[Gunsmoke]

The 1st picture shows the core completely filled with concrete and the 1 ½ plywood on all 6 sides. It has also been routed with a ¾” radius on all edges. The PVC tubes were left in overnight before being knocked out. All countersink holes were filled with bondo, and the core was sanded with a belt sander. It is now very smooth and ready for the fiberglass resin.



The 2nd picture shows the first attempt to pour the resin on the top. I built up the edges with duct tape to form a dam to hold the resin. A dam was also built around each of the 7 holes that will accept the lee 90 degree rods holders. Well, the resin ate into the duct tape and flowed over the sides. This was actually the second attempt, as I used masking tape to build the dam on the bottom. I couldn't get the white dye to look white in the resin on the bottom so I use some black dye on the top. Neither looked good. This was a mess.





The 3rd picture below shows the core after four coats of brushing on clear fiberglass resin. The resin is now about 1/8” thick on the sides and radius edges, and about ¼” thick on the top and bottom. I also glassed in the plywood edges in the 7 round holes.





The 4th picture shows the core being finished sanded. It now is completely encased and covered with lots of fiberglass resin.





(5th pic) I need a good white paint job over the fiberglass resin, so I used white epoxy paint. It is very slow to cure, but I wanted a good solid heavy duty white protective coating. This is the first coat on the bottom and sides. Notice that I have now pre drilled all the holes for the stainless hardware. I counter sank the holes at the resin layer so the resin would not chip when I finally install all the stainless screws.