Surfboard Bangle “Surf’s Up”

I have been making jewelry from recycled surfboard resin for many years. It was made from resin I collected while working at my nephews surfboard factory. We noticed that as the resin dripped off the surfboards while glassing them mixed together into some beautiful patterns. Instead of discarding this resin I started to collect and recycle it into unique pieces of jewelry. A few years ago while trying to come up with something new I came up with this process to make a resin bangle which looked like it had little surfboards laminated in it. In my demo I’m going to do two bangles in slightly different styles for you to compare. I hope you enjoy seeing how I make these and please check out my Etsy store or Instagram to see some of my other jewelry pieces. resinandwoodworld.Etsy.com and Instagram.com/resinandwoodworld . Also be sure to let me know which bangle you like better, the white or black one.

Thanks for looking 😊

1. Bangle Mold

2. Resin - for demo I used a polyester resin.

3. Pigment

4. Ca Glue, Thin - Medium

5. Masking Tape

6. Buffing Compound for Polishing

7. Buffing wheel

8. Artist Ink Pen

MACHINES USED

1. Drill Press

2. Lathe

3. Disc Sander

4. Polisher

1. For this demo I used about five ounces of a polyester resin for each bangle.

2. Next add the pigment into the resin. Make sure it is thoroughly mixed with the resin before pouring. For demo I mixed resin for two bangles one black and one white. Pictures only show the black one.

3. Mix resin with the hardener according to manufacturers instructions and pour into mold. Mold size I used was about two inches deep with a center of 2 1/4 inches.

4. I allowed the resin bangle to harden until the next day before removing from mold.

1. Decide on bangle size you desire.

2. The inside measurement of bangle blank is 2 1/4 inches starting out and I want to size it to a 2 1/2 inches opening.
3. I start by sanding with a heavy grit sandpaper usually 120p grit with a drum sander and the closer I get to desired size I reduce the sandpaper grit ending with a 400 wet/dry sandpaper. This leaves it smooth enough for polishing on final step.

1. After placing bangle on lathe I turn the outer edges down leaving the center at about 3/8 inch thick.

2. Next I sand the bangle to the desired shape rounding the outer edges. I start with a heavy grit sandpaper and reduce grit stopping at about a 500p sandpaper. This is not the final sanding. The center thickness is probably about 5/16 inch now after sanding.

1. Find center of the bangle and layout width of desired channel. On the black bangle I did a 5/16 inch wide channel and 3/8 inch on the white bangle.
2. Next take a gouge and cut the channel into the bangle. The deeper you cut into the bangle the longer the illusion of a surfboard appears. On the finished pictures you will notice the surfboards on the white bangle appear longer. That’s because I cut a deeper channel in that one.

1. Take a measurement around the bangle. I used a piece of tape around the bangle for this.
2. After taking measurements mark bangle into equal spaces of at least 1 1/4 inches.

3. Next I lightly sanded a 3/16 inch wooden dowel. NOTE: photo says 1/4 inch wooden dowel but I ended up using a 3/16 inch wooden dowel.

4. Next you need to seal the dowel to prevent pigment from leeching into it when you pour resin in the channel around it. I did this by wiping a layer of thin ca glue on it. Alternate way may be to just spray a sealant on the dowel.

5. Next I cut the dowel into 1 1/4 inch pieces.

6. Next add a drop of thick ca glue in center of channel at one of the spaces you marked out and place one of the dowel pieces there. Make sure you center and balance the dowel in the channel until the ca sets.
7. Continue gluing the remainder of the dowels.

1. Use two inch masking tape and make a nest to pour resin in channel.

2. Mix color pigment into about three ounces of resin.

3. Mix hardener according to resin manufacturer and pour into channel.

4. Let completely harden before next step.

1. Remove masking tape.

2. I used a disc sander to remove a lot of the excess resin.

3. Place on lathe and reshape to original shape.
4. Sand bangle stopping at about 500p sandpaper.

5. You need to seal wood dowels on bangle before proceeding to next step. I did this by adding multiple layers of thin ca glue and then sanding smooth. You may be ample to just spray it with a sealer.

1. To make it look more realistic I add a stringer line on the surfboards using a medium Fabre Castell Pitt artist pen.

2. First I taped off each end of surfboards to control ink line.

3. Using a straight edge I marked the stringer line on each surfboard. If the line doesn’t turn out to your liking let it dry and then sand off and remark.
4. After lines are completely dry place bangle back on lathe and reseal bangle. I added multiple layers of thin ca glue before sanding stopping at 400 wet/dry sandpaper. Look up ca finishing on writing pens for this process. Another option may be for you to just spray a sealant on the bangle.

5. If you use the ca process after the sanding you need to polish the bangle using buffing compound and buffing wheels as in pictures.

——————-“Thanks for checking out my instructables post”——————-
Be sure to check out my other pieces of surfboard jewelry at resinandwoodworld.Etsy.com or Instagram.com/resinandwoodworld