Amateur DIY Resin Pour Coffee Table

Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
14,064
Location
France, Alsace
As per the requests in GD I will be doing a video on this, but I'll also try to put the progress on my build in here.

Background: When my wife and I separated last year I didn't really think I gave much of a hoot about the house, but also I knew I wanted to do something because it didn't feel right. The more I got into things, the more I have enjoyed making it as I want it. I am a creative person and so now know what I want it like, but I can't just go out and buy half this stuff (most is far too expensive tbf but also not exactly what I want) and also part of the joy for me is the creative process.

So although it's been done a million times, I really wanted a resin pour coffee table. I also want to build a mammoth dining table nearly 3m long as a resin pour table, but figured starting with this would be a great test.

The goal?

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Something like that... I have the resin which is graphite metallic, mine might be less translucent, depending how much pigment I use. I also haven't fully decided on the finish of the wood yet, I'm going to experiment with some of the off cuts first.

That table above is 160 x 80 so slightly bigger but comes in at 2,249EUR so you know...

I thought it would be mega expensive with the wood side of things, so I have had a lot of the parts for about 6 months now. I went to the saw mill down the road last friday and picked up 2 slabs of wood 1.5m x 50cm in red oak for a bargain of 60 EUR. They're mega thick as well and have that living edge needed for a resin pour.


So far I have spent 75 on the legs, 60 on the wood and I bought about 300 worth of resin (for both projects, this and the dining table) - I think it's probably about 75 for resin for this. Sure, I've bought a few tools but they'll do so many other things. Also, time wise I'm sure it'll take me a good while but you know... I'd rather that than fork out 2k for a table and know I'd built it!

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I let them dry for about 5 days in my house and that gave amazon time to deliver me some new clamps and also a black friday deal of my ryobi circular saw. I have a corded one, but this just makes things easier.

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I marked them out (yes, on my dining table... my garage is full of car stuff and the weather has been shocking) and went for I think it was 110cm x 30cm (to it's widest part)

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I used a wooden baton and those clamps to get a guide for the saw, which is a must really just makes it so much easier and then cut it outside on my fold out saw horses (https://www.toolstation.fr/paire-de-treteaux-pliables-toughbuilt-c700/) which are a total gem tbf!

The circular saw didn't quite go through the whole slab, which was pretty useful for being on the saw horses and not going through, but made me realise how **** my hand saw is... especially through oak. Christ on a bike.

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Excuse my odd sock/ washing out - ain't paying for no tumble drying! But these are the legs I'm going for. I have the same but bigger versions already for the dining table replacement, too. Ignore that pine, that's for another project... although the split in it might mean it's not. I digress.

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Because I'm avoiding doing a presentation at work, I went out and cut the other slab out. You can see now the one on the right is nearly ready. My battery went on the sander so it's on charge but all the edges are evened up, and the living edge has been mostly cleaned with an 80 grit. I want to make sure all of the dark spots are off the living edge as it could lead to rot apparently, so will finish off the right and completely do the left later.

That's where I'm at at the moment. You can start to see how it'll look now though and the configuration.

NEXT:
Once I've tidied up the two pieces, I'll be using an old wardrobe and it's wood to build a base for this to sit on, and then walls to go round the edges to create a mold for me to clamp it to, ready for the resin pour. I have special tape I got with the resin that will go around all the corners and edges and I have some mold release wax spray that will be applied before the wood is put in and the wood fixed into place.

The saw mill has a massive plane in, so I'm hoping to pop back with the full slab and get them to run it through both sides to make sure it's 100% flat on both sides and even. You can do it with a router but it's ******* long and they're 10mins up the road and I'd need it too for the massive dining table (not sure how I'll transport ******* 3m long table top yet, this **** weighs so much on just these small ones, but hey) so would be good to try with this one.

It's my birthday tomorrow and I have a friend over all weekend, so not sure I'll have much time for it but will see how I go in the run up to christmas. I would love to have it done by then, but will see.

On the dining table, I am pretty sure this is the colour I have got (it's been a while):

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That one is £3,718 and it's like 1.8m - I have tried to find 3m long tables and the only one I found was about £10k - I think it'll be epic if I can put it off... anyway, this one first.


Will update when I've done more. I have also recently reupholstered an IKEA Strandmon arm chair because it was dirty minging yellow fabric, so it's now more in-keeping vegan leather, turned the associated footstool into a piano stool and am building a metal and wood TV unit.

I have issues and no skills but it's fun anyway.
 
I wondered why random chopping of wood was popping up on your story!

I really like the look of these, will be watching to see how it turns out.
 
Might be worthwhile taking a look at foureyes furniture and backyard resin on YouTube and Instagram. They've done a number of these types of tables so you may pick up some decent tips on how to get a decent result
 
I wondered why random chopping of wood was popping up on your story!

Could be any number of things with me tbf :cry: :cry:

Impressive and if they do sell for that much money then this will be a goldmine for you.

I'm not sure I would enjoy it if it was for others! I don't know! From what I've already done today you can see it taking hours of prep and finishing though to make it really nice. Will see how they come out. I'm determined to make it as nice as I can anyway

Might be worthwhile taking a look at foureyes furniture and backyard resin on YouTube and Instagram. They've done a number of these types of tables so you may pick up some decent tips on how to get a decent result

Thanks man, I'll have a look. I sub to a number of channels on youtube for this sort of stuff but love to get as many tips as possible to try and avoid errors.
 
Good luck, i think the main advice i can give would be to spend time getting all the bubbles out. I made a resin beer bottle table but i definitely could've spent more time on prep and making sure it was better finished

 
Good luck, i think the main advice i can give would be to spend time getting all the bubbles out. I made a resin beer bottle table but i definitely could've spent more time on prep and making sure it was better finished
Yea, the videos I've seen say to do it in layers and on the final layer use the head gun to get rid of any bubbles in it.

