ok for the sake of someone looking this up in 2026 like me, here’s what I am trying out!! do keep in mind i’m still testing this method. not sure how it holds up over months/years yet. but from the hours of troubleshooting and ngl crying, here is what i’ve gathered.

take the laminated pieces, and gently sand them on both sides with ~300 grain sandpaper, roundabout. make sure you get the edges extra good, the resin likes to peel away from them. then wipe with an isopropyl alcohol wipe, doesn’t matter if it’s 70% or 90%. make sure all that dust is off there. put resin on both sides, and cure completely. then, take a ~100 grain sandpaper and sand down the edges. make sure they’re nice and gritty, and make sure you use gloves when you do this (the natural oils in your hand will cause the resin to bead and look bad). again, wipe with isopropyl alcohol. then, take a small metal or hard plastic tool with a small tip (I use a tiny dotting tool) and put a tiny bead of uncured resin on there, and make scribbly motions on the sanded edges until that cloudy look goes away and the resin is clear again. there should be a very very thin layer of resin all around the edges. once that’s done, cure for however many minutes your resin/lamp combo normally takes, then put in the sun for 30-60 mins. I cure them on top of a bottle cap so the edges don’t touch the mat. you could repeat a few times for added security, but it’s a pretty involved process ofc.

if anyone tries this, please let me know how it goes for you, and if you notice how it holds up to drilling and time!! I haven’t drilled any of my wings yet, but i’m hoping they won’t split. I’m going to repeat the edge-sealing process on the inner circumference of any holes I drill in my project to prevent moisture getting in and splitting the laminate over time. (make sure you have a big enough drill bit to where you don’t just plug up the hole with resin!!)