How to Make An Epoxy Resin Table
- Frank O'Connell
- Nov 17, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 22, 2023
Project Scope: This post was created to demonstrate How to Make An Epoxy Resin Table.
Complexity (Easy to Challenging): Challenging - several different skill sets required.
Why this rating of complexity? This project requires a handful of various woodworking skills that take time to master. Do not become discouraged! Patience and practice (and hopefully this post!) will help you achieve your woodworking goals. This project will require using drills, skill saws, sanding tools, routers, chemicals (epoxy and hardener), and a torch. It also requires skills around framing, flattening, sanding, sawing and an acute attention to detail.
**How Expensive are the materials for this project: This project (How to Make An Epoxy Resin Table) can vary in cost due to the various slabs available. Lumber prices in the area I build in are shown below:
Ideal lumber of choice: Walnut $15 - $20 / board foot.
Most other Hardwoods (Oak, Poplar, Cottonwood, Elm, Maple, Ash, etc) $10 - $14 / board foot.
Here's a simple breakdown of the costs for all other materials:
Table Legs: $100 - $400 - wide range - I found the tables I really like to use on Etsy.
Resin: $20 - $33 / Liter (buying in bulk is much cheaper) - a volume calculation will be required to determine how much resin is required.
Misc: $200 - $350 - form boards, screws, caulking, sand paper, router bits (plan to spend $100 on router bits), paint brushes, gloves, etc.
A full list of materials required is listed in a section later on.
** Does not include purchase of tools!
How Long To Construct: The first table I built took 80 to 100 hours to build! As with anything it took me a long time to figure out each step. I hope this comprehensive post covers everything you'll need for how to make an epoxy resin table.
Special Challenges this project created? Dust is an enemy! Before pouring resin and when performing finishing sanding the project the surfaces must be cleaned and moved to a dust free area. I had to pour my epoxy resin table in my house in our front living room. It looked like a scene from Dexter with all the plastic on the floor to protect the carpet!
ALSO - I was impatient when pouring my epoxy resin and my form boards leaked. This resulted in an emergency scramble to isolate the leak and I had to use much more epoxy resin than expected! Be certain to completely caulk and isolate the epoxy resin pour area and allow it time to dry before pouring!
If I were to start over again what would I do differently? I tried to flatten the lumber slab several times with a router and it would have been best to take the slab to a local lumber mill for help with flattening (using a planer or C&C machine, for example). From now on I will allow my form board (isolation area) to fully dry / cure prior to pouring the resin!
Select Slab & Dimensions
Before beginning this project you will need a clear understanding of the environment and spacing that your table will be in. An artistic room is inviting to live edges and curves whereas an office setting may demand the appeal of clean square lines with rounded edges. In a similar fashion the size of the room your table (and the number of guests you'd like to sit at your table) will reside in will help determine the table dimensions. Lastly, the type of wood chosen will bring a particular color or tone to the room where it is placed. Be sure to review what your wood type will look like after it is finished with a clear oil or wax (I suggest looking through Google Images).
After determining the slab type and dimensions of the table it is time to visualize the final table using a template. This template can simply be boards laid out over the top of your slab in the shape of your final table. This will help you visualize what the table will look like (and the sizing) in the end. This will also help you begin evaluating how much epoxy resin will be required (do you want 10% or 50% of your table in the form of resin?).
Cut, Clear and Clean the Slab
After determining the dimensions and layout of the slab you will need to take a leap of faith and begin cutting on your slab! Using your template or layout boards prepare the cut lines to the dimensions and angles that you prefer.
Note: I like to leave about an extra 1/2 inch on all four sides of my slab when performing this step. WHY? I like to make final cuts on my table edges after the resin is poured and cured. This allows some wiggle room for voids created by the form caulking and it also provides some breathing room for errors in the beginning phases of the project of your epoxy resin table.
In some scenarios your slab may also be warped or it may not sit level. This can require several passes with a router or the use of a planer to flatten the slab. This particular post doesn't cover flattening slabs but I can help explain the process if you'd like help. Reach out to me!
Once the slab is cut to the desired rough dimensions I like to take a wire wheel to knock off all remaining bark and any soft / damaged wood that may be present. In some cases it may also be necessary to use a chisel or knife to chip away / clean up any other wood sections that are loose or full of debris.
After cutting, clearing and cleaning your slab you'll want to ensure that the slab is dust free. I like to use all methods possible to clean up as required - a vacuum, air compressor, brushes and another vacuum pass through usually does the trick. Be sure to use a pick or knife tip to pick any cracks to free up dust as you make this pass through. As mentioned before having a clean surface is critical for bonding and for a sharp looking epoxy resin finish.
Clearing / cleaning the slab is an extremely important step to ensure that the epoxy resin can bond to the wood properly!
Build Form Around Slab
Using melamine boards from Home Depot / Lowes we will build a form that'll allow us to pour the epoxy resin around the slab. I like to tape off all sections of the melamine that will be exposed to the resin (everything inside the form). The tape I use is under the materials list section. Usually I will build my form sides about 1-2 inches higher than the highest point of my slab to ensure I have some working room when pouring the resin.
