Creating a
perfect plane for your Table Top
The poured Epoxy Surface Plate can be used
to create a perfect table top surface to satisfy a variety of
applications. Our epoxies are used to make an existing table top surface
perfect and can be poured over aluminum, steel, wood, plywood or any other
surface. Generally the epoxy is poured to a depth of ¼ inch at a time and as
many pours can be made as needed to correct imperfections in the original
surface or to create the surface finish desired. No one
can match the experience of Rock Art and Precision Epoxy for perfectly flat and
level floors, surface plates, test beds, table tops, jig tables, linear rail mounting
surfaces and so on.
The pictured project is an
8' x 17' aluminum structure used by IMSA for the American LeMans Series. The
portable unit is taken to each series event and set up to roll the cars across
as apart of the inspection area at the track. When this inspection table
developed sagging
areas, the Precision Epoxy application was chosen to
correct the top because of it's accuracy, durability, ease of application and was
more cost effective than any other option.
Application Techniques
The surface is
cleaned and profiled. Cleaning would be the removal of oil, grease,
silicone, wax or any other contamination that might inhibit proper bonding. Profiling
would be sanding with a course grit paper leaving a rough surface for the epoxy
to encapsulate. This project is now ready for its
planned 3/16 inch pour of FP-85 Floor Plate Epoxy. Porous surfaces, such as
wood, should receive a painted on epoxy primer as apart of surface preparation
before pouring. This will seal the surface and eliminate the creating of air
bubbles in the epoxy pour.
The outer perimeter is now fitted with a
waterproof retaining lip or wall to contain the epoxy pour. The retaining lip
can be temporary and removed after epoxy has cured or permanent and stay in
place as apart of the completed table. This project has a temporary lip
installed higher than the intended epoxy pour depth. The lip is created by cleaning
the vertical side edge and running 2 strips of duct tape around the perimeter in
a detailed fashion.
The retaining lip will not have to support any weight to speak of; only stop the
flow of epoxy. Other materials that can be used for temporary retaining lips are
wood strips, styrofoam, plastic strips, metal flat stock, etc. The material of
choice will need to be made 'water tight' and may also need a mold release agent
such as Pam cooking spray or Vaseline applied to keep the epoxy from bonding and making removal difficult.
When using a permanent retaining lip, it also must be 'water
tight'. The material used has to be ground down to be flush with final epoxy
surface or mounted perfectly level and at exactly the right depth in order for
the epoxy pour to fill flush.
This project also had access holes in the
surface that needed to be retained in the epoxy overlay. The access holes were
of various sizes and simply filled with rubber plugs of the appropriate size to
retain. Bolts or treaded rods can also be within the epoxy pour; with an applied
mold release coating, a bolt can then be wrenched out of the cured epoxy leaving
a treaded hole.
The Precision Epoxy product chosen for
your application is then measured to the amount needed at the proper mix ratio,
stirred and poured into the prepared surface area. Large projects will require
multiple batches to complete. Coverage for a 3/16 inch pour is 8.5 sq ft per
gallon and for a ¼ inch pour is 6.4 sq ft per gallon. A 3/16 inch pour is the minimum
thickness that should be poured at a time in larger projects to allow for proper
flow and leveling characteristics. A ¼ inch pour should be the minimum
structural thickness considered for table tops being used in abusive or
aggressive environments. Pours made deeper than ¼ inch at a time may result in
distorted surface imperfections due to exotherming heat. This would not be
desirable for the final poured surface.
The epoxy pour is allowed to cure as needed to reach handling strength,
generally over night at room temperature. Cooler application environments may
need additional curing times depending on the Precision Epoxy product selected.
Additional pours are made as needed until surface reaches desired results.
The retaining lip material is removed and
any detail work that may be needed is performed. The epoxy pour will have a rolled
meniscus lip at the retaining wall. If the retaining wall is higher than the
poured epoxy there will be a rolled up lip. If the retaining wall is lower than
the pour, the epoxy will roll down to the wall top. If the retaining wall is too
low, the epoxy will flow over and have a siphon effect. All table top projects
are not the same and different application techniques may need to be employed to
achieve the desired results.
The completed FP-85 Epoxy
pour is allowed to cure and was sanded to remove raised lip at the retaining
wall and the access hole plugs. Then the engineers at Panoz Motor Sports Group
installed a 3/16 inch aluminum top plate to complete the portable inspection
table restoration project and have it ready for the 2011 season.
Contact Precision Epoxy to discuss your particular
project's application technique
and for choosing the proper epoxy formulation.
See Laminating
and Casting Systems Technical Bulletin for additional information.
