RR epoxy.....increasing the penetrating properties on wood?

General Discussion
1

Here’s one for the wood folks:

I did a test board of western red cedar painted with resin research epoxy on a 70 degree day to see how far into the wood it would penetrate. It set with a really nice surface, but when I cut the plank in half saw that the epoxy had barely soaked into the wood again. Since then, I searched the archives, and found some great tips on an old teak thread. This comment from Greg Loehr was especially helpfull:

"We’ve sold lot’s of resin for teak finishing in FL. With epoxy you shouldn’t have bonding problems. Here is an excerpt from our technical manuel. WOOD CAN BE ONE OF THE TRICKIEST SURFACES TO COAT. LIKE FOAM IT IS POROUS AND GOOD PENETRATION IS IMPORTANT. ALSO A LOW MOISTURE CONTENT IN THE WOOD IS ESSENTIAL. 1. PRIOR TO SANDING CLEAN ALL SURFACES WITH SOLVENT SUCH AS DUPONT PREP-SOL 3919S, ACETONE OR DENATURED ALCOHOL. MAKE SURE ANY OLD FINISH IS COMPLETELY REMOVED. THE SURFACE MUST BE CLEAN AND SMOOTH, FREE OF OIL, WAX, GREASE, AND MOLD RELEASE. 2. SAND SURFACE THOROUGHLY USING 80 GRIT FOR THE FINISH SANDING. WE HAVE FOUND 80 GRIT TO BE THE BEST SURFACE FOR THE EPOXY TO ”KEY” INTO. 3. AFTER SANDING, REMOVE ALL DUST AND ANY OTHER LOOSE MATERIAL. THIS MAY BE DONE WITH AN AIR COMPRESSOR FOLLOWED BY A TACK CLOTH. 4. BEFORE COATING ALL SURFACES MUST BE DRY AND FREE OF MOISTURE AND/OR SOLVENTS. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THESE ARE THOROUGHLY DRIED FROM THE SURFACE AND NOT TRAPPED IN THE WOOD TO CAUSE PROBLEMS DOWN THE ROAD. "

I’d like to get it to penetrate a bit more, like at least 1mm deep. Aside from the above tips, any thoughts on a suitable solvent to thin the epoxy down with for a primary penetrating coat?

Thanks.

Pat

2

Why do you need it to penetrate so much? I wouild think the epoxy foam bond is much more likely to fail than the wood epoxy bond.

3

The epoxy wood bond is great. I actually tried breaking apart two planks that I glued up with rr epoxy and they wouldn’t break at the seam, but everywhere else. My only thinking was that in order to have the wood fibers act like the woven strands in fiberglass, it would be good to have some depth. Am I way off on this?

Pat