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1000 Feet of Denim and 20 Gallons of Epoxy

Mar 20, 2024
Hi, I'm Kim from Blacktail Studio and this week I'm trying to take over a thousand square

feet

of

denim

, 20

gallons

of

epoxy

, most of which ends up on my floor, and turn them into one of the coolest things I've ever built and in the world. In the end, I give it to the viewer. What there really is is that there is a guy who has been turning

denim

into sunglasses with

epoxy

for the last eight years. I've been learning how to make sunglasses out of denim. I make a lot of things with epoxy, so I guess I can cut these small pieces or I guess into big pieces.
1000 feet of denim and 20 gallons of epoxy
I don't want pockets and stuff in there and we'll make a table out of that, okay, it's pretty easy, I'm sure my original idea was to get a bunch of used jeans from Value. Village and if you're wondering why I didn't go to Goodwill it's because Goodwill is the worst. Every time I show up there with a bag of totally useful products, they act like I'm trying to donate one of my paintings to hang. at the Smithsonian and they ended up rejecting me, so I only shop at Value Village now anyway, but this is my idea, go to Value Village, buy a bunch of jeans, cut them into thin strips, laminate them with epoxy and turn it into an amazing table . there was a problem with that I think we're going to need a lot of denim is it's not enough um no this doesn't seem like enough this definitely won't be enough but I wonder how short I am so each one of these was 0.025 to 0.03 is 70 layers, do you know how much money that is?
1000 feet of denim and 20 gallons of epoxy

More Interesting Facts About,

1000 feet of denim and 20 gallons of epoxy...

Like eight eight dollars a pair, that's 1700 worth of jeans and I don't even know if that's enough. Can you buy denim as it is converted? The calculations I was doing were for a table about half the size I was trying to build, so instead of seventeen hundred dollars it was actually going to be closer to thirty four hundred dollars worth of Value Village jeans, so instead of that I went to a bulk denim supplier online got 70 yards of this even thicker denim for about 550 delivered at this point in the project. I felt surprisingly at home because I'm not a snob about almost anything clothing-related except two pairs of jeans. and the t-shirts that I wear and one of the reasons I haven't sold products in the last few years is because all those print on demand suppliers have horrible quality so I didn't sell anything and I'm finally working. with someone I know who lives here in the US and who makes very high quality t-shirts, something I would wear, so if you are interested in getting a Blacktail Studio t-shirt, it will be a limited edition, there is a link. in the description if you want to check it out, but it is a very good, high quality shirt that you will enjoy wearing, so here is the bad idea I have in my head right now.
1000 feet of denim and 20 gallons of epoxy
I have 50 denim cutting sheets. I have a ton of this D4 liquid glass epoxy and the reason I'm using this liquid glass epoxy is because it has the longest working time because this will take me all damn day two, it cures harder and three it stays clearer , so give me that more authentic denim color at the end. I'm excited that this is the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. No, I do not know. I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but I'm cool. with going with the coolest thing you've ever done, okay, high pressure, high reward, but I'm more confident that this will be the worst thing I've ever had to go through.
1000 feet of denim and 20 gallons of epoxy
I knew this was going to be pretty awkward, however, I had no idea how bad this would get. I bought this Rubbermaid tub here and I poured in, I think, nine

