You may have trouble in working with resin as a resin novice and your resin piece just ends up with any imperfections on the surface like bubbles gaps, uneven or matte finish. Now you're ready to finish it off with a top coat of epoxy. We'll walk you through how to pour and coat resin on the surface in this tutorial.
How to Pour and Coat Epoxy Resin
Some resin artists will sand their pieces down before they top coat and this is to ensure that the top coat adheres to the resin. Actually it's optional, just do what you find is best for you. Read our tutorial guide for sanding epoxy resin. (Anything I can do to get out of sanding, I will do it lol.)
1. Pour the resin
Gauge how much resin is needed and then start with the center of the piece.
If your resin finish piece got the natural lip when you don't fill a mold completely to the top, it always comes out where the resin sinks down a bit. So you don't need to worry too much when top coat these as long as you go slowly.
2. Spread the resin and deal with the edge
- Doming coating
You would better use a spreader or mixing stick to slowly spread the resin to the edge and you will find the resin completely met the edge and is not going to budge. If you pour too quickly, it's just going to fly straight off and creates a channel for the resin to run off. If the resin is too thick to spread easily, you can thin it out with a solvent according to the manufacturer's instructions.
💡Tips: Make sure that you've poured enough because too much or too little resin may cause the resin to come back to the center.
- Flood coating
Flood coating is a easy way that you just pour the resin on the piece and let it drip over the side. Remember to put something size smaller than the piece underneath to cut off the channel that may form the new edge.
Try to run your fingers with gloves around the edge to make sure that those edges are coated in the resin. (I'm just running out of my gloves...so just use the mixing stick instead.)
💡Tips: You can also try to put tape underneath or liquid latex to catch drips if you don't hate doing this. Once the resin has cured, the tape would get easily peeled along with the dried drips.
3. Use a torch
After you've finished the coating and spreading job, you'll find that bubbles appear and pop out after a while. Try to use a torch or heat gun to level the epoxy and remove the bubbles on the surface.
You'll achieve a glossy epoxy coat finish once the seal has cured. You can continue to apply another layer of resin if you've made some mistakes during the process.
FAQ
How thick can you pour epoxy resin?
We recommend pouring at an 1/8" to help minimize bubbles. When you pour thicker than this, bubbles don't have time to escape to the top to be torched out, so you may end up with bubbles in your cured resin. If you'd like to achieve a thicker coat, you can pour multiple 1/8'' layers every few hours.
Can resin still be applied to the textured piece?
Yes, for sure you can still apply the resin to a textured piece. It's also important to use a top coat specifically designed for use with resin, as regular paint or varnish may not adhere properly.