Marc - On today's show we're gonna build something fun and simple
and it's all for charity,
these resin cast picture frames.
♫ Hit it
(jazzy music)
Welcome to the 2017 Woodworkers Fighting Cancer Drive.
This year we're gonna build something very simple.
I want as many people as possible to be able to build this.
It's a simple frame with a resin casting in the center.
So pretty cool project.
This one, lights up which is pretty awesome.
Since 2010 we have donated almost $100,000
to various cancer charities.
This year our coal is $15,000 and we are donating the funds
to, it's actually called the Jimmy Fund,
and they work with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
So if you wanna help out all you have to do
is build a simple frame with a casting in the center
and we donate money on your behalf.
And this year we're actually partnering
with the folks at the Giddy app.
It's a great social sharing platform
where you can actually share projects that you've made
and participate in contests and challenges
and they are matching donations as well this year.
So it's gonna be pretty cool.
So let me show you how to build the frame
and stick around till the end of the video
and I'll give you all of the details
on how you can help out with the charity.
You don't really need a lot of lumber for a frame
but I'm making five of them.
The pieces are all flattened on one face
and one edge at the jointer.
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I then trim them to rough length at the miter saw.
At the planer I'll bring the thickness
to around one inch.
The thicker the stalk the deeper the casting form
but if you make the frame too thick
it might look weird so 3/4 of an inch to one inch
is probably adequate.
At the table saw I trim some frames to two inches wide
and others to an inch and a half wide.
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For decorative effect I think it'll be pretty cool
to use a picture frame profile bit on one of the frames.
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On the backside we need to make an eighth inch
by quarter inch rabbit for the back panel.
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To cut the miters I'll set my miter gauge to 45 degrees.
The key to getting good results is to use a stop lock.
The final length of the pieces is totally up to you.
Since we're not putting pictures in these frames
we don't need to conform to any particular dimension.
(mellow instrumental music and mechanical whirring)
To glue the frames together I think it's worth it
to splurge on a good miter clamp like this one.
There's nothing worse than going through all this trouble
to make a frame only to mess it up during the glue up.
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While the frames are drying
I'll cut some eighth inch hard board to size
for the back panels.
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In spite of your best efforts,
you're bound to have at least one joint that isn't perfect.
This is one time where a good quality filler
is really the best option.
After sanding you'll never notice the gap.
Now the frames are sanded thoroughly.
Of course the more detailed profiles
tend to be a little bit more work.
Using a block plane I ease all of the sharp edges.
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My plan is to paint the hard board white
so I first sand the shiny side
just to roughen it up a little bit
and that should help the paint bind better.
I'll use some white spray lacquer.
Two coats should do the trick.
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For the frames I'll pre-finish using clear satin lacquer,
three coats in total.
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The back panel is attached
using a bead of thick CA glue around the perimeter.
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So now for the fun part we're gonna use epoxy
to make a casting inside our frame.
Now I've got two different products
that we're gonna test out today.
A lot of different products on the market,
I don't know anything about them.
I use epoxy as an adhesive and maybe as small gap filler.
So this is new territory for me.
I talked to Peter Brown, he's a popular YouTuber
who does a lot of epoxy casting
and he recommended this Envirotex Lite product.
Later, someone else on Instagram recommended this Ecopoxy
which is a little bit more environmentally friendly
and a little bit less toxic.
Speaking of toxicity, we should talk about safety.
After all, this is a Woodworkers Fighting Cancer video
and some of the components in here are not only toxic
but they could be carcinogenic, right?
And that's something we want to avoid.
So like anything we do in this shop
I've got quite a few nasty things
in my finishing cabinet there and I always protect myself.
So that means you want to protect your lungs.
I wear a respirator with organic filter cartridges in them.
I also have a nice fresh breeze blowing through the shop.
I have a window open on both sides and a fan
and of course I protect my eyes with goggles.
And this way you just don't have any contact
with the material, you'll be fine.
Keep in mind if you have children working on this project
you probably don't want them to mess with the epoxy, right?
And ultimately if you don't want to touch the epoxy
then you can do this without it.
