Polyester Resin for Furniture Finishing.

The uses of polyester resin (resin) in the furniture industry or handicraft may be not as much as wood. But as engineering products, he offers some advantages over the wood and other natural substrates. The resin can be used in combination with wood and other natural substrates to make many special forms of handicraft and furniture products. In the finishing process, the polyester resin can be applied as a coating to build a film layer that provides protection to the finish (see our previous article: polyester resin in the wood finishing). Polyester resin as a coating layer can produce a very thick layer of film. Polyester resins can also be applied with the casting process to produce a very thick film coating or a 3-dimensional product. The 3-dimensional resin product can be used to make many small items, such as handicrafts, souvenirs, components, and some small items for furniture.

The use of polyester resin for furniture offers several advantages. The resin can be utilized with a casting process that is more stable and consistent. Resin can also be used as a film builder that provides a very thick finish that cannot be achieved with other coating materials. As the engineered material, resin is more controllable than the wood or other natural living substrate. 

Here is the utilization of the resin to make furniture.

• Resins to make components or ornamental items.

Resin can be utilized by casting processes to produce 3-dimensional form items. It can be used to replace the wood to make small components or ornamental items. With the proper setting, almost any form can be made. We can make items with complex form, such as mirror frames, components, or small stuff with resin. The use of resin can be used to replace the carving process with some advantages. The resin is an engineered product; it will be stable and consistent. The ornamental product made of resin will always have the same shape, size, and form. Resin as material is also very stable. He won’t be affected by the environmental condition of the wood product. There won't be any problem caused by the wood movement, such as warping, bending, or cracking the wood products. 

The resin can be mixed with pigments to produce certain colors according to the desired appearance. The resin is also can be finished with many finishing materials. Most of the finishing material that is used for wood finishing can be applied to the resin without any problem. The resin is able to be finished with any color and effect. 

 

resin for mirror frame

• Resin for panel.

This resin can be laid down and coated on the m.d.f., plywood or wood board  to make flat panel with special looked. The resin can be mixed with any other materials such as: pigment, stone, sand, coral, cement, etc. to produce special appearances.  The special looked flat panel such as: stone, marble, traso, onix, can be made with the proper mixing and casting. 

resin to make panel

• Resin to coat the mosaic.

The resin as coating material has many advantages. He is hard, strong and has high resistance to the scratches, heat, solvent and chemical. He is also available to make a very thick coating where the other coating cannot do.  We can use resin to make panel with the mosaic under the resin.  Some special material such as: shells, bones, pieces of wood can be arranged and glued at the mdf, plywood or wood board, then layered with resin to produce panel with special looked. With this technique we can make any mosaics panel to be used for top panel or side panel in the furniture products.

resin to make mosaic

Finishing for resin products.

 
The resin is catalyzed product; he is strong and wont dissolved with thinner or solvent. It can be finished with any finishing material. Any stain glaze or coating material such as: NC, PU, AC, water based material can be applied on without any problem. The resin coating also can be sanded, polished and rubbed to make any desired looked. Practically we can make any finish with resin.  But since resin is a engineered product he does not grain or pores as the wood, the resin finish mainly is the paint finish (solid color finish). For the ornament and components with complex form then we can apply the base coat with glaze and stain to make the wood looked finish.  Any special finishing technique such as: graining, hand pad, smudge pad. etc. can be applied to make the special looked. If the resin product is attached at the wood furniture then we can do finish resin at the same time with the wood finishing process.

The resin at the mosaic can be rubbed and polished to make high gloss finish looked. The resin panel with special looked as: marble, stone, or onyx also can be presented without any finish. But if necessary, we can apply some stain, or coating layer to make the color and gloss.