Thread: How to epoxy vanity top and make it 38mm thick?

As far as I'm aware you don't necessarily need to use epoxy, in fact I'm fairly certain a few coats of poly would be sufficient. You just have to be careful with water seeping through at the splashback. If that's siliconed up well enough, I'm not seeing any problems. Also you just may want to get into the habit of ensuring that there's no standing water left on the surface for prolonged periods of time.

The height of the top should be able to be compensated for by shimming all the way around the top of the cabinet. Assuming you're going to go oversize, like the original, it'll never be seen. Obviously waterproofing will be important here too.

If you sand the end grain out to about 400-600, it looks cool.

Try and stay away from figure 8 clips and use Z-table clips instead.

"Do I just give the whole idea away and get a cabinet maker to replace it with another melamine top, like a normal person? " Nah, you can do it DaveVman.

Bookmatched edges to thicken it?

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if you want to get full 38mm timber top but are ok with glue and grain lines (you're likely going to have to join boards anyway, given the shape) then you could always rip the timber down at 40+mm wide and glue them so the finished top is thicker. And while thinking about this, the shape really will be tricky, given the bowl placement, so you better think where you're going to run joins here and make sure you don't build weaknesses into it through placement of joins (knowing how you always say you over-think things, you've probably got this already done )

But most "thick look" counter tops are only thick on the edges, most laminate something onto the edge to give the appearance of depth. Your challenge is somewhat different since you need to have the top face at a certain height - that's probably pretty easy just to shim up with timber, and then find a nice way to add the edge depth - to me, even laminated edge with CL would be wicked.

Say hi to Tito

Thank you so much for your vote of confidence.
It's a bathroom vanity so there will inevitably be water left on it, one way or another. But there is also the steamy environment to consider. I suppose I could put many coats of poly on all sides of it. I guess I was wondering if there is a brush/roller on epoxy that would give me a set and forget finish. Obviously epoxy will kill the nice camphor smell but camphor is what I have in sufficient quantity. I'm happy to have the glossy resin look. It's a bathroom with floor to ceiling tiles after all.

You are right. I really just need to shim up the top of the cabinet. The leading corner as you walk in will be visible but I could use some QLD walnut {Endiandra palmerstonii?} strips to provide a contrast and give the top a bit of a floating look to it. I also have some karri that I have have already dressed as another option. Excellent and simple solution. Thank you very much.
What do I use to screw this shim material into the end of the melamine cabinet body?

How would I fit Z-table clips in the existing melamine walls? Is that done with a trim router and a special shallow slot cutting bit? I do have a trim router. This would be the first time I'd be using it an anger. What could possibly go wrong?

At this stage it's not easy to say how to progress without some more photos of what's exactly is happening under the existing top.

Hey poundy that is another great suggestion!
I was going to join just a few boards longways. You can see in the picture that there is a longer side to the shape. I already had the preferred grain sequence worked out. I don't know but I assumed that once the glue was fully set then a massive hole in the middle was not going to matter. Nothing very heavy goes on it. Is that a false assumption?
I could screw thin karri battens under it on either side of the sink for good measure. No one would see those. Yeah. I like that idea.

I guess I could do it your way with strips but in my mind it just wont look as nice, with so many joins on the top and the edges. But that would be a much easier way to get the thickness and I could dress the timber easily if they were a series of strips like that.

I want to recreate that curvy edge you see in the existing top. A camphor veneer you say? Hmmm. Not sure my skills are up to the task. You mean I cut a 3mm thick camphor laurel strip and somehow steam it enough to be able to glue it onto that shape? Sheesh! That would be like real wooodworking!! I'll think about it, but management gives me a hard time about how long I take to do projects and so it might not be wise to make it any more complicated.

Tito says Hi. Well he does say Hi to you. To me he is saying get off the computer and take me for a walk already.

Originally Posted by Feckit

At this stage it's not easy to say how to progress without some more photos of what's exactly is happening under the existing top.

It is a melamine cabinet.
Here are some pictures of it:
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20200429_162459.jpg

20200429_162503.jpg

20200429_162519.jpg

oh I just thought any "wavy" lines were just fish-eye distortion trying to get a photo of the small room

Time to draw a rough top-down dimension so we can really see how things change.

Now I don't know about you, but for me I'd be looking to make sure that there's a decent amount of strength in the timber. 25+mm isn't bad, and a well glued join along a decent length won't be a problem if edge-to-edge join, but if you looked on the underside of the existing top you might find reinforcing strips, something that can be used in your new build if needed. To me the risk is that, depending on how you had intended to join the timber (long grain to edge, with a right-angle turn, end-grain to end-grain with a 45* angled turn in grain direction, or long grain to long grain with much shorter timber lengths on the "return" portion, but with more end grain visible), where you cut the sink cutout can significantly change the areas that are stressed by "normal" activity. Someone leaning on the counter to see detail in the mirror, someone short standing on the edge to reach the top of the cabinet, or someone getting to know someone better. You know, all the usual things that can happen....

When I was talking about laminating I was talking about a second slab of timber creating the edge (although only a small strip, maybe 50mm wide, to add that depth illusion).

This talk reminded me of one of your YT brethren, Stumpy Nubs, who did this series on counter tops. Worth watching for the mitre joint hardware in Ep2, not that I'm suggesting you use them but it might be an option.

DaveVman

One thing you'll have to look out for with the Z-Clips is make sure you reinforce the melamine where you place the clips. See below.

Capture.PNG

Generally speaking the slot the I cut for z-clips is no less than 12mm from the underside of the top. Any less than that and the clip won't work well, if at all. I do this with a biscuit cutter.

As you can see, at 12mm you'll only have 3mm of melamine. If you were to screw the clip to the underside of the new top without reinforcing this point I'd expect the melamine to collapse.