[Jay]

Greetings,

I am in the middle of creating a production process to make wood coasters with photographs, coated in clear resin.

As a photographer at heart, my first inclination was to choose archival quality ingredients and UV protection. I’ve switched from a few different resins, with varying degrees of success.

I was coating my images with a Krylon matte UV coating, and using 3M Super 77 as the glue to the 4″x4″ wood coasters.

I’ve had some bad luck in 2 places. The worst being the photos coming unglued when the resin is added and curling up. This is bad because no amount of sanding or coats are going to help.

The 2nd is that at certain parts of specific images, across multiple coasters, the resin seems to soak in more than other places. This is concerning because it tends to happen at the same part of the image. This leaves me with an indent, which requires another coat 5 hours later, or sanding for a 2nd coat.

I switched to a Krylon gloss “Preserve It” and that seems to be doing a better job at sealing the image, but after watching some of your videos, I’m beginning to thing I need to prep the back side of the photo before I glue it. Maybe the Super 77 loses its grip when the resin shows up, I don’t know.

I haven’t found much for my specific use case, but I do see you offer some products to prepare papers and other objects before the resin.

I think I’m missing something.

Close, but confused.

obligatory “thank you for your video content”, it’s helping.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Jay,

I like to use the Ultra seal glue to seal photographs over wood. You can buy it in our store here: https://shop.resinobsession.com/products/ultra-seal-sealant-and-glue

You can see how I used it to create a similar project: https://resinobsession.com/resin-tutorials/mothers-day-diy-gift-idea/

[Jay]

Thank you for the prompt response. Is the Ultra Seal archival and non-yellowing?

Do you have any experience using a penetrating sealer specifically meant for wood? Using lacquer to thin it? I don’t have to worry about that being as clear as the top coat, so I think I will also look into that. However, that seems like another step and more supplies.

One of the test coasters I made today was using a similar decoupage over my already glossy photo spray sealed images. Tomorrow, I’ll see how it takes the resin.

Tonight, I’ll try coating both sides of a print on its own, as the ones already attached have been glued on and only the top was sprayed.

My first experience getting the photos to stick flat using just decoupage was not a success, which has been resolved by using Super 77. I would much rather use your sealer than this nasty, stinky spray glue.

I look forward to trying out some of your products, but first I need to finish off the rest of the unfortunate purchase choice I made for resins, so it doesn’t go to waste.

Once I resolve this issue, I’ll report back to you about the process and what recipe I end up using that works best for archival photographs and naked wood.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Jay,

The Ultra Seal is not designated as archival and non-yellowing. I’m not sure how it will perform years from now. Unfortunately, my wood experience is quite limited. I don’t have any experience using wood sealers.

Yes, keep us posted on your progress!

[Author]

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