Plywood Art Project - Sealing with Epoxy?

[GregGleason]

I am making an art piece that will be in a high humidity environment. The piece is made from ½” Baltic birch plywood and is roughly 3.5 feet by 4.5 feet in width and height, respectively. The wood needs to be sealed and possibly stained. I’m thinking one of sealing it with laminating epoxy. Are two coats sufficient to seal the wood, or should I plan on more? Are there other things that I should consider for sealing the wood?

Greg

 

[dr wogz]

Varithane or varnish (Valspar)? The type they use on wooden boats..

What about a 'deck sealer'?

just tossing out a few other ideas. Personally, I have no opinion, but have done an outdoor restaurant sign with Valspar's "outdoor sealer"

 

[hornet driver]

Before you seal it, stain it. Beyond that, you can use a good over the counter urethane sealer on top. Personally, I'm not fond of the water based sealers or stains. If it were me I'd stay away from them.

 

[chrisudy]

Varithane or varnish (Valspar)? The type they use on wooden boats..

What about a 'deck sealer'?

just tossing out a few other ideas. Personally, I have no opinion, but have done an outdoor restaurant sign with Valspar's "outdoor sealer"

I've used Minwax Spar Urethane successfully on outdoor wood things (Swing sets)

Chris

 

[SaturnV]

[video=youtube;h-jWHHDb5qc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-jWHHDb5qc[/video]
Something like that?

 

[boatgeek]

One coat would seal, but probably wouldn't be the kind of surface finish you want. A second coat with a light sanding in between will do nicely. If it is going to be outside or otherwise exposed to UV light, epoxy needs a UV protective coating as well or it will turn yellow and opaque (aka frozen snot). At that rate, it may be easier just to use the urethane.

 

[Peartree]

I've used Minwax Spar Urethane successfully on outdoor wood things (Swing sets)

Chris

This.

My wife used to work at a camp on the shores of Lake Huron. They used this to waterproof anything wood on their boats. The rule of thumb was, two coats for anything near the water and three for things like centerboards and rudders that went under the water. I used three coats when I built my aquarium stand (that is damp and humid almost constantly and wet fairly often) and I haven't ever had a problem with the finish in ten years of constant use. As someone else noted, make sure that the kind you get is UV resistant.

 

[GregGleason]

I've used Minwax Spar Urethane successfully on outdoor wood things (Swing sets)

Chris

This.

My wife used to work at a camp on the shores of Lake Huron. They used this to waterproof anything wood on their boats. The rule of thumb was, two coats for anything near the water and three for things like centerboards and rudders that went under the water. I used three coats when I built my aquarium stand (that is damp and humid almost constantly and wet fairly often) and I haven't ever had a problem with the finish in ten years of constant use. As someone else noted, make sure that the kind you get is UV resistant.

View attachment 300529

Thanks for those suggestions. The information about UV is particularly helpful.

Greg

 

[Rob702Martinez]

For sealing wood I use aeromarine 300/21 epoxy. sand your wood, put a heavy coat all over, lightly let it sit for an hour(pot life 2 hours), either wipe off with steel wool, or scrape with a hotel key card. Let it dry, Sand and Repeat.

Built RC racing boats for a long time using wood. Best method for that anyways.