the outside, white on the inside.
Using West system 205-206 with blue turquoise dust will give you green filler.
Using the 2-1 “bar top stuff” gives you blue and doesn’t change the color but it takes 24 hours to cure.
I used regular Titebond and biscuits (double stacked) to join the boards.
The first table:
Scasa:
I built 2 tables with it while in Texas. I brought back a hunk I might be able to get a couple blanks out of if I do hunter style stocks. Mesquite is interesting to work with, and fickle. Be careful of your equipment. Some boards will work nicely and others can be as hard as a rock. Literally!
When doing my first table, I bought some boards. I noticed they were heavy. A 9 ft. X13”X 2” weighed 100 pounds.
I tried to put one thru my table saw and ruined an $80 blade in the first 12 inches of the first cut. I ended up using a Skilsaw , a straight edge and 20 cheap carbide blades to make the cuts. I used a router instead of a jointer to finish the edges. I think that took 6 bits.
The boards for the second table were from a different tree and cut much easier.
I used a 2 to one slow cure epoxy that’s used for bar tops and river tables. On my first test filling cracks, I mixed turquoise dust in the epoxy and poured it in a crack. The next day, I found the turquoise dust had settled to the bottom of the crack, leaving the epoxy almost clear at the top. The problems of slow cure. My solution was to color a batch with the cheaper mica additives and fill the crack to 1/4” below the table surface and let it set. The second fill was thickened to “peanut butter” with turquoise dust and chips. If I had a bigger crack, I’d place larger chunks in the top coat. They require the use of a grinder with a diamond blade to cut them level with the top.
A couple tips:
Tyvec tape is unaffected by epoxy. Use it to seal the bottom of cracks and end grain. The epoxy will not dissolve the adhesive and leak.
You can make a thick turquoise paste to seal a crack, then tape over it, invert it, and finish filling from the other side.
I bought most of my turquoise from Amazon. Dust to large chunks I could break up with a hammer. Be careful of the fake cheap stuff! It’s dyed, not real! Blue on the outside, white on the inside.
Using West system 205-206 with blue turquoise dust will give you green filler.
Using the 2-1 “bar top stuff” gives you blue and doesn’t change the color but it takes 24 hours to cure.
I used regular Titebond and biscuits (double stacked) to join the boards.
The first table:
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