Resin River Charcuterie Board

I started this project with a log of maple and no true plan. This was cut from the tree about 20 years ago and has been sitting around ever since. I had seen some really cool resin projects and decided to give it a try. On the first board I attempted though, I didn't mix the resin correctly and it never cured. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes and maybe even try this awesome project for yourself.

Materials:

• Any type of hardwood, live edge would be preferable but you could always cut an edge pattern yourself.
• Epoxy Resin
• Mica Powder Pigment
• Packing Tape
• Scrap Plywood or MDF
• Silicone
• Screws
• Cutting Board Oil
• Cutting Board Wax

Tools:

• Ax
• Bandsaw
• Miter Saw
• Plainer
• Screwdriver
• Tablesaw
• Router Table
• Orbital Sander
• 60, 120, 220, 400, etc. grit sanding discs

I started this project with a maple log that has been sitting around since before I can remember. I brought it to our workshop thinking our bandsaw was big enough to slice it up, but it ended up being a few inches too small. So I had to take it home and split it the old-fashioned way... with an ax. Once I had it in halves I was able to run them through the bandsaw. The cuts have to be carefully planned out if you want certain features such as knots to be included in your design. I ended up with seven usable boards from my wood. After you get your rough boards cut, they need to be cleaned up. It is easiest to have them all cut down to the same length and thickness. The width doesn't matter unless you want a more symmetrical look for your project. I plained all of mine down to 1 in. thickness and cut them to 15 in. long.

Plywood or MDF are your best options to build the mold as these are cheap and easy to work with. I built a simple box frame with an inner width of about an inch wider than I wanted my board to be. This allows for plenty of excess to be cut off and make the sides as straight as possible. Now if we just pour the resin into the wood box, it'll stick and will be near impossible to remove. Instead, line the inside of the mold with packing tape and the resin should release from it fairly easily. I put the tape on the individual pieces of the mold before I screwed it together so it can come apart easily. I also added some silicone between all of the seams of the mold to prevent leakage. Be sure to scrape off any silicone that squeezes out so it doesn't mix into the resin.

Now that we have everything ready, it's time to pour the resin! This is definitely the most fun part of the project but the easiest to mess up, so take your time. On my first attempt at this, I got the ratio of the resin mixture wrong and I had to scrap the entire thing because it never cured. The best way to ensure the ratio is correct is to go by weight. This requires a little bit of math and can be confusing at first, but if I can get it I'm sure most of you can as well. The resin I used had to be mixed in a 50/50 ratio so that made it easier, but don't be intimidated if it's different for you. The bottles have the weight of the liquid on the outside. The first thing to do is to find the weight of 1% of it by dividing the overall weight by 100 (Weight/100). If it is in Lbs it is generally easier to convert it to grams using an online calculator (unless you are super smart and can convert it in your head, props to you). I would then multiply the 1% by whatever percentage of the bottles I wanted to use. For larger pours, I did 20% of my half-gallon resin bottles. If you have questions about this or a better way to calculate it, please leave them in the comments down below. Alright once you have your resin poured into a clean container, mix it until it changes from cloudy to mostly clear, about 2 minutes. Now you can add your desired coloring and mix for another minute or so and it's actually time to pour now. Arrange your wood how you want it in the mold, leaving a little space around the wood, and pour the resin. To add a little bit of visual texture to my cutting board I mixed up a little bit of gold resin and poured it down the middle of my "river". This should be left in a moderate temperature location for at least 48 hours before working with it.

Woo Hoo! We're almost done! It's time to take the cutting board out of the mold and clean up all the sides. After I unscrewed the frame, I still couldn't pull it apart so I used a rubber mallet for a little extra oomph. To get the resin un-stuck from the baseplate you can use a flathead screwdriver to pry it off. Be careful with this so you don't damage the wood. After this, I plained all the excess resin off and brought the board down to just over 3/4 in. thick. Next, I used the table saw to cut off the extra resin on the sides and to bring it down to the final dimensions. For mine, this was 8 x 14 in. To give this project a nice, finished look, I used a router table with a 45° bit to keep it simple. You could make this as complex or as simple of a feature as you want, other bit shapes could complement different designs better. I also wanted mine to be reversible because I really liked how both sides turned out, so I beveled both sides.

Now that we have removed the top layer of resin, there may be some air bubbles that are exposed. To fix this, I mixed up a small batch of blue resin to fill in any gaps and holes. I also used a skewer to help work the resin into the holes and draw out the air bubbles. Let this dry for at least 24 hours before sanding.

Once the resin has completely cured, it needs to be sanded back down. I started with my orbital sander with 60 grit sandpaper to bring it down flush with the board again. I then progressed to 120, 220, and 400 grit discs to get it as smooth as possible. I recommend going as small as possible with the sandpaper because the smoother you can get the surface, the nicer the finish will turn out. After you have sanded it as much as you want, wipe all the dust off with a rag and get your cutting board oil and wax ready. You might also want to prepare mentally because this will be super satisfying. Pour some oil onto the board and work it in with a paper towel. Apply two to three coats of oil and two to three coats of wax, letting it soak in for about 15-20 minutes between coats. The beeswax needed to be warmed up before application, but then I was able to apply it the same way as the oil.

This project had a few bumps in the road but I think it turned out pretty well in the end. I definitely recommend trying this out for yourself because it ends up being a beautiful piece of handcrafted art with a fairly low production cost. The cost per board is about $20 if you can find usable wood for free. I went with the cheaper option for resin, and with a little more work I was able to save about $40 by getting tabletop epoxy instead of deep pour resin. I hope this instructable was informative or at least entertaining to read. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comment section below. Thank you for reading!

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