Epoxy and Wood Coasters

I tired many different methods to make epoxy and wood coasters. There was a fairly big learning curve. I feel that these are the best of the coasters I made and I wanted to share the process.

Allie Nichols- PATHS Woodworking

Tape Measure 

Combination Square 

Pencil

Heat Gun

Table Saw

Dado Blade

Safety Glasses

Measuring Cups & Mixing Stick

Sandpaper & Sander

Masking Tape

Two Part Epoxy

Epoxy Dye

Walnut Oil

Clean up rags

Gloves

Tooth Pick

Choose your piece of wood for your project, I chose 3⁄4” walnut.

Cut your wood to at least 17” inches long with a width of 4” inches. 

After you get your choice of wood run it through a planer and bring it down to a thickness of ½ an inch or thicker or just a little thinner if you want.

Take your wood over to a table saw, lower or raise the blade to a little over half the depth of the board and run it across to get a thickness of groves/dado through your board that you like. This is the area where the epoxy will go.

You can choose to make 1 grove or you can make more.

You will need a two part epoxy, two measuring cups, a mixing cup, and masking tape a stir stick for the next part. 

Tape off the ends of your wood to make sure no epoxy spills out. Be sure the tape is secure.

Add equal parts of part A and part B of the epoxy and pour them into your mixing cup. Follow the directions on the epoxy container. (I used about 2oz of each). Add your color of choice and mix till combined evenly. 

Slowly pour the epoxy into your groves. Make sure you are on a flat surface and your epoxy is even throughout the board.

Be as neat as possible.

Make sure you wipe any epoxy off that is not in the right place so you don't have to sand a lot afterwards.

Use a heat gun or a blow dryer to remove as many bubbles as possible. Keep the heat gun back a little bit so none of the epoxy gets blown out.

Add white drops of dye to the wet epoxy, use a toothpick to spread it around to make lines and swirls.  Use the white cautiously you can always add more but can not take it away.

Let dry on a flat surface for at least 24 hrs.

Next sand just the wood and clean up the edges, try not to touch the epoxy with the sander so it doesn’t get scratched. If the epoxy is sitting higher or lower than the wood you can sand over the epoxy but it scratches it and will be harder to see the swirls. 

You can put masking tape on top of the epoxy so it does not get sanded. You can also hand sand the coasters.

Put a block of wood 4” inches away from the blade of the table saw clamp it in place , This  stop block will make sure all coasters are the same size. 

Making sure your board is sitting flush with the back of the saw and is clamped down if needed. Then cut straight down to make a clean cut.

You can sand down the edges of your coasters to clean them up . You can also sand the back a little to thin the coasters out.

Use a tack rag to clean off any dust . Apply oil, stain, or finish of your choice to your coasters. I used walnut oil for mine.

Now you are all done and can keep them or give it to someone as a gift.