gallons

of epoxy and I thought I would just soak the denim in when I took it out, wring it out slightly with my hands, however, when I took it out. This first one surprised me a little when I realized what I was in for, oh my god this is going to suck dancing, my hands are too weak, there isn't much information on how to work with denim and epoxy so I watched all the videos of that type of Mosfix sunglasses and I learned that I need to remove all the excess epoxy after each coat, so I have to go through this whole process 50 times, one for all, 50 to go, 40, not just 49.
Yes , yeah, what a horrible idea, okay? I'll be the first to admit that this is not the best way to approach this project if I had to do it again, however, this was deliberate. I thought that by not having the mold sides I could just drain all the excess epoxy into that tub with maybe a few drops here there, but I found out that it didn't work as planned oh god I'm going to eat oh this is getting worse are you rolling? Yeah, oh God, how did that happen? I don't know, I would. not being a very good Ebola doctor a thousand dollars worth of epoxy so far the confidence I had at the beginning of the video the guy was like the best project ever yeah it didn't even look good I didn't edit it yet it's going to look cool so was The first time they caught me, I felt like I was in my Epoxy Prime, like I was in my 30s, my golden epoxy years.
Now I thought it seemed slimier than normal. I'm sure someone has always wondered how long it takes to become saturated. 49 sheets of denim and then carefully lay one on top of the other and for that person we're about five and a half hours into the project at this point and we also used about 21 gallons of epoxy, which I'm embarrassed to say most of it. it squeezes out or it leaks, so again it's not a very efficient way, but on my first try and now this is still pretty bad even for a first try, I tentatively our top layer after running them through the planer and this will be the last one.
Now I get a lot of really helpful responses in the comments section and occasionally I get some really bad ones. I have people suggesting something like: you should measure the volume of epoxy using buckets of sand instead of a tape measure or you should divorce your wife. because I don't like the way she reacted to what you built. They are both bad suggestions and I generally don't listen to them very closely, however, I get a lot of good suggestions and if you want, leave a comment, let me know how you would do this differently. I just know that I already know you're right.
Almost every aspect of this was done incorrectly and I wouldn't do it again if I did it again. This is bad. This is really bad. Do you believe? We will have to put in more buckets and drip trays. I think most of it is already pretty well squeezed. My God, foreigner. I don't think this could have been worse. My table saw never moves again. Oh no, I posted. a clip of me stuck like a mouse in one of those sticky traps on Instagram during this process and a lot of people reached out and were genuinely concerned saying how are you going to clean that up and oh my god I'm not.
I don't even know how I would begin to clean that up. Overall, I wasn't that worried about it. I have that kind of mentality that a truck is designed to scratch the garage floor or it's designed to have epoxy written on it, so even if my floor had epoxy on it permanently, it's a pretty nice color, it wasn't tinted, it was just that nice natural denim color, so it didn't keep me up much sleep, but Scott was a little worried when he walked in and saw everything. and how bad it was so he really insisted that we try to clean it and said if nothing else he would at least make an interesting video so I had this floor scraper and I was really surprised how good this epoxy turned out which is a good lesson , because if you're going to do an epoxy floor you have to prepare it very well because my floor was obviously dirty and this epoxy just chipped off on the foreign top, it left me with a ton of options for the legs because I think almost anything would look .
Great with that denim. I think steel legs could be used. Aluminum legs. I think Walnut could look great. This is White Oak, but this isn't actually what you'll see when I finish these legs because I wanted something a little more. more unique even than that and something that really went very well with the upholstery theme, so there's a guy who a couple of years ago reached out and said, "Hey, I do high-end upholstery for cars, would you be interested?" collaborate on a project?" I've kept in touch over those years but I never had an idea until this project and my idea is to wrap these white oak legs in stitched leather like car upholstery, almost like a steering wheel, so I reached out to He and he says, yeah, we can do that and he hasn't seen the legs yet so he's going to come and inspect everything, but that's the plan is to wrap them in foreign stitched leather if you build a Live Edge slab table or an epoxy table. and you put some steel legs on it.
The snobby woodworking community will call you a hack and tell you that you're not a real woodworker, yet you take that same top and put some nice solid wood curved legs like this on it, that same community will probably still call you. a trick, but they'll add it, but those legs aren't that bad, that's how I avoid the judgment of the woodworking snobs. This is based on an acrylic design. We sell this three piece kit on my website. There is a link in it. description and it's a really easy and affordable way to make some nice curved legs that look really difficult, but you're actually just tracing out a template with a router.
