Revealing My Best-selling Laser Engraved Cutting Boards: Epoxy Resin Turtle Inlay! #laserengraving

do you want to up your game on your laser projects and get upwards of three or four times the money while increasing your quality and value this video can help you with that we're going to show you how to do a resin inlay on a hardwood cutting board with a beautiful translucent ocean pore when your customers tell you that they could never use such a beautiful board just show them the expertly finished back which is left blank for cutting and by using a bpa-free epoxy that makes it safe for serving food on the front if you find this video helpful please be sure to give us a thumbs up and subscribe leave any questions and comments below taking the time to properly prep your wood is key to every successful woodworking project unlike bamboo which is a grass hardwood has grains and is very porous we need to seal the wood very well to prevent any resin bleeding if the grains aren't sealed the resin will seep into them which will then ruin your design my go-to wood sealer is Shellac it does a great job getting into the grains and dries very quickly it's non-toxic once fully cured but I still like keeping it away from any surface food will be contacting with no brush or spray a liberal amount of sealer to this side you will be Engraving let this dry for a few hours or better yet overnight next you want to do a deep engrave to achieve this you want to use a slow speed and high power every laser is different I have an epilogue mini 50 watt I typically do about 35 to 40 speed with 100 power you will have to make multiple passes to the desired 1 16 to 1 8 inch depth then refocus and do one last pass at a high speed and medium power this helps remove some of the burn from inside the Engraving wipe all around your engraving with isopropyl alcohol this will remove the burn residue from the surface once clean and dry we sand somewhat smooth with 180 to 220 grit sandpaper then use an air compressor to remove the dust from the Engraving if you don't have one I'll show you an easy trick later in the video back to our finishing booth add a thin layer of your sealer to the whole surface but don't let it flow over the edge you can add masking tape again if you want then concentrate your sealer inside the Engraving a small foam brush works great you can really press it into the small areas especially the sides where the color bleeding will occur if not sealed let this dry for 24 hours our wood should be well sealed and dried now we want a smooth surface for the resin to flow so you want to sand the surface and the sides of the cutting board don't sand inside the Engraving take your time and feel for any rough areas resin flows better on smooth surfaces as you sand dust will collect inside the Engraving this needs to be perfectly clean you can use your air compressor or try this simple trick I have some extra metal straws from tumblers I engraved this works great quick and easy it's very important not to get resin on the back of your board first you don't want people cutting on resin this could possibly leave little bits of resin in their food second the resin will penetrate into the wood and can stain it we're going to be adding a food safe finish at the end which will really help protect the wood we're going for a high quality and high value product here to avoid this we're going to be using a good quality painters tape I use the two inch wide Scots sharp line masking tape run your tape along the edges then cut off any excess a utility knife works best around the routered and rounded edges once it's cut to shape really press down on all the edges to seal well you will need to add a plastic risers to all four corners I just use the lids to my favorite iced coffee they work perfect my table is not perfectly level so I'm going to add some extra tape where I need to raise an edge up use a bubble level to check the surface time to start the inlay these Turtles are pretty easy I'm going to start with a small amount of colored and mixed resin if this is your first time using epoxy resin check out the links in the description below to get you going resin is self-leveling but we'll need to help it out a little bit just use a toothpick to gently guide the resin into the detailed areas if your design is more complicated you may have to let some of the resin spread out on the wood surface and then sand it smooth later for this design though we're not going to overfill or get any of the inlay resin on the non-engraved surface this just makes the project that much easier we will be doing an ocean pour then a clear coat on the top which fills in any of the gaps the sealer has done its job and we have a nice clean crisp inlay with no bleeding also by sealing the wood it will prevent air from releasing from the grains into the resin cover to prevent dust and let it dry overnight these look great we now want to prep for the ocean poor by sanding the surface smooth if any resin is above the engraving we want to sand this flat with the surface you can also sand off your finish from the surface as well the grains inside the wood are well sealed at this point clean the dust off with your air compressor a can of compressed air or your straw it's very important to have a clean surface before pouring use a clean rag with alcohol to thoroughly clean the surface you don't want dust floating around in your resin for the first layer I have resin mixed with a few drops of acrylic ink which will give a translucent effect I have a dark blue and a light blue as well as some clear and white pigment paste this is the first of two colored layers start by pouring the dark on one end make sure it flows over the sides too I spread everything using a silicone spreading brush