Has anyone tried using Penetrating Epoxy as a finish

[Omer Klee]

I just finished turning a bowl from a piece of Very spalted Beech. It was quit a challenge, some areas are punky and others fairly solid.
I'm trying to decide on a finish that will add to the strength of the bowl as well as the looks.
Has anyone tried MAS Epoxies Penetrating Epoxy Wood Stabilizer Sealer for Rot Repair and Restoration? If so what was your method?

 

[JeffSmith]

I’ve used marine epoxy as a finish for a couple of outdoor projects where Water was present…if used as a finish, epoxy does a great job of penetrating and bonding with the wood fibers and making the piece waterproof. Where it gets dicey, is that epoxy is susceptible to degradation from UV sources, so must be top coated with a finish that blocks UV - like marine varnish or any other finish that blocks UV. Outdoors, UV (sun exposure) will tun the epoxy a chalky white if exposed long enough. Then the only option is to sand it off and start again. Indoors, the effect takes a lot longer, but can be caused by light sources that put out UV - like flourescent tubes.
I don’t have experience with the product you mentioned, but other epoxy based rot products are thinned down epoxy that does a good job of penetrating deeply into punky, rotted wood and solidifying it. Most are supposed to be over coated with paint or a topcoat.

 

[John Walls]

I use Minwax Wood Hardener, works great. Don't think I'd eat/drink off piece it's used on though. Use in well ventilated area. I just picked up a couple more cans of it and noticed it has shot up from 12 to 20 so getting pricey. I'm going to try some Cactus Juice soon but waiting for it to warm up a bit, don't want to run my salvaged smoker in the shop.

 

[DON FRANK]

I have penetrating epoxy from Total boat. Generally it's just a thinner version of epoxy. Works great for sealing up the pores in punky wood like spaulted hackberry or sycamore. I have used it to seal and fill and then used an oil based finish over the top. I have not tried to use it as the final finish although I'd guess it would work fine.

 

[Dan Stevenson]

I’ve just tried the Mas on a very large, nearly expired piece of spalted sycamore with success. 3 soaking coats stabilized enough of the wood in & out to allow final cutting & hollowing. Each takes a few days to fully dry. The piece is now being finished with high gloss epoxy as I write this.

 

[Erik Christensen]

I use epoxy as a final finish on almost all of my bowls - I use generic slow set epoxy (50 min pot life @ 70 deg) - have a number sitting in sunny windows for years and no noticeable finish degradation - I made a device that rotates ~ 6 prm with a 1 1/4 spindle to mount a chuck to hold the bowl while the resin cures...

 

[hockenbery]

Our local epoxy guru has a nice video of his process

View: https://youtu.be/GI1oo0zwP7I