I spent time this afternoon working on the living edges while I was not listening in a work town hall meeting.

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You can see on the left slab there are a couple of cracks in this one, which will get worse if I don't deal with them in some way. I have seen a lot of people use bowtie inlays for cracks, but I don't want to have those as I think they'll change the clean look. Instead I'm going to first pour some resin into these cracks and tape up the other side and let them fill. If needed I'll chisel them open a little more to get better access.

On to the mold building next.
 
I've seen a lot of resin stuff pop up on facebook and youtube and the like and i've always wondered how do they wear? is it hard enough not to scratch long term?

I saw someone do their kitchen worktops out of it which looked amazing but they need to be so hard not to look tatty, i fancied slate worktops in our house but after seeing some that had been in for a couple of years i'm seriously glad i didn't.
 
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I have always wanted to do this, some of the stuff online is so expensive as you say and realistically its not that hard to do!
 
I've seen a lot of resin stuff pop up on facebook and youtube and the like and i've always wondered how do they wear? is it hard enough not to scratch long term?
I think they're pretty hard wearing! When you consider they're also a wood table (in this case) so it'll be harder than the wood for sure! Worktops I would have no idea. I suppose you can at least sand and polish them back up again easier than you can any traditional worktop material

I have always wanted to do this, some of the stuff online is so expensive as you say and realistically its not that hard to do!
I'll soon be able to tell you haha I feel it'll be easy to get a **** finish but getting it perfect (or sellable in the resellers/ makers point of view) I'm sure it'll take hours.

I'm hoping that using things like the industrial plane/ sander can make sure at least it's fully flat and true and then I need to do the finishing etc. I do think, if you have the right tools, everything is easier. Same with mechanics and cars. It's much easier when you have a lift and all the air tools than on your back with some amazon basic tools!
 
Need to clean the edges - there’s guy on youtube that does this for massive tables. Cleaning the bad wood, and the way to pour without bubbles is important.. you may want to take two foot long 2x4 and try epoxying those first..
 
My mrs does this, its a crap load harder than you think and the resin smell makes you feel so sick it clings to your lungs, you cant do it outside either because its very temperature sensitive. I made a chopping board before with some nice oak, went great but the last layer something went wrong, it contracted and snapped the resin like glass.

She makes stuff like coasters, trays etc etc and some art stuff.

Good luck!
 
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Need to clean the edges - there’s guy on youtube that does this for massive tables. Cleaning the bad wood, and the way to pour without bubbles is important.. you may want to take two foot long 2x4 and try epoxying those first..

I was thinking the same with the live edge, although that is mostly from the guys I follow (Blacktail, AVSwood & SA Greg) and ensuring no resin escapes, the wood cannot float and and and.

Following this one for sure.
 
I was thinking the same with the live edge, although that is mostly from the guys I follow (Blacktail, AVSwood & SA Greg) and ensuring no resin escapes, the wood cannot float and and and.
Ha I follow Blacktail too.

I have a wire brush extension for my angle grinder, but waiting on my ryobi battery one to arrive to make it easier to get those last bits on the edges all cleaned out. Then I'll paint and seal those in resin, which a lot of people seem to recommend doing prior to the pour.

Need to clean the edges - there’s guy on youtube that does this for massive tables. Cleaning the bad wood, and the way to pour without bubbles is important.. you may want to take two foot long 2x4 and try epoxying those first..

I like to yolo in, but I am starting on some of the cracks to see in general. I will also go back and watch a couple of those videos I've watched a few times just to make sure I'm doing it totally as it should be. I'm using the offcuts for a couple of other things, so I'm sure it'll be ok... maybe

My mrs does this, its a crap load harder than you think and the resin smell makes you feel so sick it clings to your lungs, you cant do it outside either because its very temperature sensitive. I made a chopping board before with some nice oak, went great but the last layer something went wrong, it contracted and snapped the resin like glass.

I used to fiberglass for cars and making molds and that **** was the same (I suppose it's all resin?) it's pretty awful. I have a couple of big ass fans I use for Zwift, so think I'll position those towards my garage door and hope it blows some of the smell out because it does proper stink.
 
My mrs does this, its a crap load harder than you think and the resin smell makes you feel so sick it clings to your lungs, you cant do it outside either because its very temperature sensitive. I made a chopping board before with some nice oak, went great but the last layer something went wrong, it contracted and snapped the resin like glass.

She makes stuff like coasters, trays etc etc and some art stuff.

Good luck!
Does your wife use a good face mask?

A properly fitted half mask with the right filters for vapours should stop that, IIRC there are several different standards for the filtration, a good 3M one with replaceable filters can cost as little as ~£15 for the mask then about £20 for a filter set that will last months of use if you're not creating a lot of dust or dealing with radioactive material, or at least I hope you're not ;)
I use Scott masks and filters for airbrushing for much the same reason and IIRC the filters I get for it are A2P3 and designed for use with most vapours (organic and inorganic) and very fine particulate matter (as in sanding plaster etc rather than just "rough" dust like cutting wood). Last set I bought I paid around ~15 per pair of filters and about £25 for the mask, I think 3m tend to have a slightly lower starting price for masks but a higher price for the filters ;)
 
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I like to yolo in, but I am starting on some of the cracks to see in general. I will also go back and watch a couple of those videos I've watched a few times just to make sure I'm doing it totally as it should be. I'm using the offcuts for a couple of other things, so I'm sure it'll be ok... maybe

Big thumbs up from me.

Next purchase an industrial sized thicknesser? :D
 
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