Filler to limit amount of resin required

Author	Message
Darcy.marie	D Darcy.marie posted 4 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
D Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 21	Hi there. I have a length of tree trunk split in half, length wise, and hollowed out. It’s deeper in the middle and I’d like to fill a portion of it with something, then place some rocks on top of that to hide the “filler” then resin fill it level. If I used some sort of filler I could drastically reduce the amount of resin that I’d need, which would make the project simpler and far less expensive. Any ideas on what I could use for a filler that wouldn’t interact badly with the resin that it does come in contact with seeping through the rocks? I don’t want to use concrete or anything as I’d prefer it to be lightweight. I’d thought of that spray foam insulation but I’m afraid that it would react poorly with the heat generated by the resin. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Darcy.marie	D Darcy.marie posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
D Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 21	+x Darcy.marie - 5/9/2020 7:08:53 PM Hi there. I have a length of tree trunk split in half, length wise, and hollowed out. It’s deeper in the middle and I’d like to fill a portion of it with something, then place some rocks on top of that to hide the “filler” then resin fill it level. If I used some sort of filler I could drastically reduce the amount of resin that I’d need, which would make the project simpler and far less expensive.Any ideas on what I could use for a filler that wouldn’t interact badly with the resin that it does come in contact with seeping through the rocks? I don’t want to use concrete or anything as I’d prefer it to be lightweight. I’d thought of that spray foam insulation but I’m afraid that it would react poorly with the heat generated by the resin.Thanks for your thoughts! What about heat resistant silicone? I'd need probably 4 or 5 tubes of it in order to fill as much as I'd like to, but that would still cost far less than the equivalent amount of resin. And would greatly simplify the project I would think, as I would not need to pour resin nearly as deep as I would otherwise.
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Darcy.marie	D Darcy.marie posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
D Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 21	+x Darcy.marie - 5/9/2020 10:42:16 PM +x Darcy.marie - 5/9/2020 7:08:53 PM Hi there. I have a length of tree trunk split in half, length wise, and hollowed out. It’s deeper in the middle and I’d like to fill a portion of it with something, then place some rocks on top of that to hide the “filler” then resin fill it level. If I used some sort of filler I could drastically reduce the amount of resin that I’d need, which would make the project simpler and far less expensive.Any ideas on what I could use for a filler that wouldn’t interact badly with the resin that it does come in contact with seeping through the rocks? I don’t want to use concrete or anything as I’d prefer it to be lightweight. I’d thought of that spray foam insulation but I’m afraid that it would react poorly with the heat generated by the resin.Thanks for your thoughts! What about heat resistant silicone? I'd need probably 4 or 5 tubes of it in order to fill as much as I'd like to, but that would still cost far less than the equivalent amount of resin. And would greatly simplify the project I would think, as I would not need to pour resin nearly as deep as I would otherwise. Or, what about heat resistant, fire proof spray foam insulation? I had originally considered spray foam insulation, but then dropped the idea as I figured it might not do well with the heat generated by the resin pour, but then I discovered that you can get fire proof type spray foam. Thanks again in advance for your thoughts!
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Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 7.9K	Some kind of foam is your best bet. As long as its inert once cured, it is unlikely to cause issues. The epoxy may get 60-70C during cure so any reasonable heat resistance should be fine with the foam. I would probably do a small test to be sure it won't react. A good method once happy is to fill with foam, the brush on a sealing coat of resin to seal it up before doing a main pour. Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
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Darcy.marie	D Darcy.marie posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
D Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 21	Thanks for your thoughts Warren. Much appreciated.
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