If you wanna just make a frame and do some hot glue things
that you could put inside there, that's perfectly fine too.
I don't wanna force people to use a product
they're not comfortable with.
But protect yourself and you'll be fine, alright?
Let's do some pours.
For my first pour I'm gonna use
some of my son's favorite Mario Brothers characters.
Some of them stick out too far and don't sit flat
against the back so I'll give them a little bit of a sanding
and that should make them more stable.
The Envirotex Lite is mixed one part resin,
one part hardener following the manufacturer's instructions.
Ya heave to stir this stuff really well,
a good three minutes before you can even pour.
Notice that I'm making a very small amount
on the first pour.
Because many things will float in epoxy
the first coat is only there to firmly attach the characters
to the backer board.
And now I wait about 15 minutes.
At this point most of the bubbles
should have risen to the surface.
The manufacturer says you can simply exhale
over the bubbles, but as I said,
I have no desire to breathe this stuff in
so I'll rely on my heat gun.
You can also use a propane torch if you're really careful
and worst case scenario a barbecue lighter.
After an overnight cure, here's what we have.
Honestly, I love the way this looks
so I don't think I'm gonna do a second pour on this one.
Now let's do a holiday frame.
For this one I'm gonna try embedding some lights
into the resin.
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Now using CA glue I'll attach the lights to the back panel
around the perimeter of the frame.
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With a bunch of little holiday thingies placed in the middle
I'll pour the first layer of epoxy.
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the next day I'll do the second pour.
This time I'll mostly cover the decorations
but I'll also drop in some more things,
giving it a little bit more depth.
For this one it's okay that they float.
We'll do one more pour after this one cures.
(peaceful instrumental music)
And that is look'n pretty festive.
When I posted a few pictures of this process online,
several people made reference to Han Solo,
so I just couldn't resist.
Adding some black metallic powder as an additive
I create liquid carbonite.
(peaceful instrumental music)
Don't worry, he should be quite well protected,
if he survived the freezing process that is.
(peaceful instrumental music)
Now I'll try a couple of Ecopoxy pours.
As you'll see, these don't go that well
because I had a lot of trapped bubbles.
Talking with the folks at Worth Doing Well,
the thickness of the resin is the culprit.
When it's super thick like this
the bubbles can't find their way out
so the recommendation was to slightly warm the resin first
before adding the hardener.
Every product has its learning curve.
For these two pours I'll do one seascape
and another holiday version.
And the first layer wasn't bad at all
but the second layer was the one that had tons of bubbles
and you could see the haziness below the surface.
User error, next time I'll do better.
So first of all go to WoodworkersFightingCancer.com
and all of these details will be there
in case you don't catch them all right here.
Now you have until October 31st
to build and submit your frame, right?
So if you do submit a picture we will donate $1
on your behalf to the charity.
You can upgrade that to $5 by making a YouTube video
showing your build process and what you made
and talking about the charity
and why this means something to you.
And then you can actually get an extra $2
by posting to the Giddy app.
If you put a picture or better yet a little video there
they will donate $2 on your behalf.
So all you have to do is build a frame
and submit the pictures and videos
and you can have as much as $7 donated on your behalf
to the Jimmy Fund.
Now one of the most successful parts
of our charity drive each year is the auction.
So we have lots of great tools and products
that you could bid on
and your bid will go directly to the charity,
which is pretty cool.
And if you don't wanna build
and you don't wanna participate in the auctions
you can always donate directly.
Now this year's project is so simple in concept
that there is no plan for it, just build a frame
and put the resin casting in the middle.
Get creative with your scenery and it should do just fine.
But if you want to get even more into picture frame building
we actually just released a new series in the Guild
totally for free.
So just go to the WoodWhipsererGuild.com,
look for picture frames,
and there are five unique frame designs there
that you could use for inspiration for this project
or any other project.
So definitely go check that out,
you don't have to do anything fancy
but if you want to the sky's the limit.
So thanks to everyone who builds along with us,
thanks to the folks at the Giddy app,
and thanks to our sponsors
and we hope you'll build along with us this year.
(jazzy music)