I chose a three-quarter inch bullnose bit for the edge profile. I thought about it. It would look great and also work great with the leather stretched around it, however after routing everything I really started to doubt the design of these legs, wait a second, do you think this is too thick? I don't like the way we made the walnut one, I thought they were too thin, yeah, so this is just like three quarters of an inch longer, but now it looks a little thick, it's thick. I feel like it could be a little thinner. I wish you weren't right, but you're always right, yeah, let's make them thinner.
I lowered the legs from 2.75 to 2.25 inches, which was a much better finished size. I returned to the workshop and got to work building these. Mounting plates and aluminum would have been much cheaper and probably easier, however in my opinion nothing is cooler than brass with denim so I am building solid brass mounting plates. However, when I went to drill them I discovered that I had a chipped drill bit and I didn't know it yet, but it got me into a lot of trouble, sure, throw it away, why does it do that? I bend it now, speed it up, maybe it's ok, back up and etch, yeah I spent an embarrassing amount of time throwing brass plates around my workshop before I finally realized the problem with the old bit was a small chip in the end I was acting like a pick and just catching that brass and throwing it, I finally figured it out and was ready to start talking. upholstery with the upholsterer, so this is the upholsterer Shaheen and no matter how much I pressured him, he would not accept money for this project.
I kept telling him that he needed to get paid for his craft and he said he really just wanted to. being a part of this project I thought it would look really cool and from what I can understand I just did it for the love of The Craft, however in the end I'm going to make up for it, you can see I had a little problem with the release agent on the melamine stuck to that slab of denim there and I feel like I might owe an apology to a product from a previous video that all the monsters are selling.
This should be right up there with Philip Morris and the tobacco community in that video. I was using a new one. mold release for the first time and it didn't work very well so naturally I blame the mold release and in this video I went back to using a mold release that I know works very well, however I still had a problem which means the problem was with me, so I cannot rule out the possibility that the problem was also with me in that other release agent. My original idea for this table was to create a sort of Damask effect using all those different layers of denim, however, I made some samples. pieces that led up to this and I know this looks great here, however the final process I was using just didn't look that great when I finished it so I'm going back to a different design which will be laminating a single sheet of denim on top to give it that perfectly smooth, soft denim look, although I love how it looks now, as I got closer to finishing this desk, I started thinking about what I should do with it when it's finished.
I'm keeping it for myself in case I sell it directly on my website in case I do another auction in case I do some kind of charity raffle eventually I came up with what I think is the perfect solution. Did I tell you what we're doing at the table you haven't done it yet I think I want to surprise Shaheen when I hand over the legs and just give him everything oh great, yeah, he, uh, wouldn't take money, no matter how much I was, no, you should pay yourself. and then he doesn't want a shout, he doesn't want to be in the video and he doesn't even like it, he wants business with this, he's just doing it for the craft, let's call him and see how far the legs are. and then I'll give him a hint on the table, but he won't know this guy, he's fine, cool, how do you know he's not ready, but he's not going to answer?
Please leave your message so Shaheen will text me pretty quickly after that. with a progress photo and asked if there was a date by which he needed to have my work done.legs and we went back and forth a little bit and finally I thought it would be fun to poke him and say, "Okay, I found a landing spot for the desk." He's also a super nice guy, definitely a perfectionist, although you just try to push him a little bit, but he doesn't know that he's actually the perfectionist and he threw me a curveball and said, "Oh, perfect, how do you know what that is?" He wants it without it being done, to which I finally had no response.
I just said I guess I might change my mind when I see it, which seemed to work well and put a little more pressure on him. It's like that's not enough Scott, okay for once. I'm going to be honest with myself. I just know that this is not going to be enough epoxy right now, we basically wasted some epoxy and some denim. but if I continue with this it will turn into a nightmare so I will be responsible for the first time in my life and we will just figure it out, call it a loss and live to fight another day if you didn't understand what happened there.