It is critical to use caulking or silicone on the inside and outside of the form boards to ensure a waterproof seal is made! Remember when I mentioned re-cutting after pouring the epoxy resin? - No need to worry about voids created by the epoxy or silicone inside the forms - we can make final cuts after the resin has cured.
After building the form I like to place the wood in the forms over and over again to ensure it all aligns with my expectations prior to the CHEMISTRY of epoxy resin! Once I know the slab fits properly I ensure it is completely dust free and I hold the slab down with some taped off scrap wood (so the slab doesn't float - see photo) and I also use caulking to isolate the top of the slab from the epoxy resin areas.
How to Make An Epoxy Resin Table
Epoxy Resin Pour
You've made it to the epoxy resin step! Woo! I highly recommend that a close review of the epoxy resin manufacturers guidelines are reviewed prior to mixing and pouring. Also - take the necessary precautions to protect yourself (gloves, goggles, respirator, plastic around work area, etc) - these chemicals are no joke! Inhalation of the epoxy resin can be extremely dangerous.
On another note - you will need to calculate the total volume of epoxy resin you'll need for your epoxy resin table. I generally use length x width x height in inches and then convert to liters using Google (thank you GOOGLE!) then round up by 10% to 15% depending on the complexity of the voids (right angles = easy, angles = more surplus to be safe).
Usually epoxy resin is a two part mix - I do my best to obtain a perfect 2 to 1 ratio and after pouring I like to mix the chemicals for 10 minutes with a drill and a paint mixer - at this time you can also add color pigments to your epoxy resin while mixing. After the full 10 minutes I let the epoxy resin sit for 20 minutes to let the bubbles produced to settle down.
The next step is pretty exciting - POUR the epoxy resin and watch for leaks! I use a 5 gallon bucket to mix and pour. While pouring I where nitrate gloves and an air filter mask - these chemicals can be harmful if inhaled! After pouring the epoxy resin you may need to use a torch to pop bubbles that appear from the resin. Be careful not to burn the actual epoxy resin; just a quick pass over the bubbles 6" to 12" away will work fine.
Post Pour
Allow the epoxy resin to set; usually it will require 72 hours to cure fully. I like to monitor the epoxy resin for the first 24 hours to ensure that there are no leaks and to watch for bubbles. At 72 hours in the form boards can be broken away from the slab and this will provide an opportunity to make finish cuts around the perimeter of the slab.
Table Legs
From here you're so close to finishing; but not so fast! If you plan to install legs; this would be a great time to do so; before you apply any finishing products to the table! I like finding table legs on Etsy and I generally use threaded inserts to mount the table legs to the bottom of the table. When attaching table legs be sure to protect your beautiful table from scratches and bumps while shifting it around.
Using threaded inserts will allow you to take the table apart in the future for moving, etc. Please note that your resin table will likely be very heavy and you should ask for help when moving it around.
Router Pass
In the image to the right you can see several small lines across the slab. The slab was still not flat enough (it was slightly warped) so I made another pass with my router by using a sled to pass over left to right, from the front to the back of the slab. After finishing the router passes there were many little chips in the slab as well as the resin so I used a floor sander with 60 or 80 grit sandpaper to create a flat surface. I also used a long level to look for low and high spots as I used the floor sander to create a flat surface and to evaluate how the slab was sitting.
Sanding and CA Glue
After installing the legs I began sanding the slab and resin using a palm sander and several grits of sand paper. I was sure to go through the sand paper in order (80 then 120 then 150, 180 and 220) and at each stage of sanding I brushed and vacuumed the slab and resin. I stopped sanding the wood portion at 220 however for the sections with epoxy resin I used 320 and 400 sandpaper, then 600, 800 and 1000 wet application sandpaper. The extra passes on the resin helped remove any little swirls that could be seen. It is challenging to not jump to the final grit sandpaper but it is very important to work in order and to maintain a dust free area as often as possible!
PRO tip! See the short video below. Prior to sanding with 80, 120, etc (but after using the floor sander) I used black CA glue and an accelerator to fill in any little cracks and knots that the resin didn't settle in (black matched my resin color). This is a very tedious step but the final product looks incredible and these voids would have been expose if I had skipped this step. You can see these small voids in the closeup picture on the right as well before I applied the glue. The CA glue & accelerator work quickly (2-3 minutes to dry), allowing you to hit it with the sander and glue again if needed. At this point it is the little things that really make a difference in the quality of your product.
Finishing the table
At this point the slab and epoxy resin are sanded, clean and ready for finishing. I like using a floor finish (floor finish is tough and durable) called Osmo. I use the Osmo 1101 to coat the surface; after covering the entire surface I use a buffer to penetrate the table. After allowing the 1101 to dry as written on the back of the container I apply 2-3 coats of Osmo 3043 and I use the buffer again for penetration into the surfaces.
You might be asking yourself - now what!? Now - sit at your table with some nice chairs and enjoy a well deserved beverage and meal! Congratulations on building a beautiful addition to your home, office or anywhere else.
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