pour the lighter blue above be sure to scrape all of the resin from your mixing cup spread along the surface with an organic shaped Edge this thin translucent layer really lets you see the turtles and the wood grain beneath now add clear above the light blue as far up as you think your waves are rushing on what would be a Sandy Beach be sure to periodically pop the bubbles with a butane torch then I'm just going to spread the resin a little more to mix now pour a thin line of the white right up against the clear it needs to be touching the clear for the correct effect then maybe put a few thinner lines to add some water movement use your heat gun on high heat I like to give a quick pass over all the resin to heat it up so it will flow better now start at the clear and white Edge and gently blow the white over the clear resin constantly moving the heat gun this will produce a nice foamy wave edge do the same for each of the little white lines Now cover and let dry overnight we're going to repeat that entire process start by sanding the surface smooth pay particular attention to the edges and the sides the dripping Edge can leave some uneven areas wipe clean with a rag and alcohol be sure to clean your table area too where that dust could blow back onto your surface same resin colors and process these extra layers create really nice depth and colors look carefully and you can see the white waves beneath the translucent blue the turtles and grains are still visible this is the lighter color blue which indicates shallower water here I'm mixing the light and dark blue edges together so they're not straight lines this layer of clear is well below the first layer this will give us a really nice second wave now mix the light blue with the clear just where they meet thin layer of white along the clear top Edge just a few really small white lines in the blue we don't want to completely lose those Turtles now heat everything up and blow the white out add a small line of white along the water's edge to really Define that wave pop bubbles with a torch and inspect for dust then cover and let dry overnight repeat the sanding and cleaning you could do a third layer but I'm happy with this so I'll be adding a thick clear coat to the entire surface this will ensure that any Mica powder inks or anything you might have embedded is sealed and it will be safe for food contact full curing time for total Boat table top epoxy has about seven days foreign the clear coat well along the sides and edges once you're satisfied you're going to cover this and let it dry for 48 hours this is very important as many resins will be dry to the touch in 12 to 24 hours but still fairly soft and pliable if you touch or put anything on the surface of the clear coat you may ruin it you could still fix it up but it will add days to the project so just be patient now our board is dry and set and we're going to remove the masking tape and drips place a clean cloth rag on your table sometimes the tape and drips will just peel right off and other times they need a little help start by finding the exposed tape Edge I peel it back to the resin drips then lightly put it back in place to not be in the direct heat from the heat gun it is just paper and you'll be adding some brief but intense heat too so be careful not to overheat and burn it now on high heat and constantly moving back and forth use your heat gun to gently heat up the resin right at the bottom Edge as the resin heats up it's easily peeled away an important safety warning though you might want to wear work gloves as this does get very hot and you could possibly burn your hands if you're not careful I find doing short four to six inch section works best also this is where you might smell the most amount of fumes as you heat up the dry epoxy I suggest wearing a respirator rated for chemical fumes yeah once all the tape and drips are removed let this completely cool down I often have multiple cutting boards I'm working on at the same time so generally I wait about an hour before sanding time to smooth out the edges and any resin that may have leaked under the tape these edges are actually quite sharp here we want to be sure we round them over take your sander and keep working just the very edge and not the entire side seeing and feeling that side really adds quality and uniqueness to your board time to finish and season The Cutting side using a quality finishing system is key to the longevity of these boards so much so that I give a bottle of bumble shoot wood serum and all-in-one conditioner with each of these large cutting boards foreign that is all natural oils and waxes and not petroleum-based [Music] and here it is Turtles and seahorses are my biggest sellers this board combines a popular design with a beautiful ocean pour on a dual functioning chicory board use the wood side for cutting and the resin side for serving and has kitchen decor I hope you found this video helpful leave any questions and comments below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can don't forget to give us a thumbs up and share with a friend we'll see you next time foreign

Channel: Elephant Memories by JoBeMac Studios

Views: 33,027

Keywords: laser engraving, woodworking, cutting board, epoxy resin, laser cutting, laser cutter, charcuterie board, charcuterie board ideas, epoxy inlay, woodworking projects that sell, woodworking projects, laser engraver, laser engraving business, laser projects, laser engraving ideas, epoxy cutting boards, laser cutting machines, laser projects to make money, laser projects to sell, turtle inlay, diy, diy resin, totalboat, eye candy pigments, jobemac studios, elephant memories

Id: e5k2VkpDh8I

Length: 23min 32sec (1412 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 21 2023