I didn't feel like I had enough epoxy to fully saturate that Denim and if it didn't fully saturate you could have a big bubble in the middle or part of a delaminate which I obviously ruined the project so I started over with a little more epoxy and a new sheet of denim, but the next step is what makes me nervous because lately I have been having problems with the melamine sticking to the epoxy if this top sheet sticks to the melamine. I'm going to go back to square one because I'm going to have to go in and plan it completely again, re-laminate this sheet, which is going to be an absolute nightmare, so I hope I keep my fingers crossed that I have it held nice and tight, but it doesn't get too stuck either. to that melamine like I did the last time Scott and I showed up the next morning in our matching uniforms ready for the Moment of Truth and initially he didn't want to let go and this made me very nervous, however I stuck him under there and everything came loose, so I was very relieved to finally be able to start making some progress on this top.
I've had my live virtual epoxy workshop for about a year and a half and it's been going extraordinarily well. but I admit it's an investment because right now the cost is 149 and for most people that means if you want to spend that kind of money you have to be ready to build an epoxy table right now so I wanted to create a higher price low. starting point that people could dip their toe in the water and see if they even want to build epoxy tables, so I created a PDF version of my virtual workshop with lots of photos, lots of illustrations, tons of step-by-step instructions and This only costs 14.95 so it is 10 the cost of the complete workshop and if you have already purchased the complete Workshop or if you want to buy the complete Workshop it is included free of charge and if you want a little more information there is a link in the description of the video to Next, there probably aren't many of you out there, but some of you who have been watching my videos long enough might recognize these Outlets from when I had a real job and had to go to work every two weeks and I used this same hardware to build a desk to my wife about four years ago and these Outlets are from a company called Juniper Design.
I'll leave a link in the video description and they're not super cheap, but they're not offensive either. For their price I think they are made from a solid piece of brass and that's why I think they cost around a hundred dollars up to 170 dollars for the most expensive and there is even a matching light that I am not using on this desk but I used them on the my wife's desk, these sockets are designed to be mounted right above a table so if you look at them horizontally they would stand proud about a quarter of an inch and I think they look much cooler if they were mounted flush which is what which I did on my wife's desk and practically speaking I could see why you wouldn't want that because if you spill a drink it could literally go straight into the outlet, however I think the risk is worth the reward here. and this is a little jig that I created, it's just a 2.75 inch hole with the appropriate bushings in my router and a half inch router bit and here's why I like that flush mount look right there for the profile of the edge on the denim top.
I wanted something. That really highlighted the fact that we literally used 50 sheets of denim stacked on top of each other and didn't cut any corners, so to speak, and for that I'm using a three-quarter inch rounded drill bit that just by looking at it from above you'll see all of them. those denim layers. Plus, it's the same race we used on the table leg, so it will complement it perfectly. I admit that at the beginning of this project I was very discouraged, it was a very messy project and Worse than that, I didn't even think it would look very good from the beginning and at this point, although I am very encouraged, I think it looks really cool and I I'm having a lot of fun.
I was already wondering what other denim projects I can do. Could you make some curves? Could you make different colored denim? It was so much fun and so much flexibility because, believe it or not, this denim and epoxy actually works like wood. I was chiselling into these corners and couldn't believe how sharp it was. corner that I could get with my standard wood chisel and the nice thing about denim is that it won't expand or contract like wood, so I have even more freedom when it comes to mounting plates like this because I can have these outside ones perfectly fitted, This will probably fall. in the category of what did you expect, but building furniture in denim is a little difficult because when I sanded the epoxy, now it has those ribs again where if I drag my fingernail, I can feel the ribs and I have. samples of this so I'm not completely excited and I have a couple of samples and I know it might look good, but I think now what I need to do is seal this before I actually start my sanding process and then we can spray. after that because I need Sealcoat to soak into these ribs and give me something to sand initially.
I did some testing with Armor Seal and it worked great, the problem was that I had to wait like a day or more between coats. a catalyzed sanding sealer that was ready to sand in about an hour, which is my favorite thing, so it's designed to be sprayed on; However, for this, since I'm going to sand it anyway, I just apply it with that foam brush and now I'm going to follow my normal sanding progression just like I would. I think I went up to 320 grit before starting the spraying process. I've never actually built anything with veneer, but I have a feeling that sanding this denim was similar to sanding veneer because the top layer is only about 0.035 inches and by sanding it, it could completely ruin the look of the table and I have to admit.
