I am building a small side table (30" semi-circle) with a surface
covered with glued-on preserved leaves (The leaves are from a grape
vine and I preserved them last year in glycerine solution).

I want to cover the leaves with a thick and hopefully waterproof
finish. The finish should be thick enough to mostly smooth out the
surface, maybe 1/16" or so. I'm also thinking that I may want to the
finish to have an amber color.

I know I could do a pourable epoxy finish, but I think it will be much
thicker than I'd like, and it's not particularly the look I'm trying to
get.

Various options I'm considering:

- McCloskey's Gymseal: It's mainly for floors, but it's also
recommended for bar tops. They claim it very hard, but also a little
flexible, which may be helpful for coating the leaves.

- Behlen's Rockhard

- Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane (which is for both interior and
exterior surfaces)

- Regular oil-based polyurethane

In addition, the fewer coats required, the better, and a finish that's
easy to apply with room for error (unlike epoxy) would be nice.

If it ends up that epoxy is the really the best way, I may coat the
table with amber shellac before applying the epoxy. Maybe instead of
pourable epoxy, something like the brushable Progressive Epoxy's Basic
No Blush 2 would work (see at http://epoxyproducts.com).

Clearly, the best thing to do would be some tests on some scrap wood
with some of the extra leaves I have. If I mess it up the main table I
won't have enough leaves to try again and would have to have to do the
table without leaves.

Any sugggestions or advice would be much appreciated

Thanks.

DD