There were a couple of spots where I think I sanded too much and I could almost start to see that color change, so something I need to look at a little more closely on the next denim table I make and here's a tip that I got from people after my last finishing debacle: getting everything wet before starting the finishing process. In my last video I made this DIY paint booth with some claws which I'm pretty sure actually did worse than not making the DIY paint booth so I'm trying something a little different but I'm also using a lot of finishing Different, this is a water based catalyzed finish, so it supposedly sets in to the touch in about 15 minutes, so I'm hoping the quiet morning with the doors open and little air movement will be better with this catalyzed finish I have.
A heavy duty air filter is working right now and you should also know that this is a water based finish so it's not like spraying a heavy conversion varnish into the environment; the particles that stay suspended in the air will probably land in my shop or between that air filter and nothing like that, it's just a water based finish so it shouldn't damage anything in any way and this is the sanding sealant , is from Renner. I think they were very helpful. I called them several times. A few questions answered: They require the sanding sealer coat and this is the top coat and I wish I could tell you how many coats I did.
I don't really remember that I did several, although I think I did two of the sanding sealer and probably at least three or more of this top coat. Thanks, if you've seen some of my recent videos you know I'm pretty new to the world of spray finishing but I will say that with every project I do I feel like I'm really getting a little better, I needed the acrylic to cure for about three days before I move on to polishing, so in the meantime I'll finish up these brass mounting plates and it's always going to be fun to go from this kind of mill scale look to a semi polished look and I started with 100 grit and went up to about 180 just to make it a little bit nicer and make me look like I'm actually a decent metal worker, which I'm definitely no stranger to, after those 72 hours were up I moved on to wet sanding. of this piece it was great to be able to sand this 2K acrylic in just three days because they say with a normal water based finish you can't start wet sanding for about 30 days and I love the efficiency so I sanded it with 1500 grit .and the 3000 grit before moving on to the polishing system and this is one you've probably seen me use before it's from 3M.
I'll leave a link to this in the video description along with everything else I wore and say There are some flaws in this piece, if you look closely you'll start to see some of the imperfections, but it actually looked a lot more like denim than you would expect. that I expected and was actually very excited about her appearance, can be quite difficult to convey. on video how dramatic the change the M3 Nano treatment gives to a piece and a piece like this will give it that rich wet look and protect it from scratches but a piece like Walnut or Maple is shocking for the difference it makes and not only a difference in protection that is significant, but also the rich and deep contrast it provides.
I have done some tests in parallel. I will also include a link to the M3 Nano and all the information about it in the description of the Shaheen video. I saved the last few points so we could see something on camera here and these legs look even better than I expected, they are absolutely flawless and remember Shaheen doesn't know that I'm giving her this whole table, so I decided to try a not so. subtle line of questioning first as a professional, like you've been choosing these two colors to match for years, like it's your desk, I was pushing hard for you to get that brown, so yeah, okay, okay, does your choice suit you? to like it?
It's that touchy-feely guy you were talking about. I think it'll be Scott, the one you met, you met the guy. Do you think he's going to like him? I think so. I think it will be Do you think it will be nice enough? him yeah I know the legs are going to be pretty good okay Shane do you want to take this with you or do you want me to deliver it to you on the table what do you mean it's for you no way yeah what really Yes, did I spend that much? time in the legs to do it for you I told you it's for a perfectionist oh that's amazing if you want it wow I was texting my wife pictures of this all the time right?
Yeah, so I got a text from my wife, I think. that Emoji sums it up well, man, this guy, we make a cheesy summary now, what do we do today? What would Mr. Beast give you like a million dollars to go with your desk? Hey what I mean, I picked the wrong YouTube channel, it would be both. I like this denim so much that I could see this being a whole new phase in my career, like Picasso had his blue phase or his cubism phase, this could be my denim phase and before some of you jump there. and writes saying that I am comparing Picasso to myself.
I would never have Picasso be a horrible carpenter every week. I like to give a little credit to the people who make it to the end of the video, so this week begins. your question or comment with your favorite brand of denim and so I will know that you made it to the end of the video thank you very much have a great week

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