Wooden Suncatcher (African Sunset)

I have had some wood slices sitting behind my shed for years now waiting for the perfect project to come along, and it finally did. I wanted to try and create an African bush themed wooden suncatcher. The idea was to have the background look like an African sunset, with a silhouette of the African bush scene. Depending on the light, the colours in the wooden suncatcher will look different from every angle. Even though I live in Australia, I was actually born in South African. There is an old saying, you can take the girl out of the bush, but not the bush out of the girl. I have so many fond memories of visiting all the local game parks and driving around for hours looking at all the amazing animals. So those amazing experiences were the inspiration for this project.

• Resin
• Colour pigment
• Cricut vinyl cutter
• Oracle 651 Vinyl
• Hand planer
• Grinder
• Orbital sander
• Hammer and chisel
• plastic window film
• Foil tape
• blow torch
• gloves
• facemask

This wood slice was cut a few years ago, so over time it has dried out and the wood has shrunk causing the cracks in the centre. If your slice is coming away from the sides like mine you can remove the loose areas with a hammer and chisel. (I do use some power tools in this project but they are not needed, it is just easier and quicker. You can do it all with a sander.)

This is my second wooden resin suncatcher and on the first one I ran into issues I was prepared for this time. The first one was to prepare the surface correctly. Your surface needs to be smooth so the resin does not seep out into the grooves and run out. I used an electric planer to get rid of the majority of the ridges caused by the chainsaw. Next, I used a grinder with a sanding disc and smoothed out the surface some more, before sanding with an orbital sander.

More issues I had on the last project, was that the tape left a sticky residue on the resin. And that regular duct tape did not work for me, the resin leaked straight through. To prevent the tape residue staying behind on the resin, I added a layer a thin plastic film. It was an offcut of window film I had leftover from another project. I taped the film in place I did add some hot glue on the inside. But in hindsight, the hot glue was a waste of time and cause another issue later down the line.

With the last project, I tried a few different types of tape and this foil tape was the only one that worked for me. I added two layers on top of the plastic film. If you don’t add the plastic film, you will spend hours rubbing the sticky goo of the resin. To make a suncatcher you don’t fill the hole completely with resin. The more colour and depth you add the less the sun will shine through.

All resins are different so you should mix your resin according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For this project, I used less than 1l of resin. To start, I mixed up a batch of 500ml in one large container. The most important tip I can offer with resin is to mix it really well. Set a timer and mix for at least 4 – 5 minutes if you are mixing by hand.

I used some cheap resin pigments I bought from China years ago and to be honest they were crap. The colours had gone off and were no longer the correct colours. I would highly recommend good quality resin pigments. But I had no alternative but to go forward and use what I had and hope for the best. The one at the back on the right was supposed to be orange.

The idea I had in my head was to try and recreate an African sunset with all the beautiful colours running across the sky. I poured the coloured resin horizontally across the surface, alternating the colours. I used a stir stick to slightly blend some of the colours. After a few minutes, you will see some bubbles on the surface. To remove these you need some sort of flame. I use a creme Brule torch and just swipe it over the surface. Your resin will need at least 12 hours to dry.

Unfortunately, I still had some leakage because my surface was not perfectly flat so the weight of the resin did let some ooze out. So it is a good idea to make sure your wood slice is level. But I had no sticky residue so that was a win. In hindsight I would not have added the hot glue, I believe this was a contributor to the leakage. And a note to self, do not use black hot glue as it is too hard to disguise with the resin.

All the images you see on the wooden suncatcher are vinyl decals that I made using my Cricut vinyl cutter. The African scene was created and designed in Cricut design space. You do not need to be a graphic designer to use this software. All the images were free images I downloaded from the internet as individual images first. The software is so easy to use, you can move and resize the images in seconds. Keep moving the images around until you are happy with the design. Once you are happy with the design you push the select all button then group the design as one image. Because there are a few images in the design you have to push the weld button to create one solid image. If you don’t weld the machine will cut each image as an individual image.

You can add the images 2 ways. The first way is to add the images directly onto the top of the resin. If you use a permanent vinyl such as Oracle 651 this will last about 6 years outside in the sun. The alternative is to set the vinyl inside the resin, which is what I did. At this stage, it is a good idea to see if the design fits correctly. Mine was too big and the tree blocked out the sun so the monkeys and the birds had to go. I cut a circle in yellow vinyl and stuck it on the backside of the log. This will be my “sun” which will show up great from the front with all the resin colours in front of it. I added a thin coat of clear resin to seal the vinyl inside. I forgot to take a photo here, but there is one further down showing you the back.

I had to remove the black hot glue because it spoilt the look. If it were a nice clean circle, it would have looked great, but mine was a mess.

Next, I used an orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper to remove the bulk of the resin that had seeped out. I finished with 240 grit sandpaper.

This was my first attempt at adding the decal, but the tree blocked out too much of the sun which spoilt the effect. I had to cut a second decal which I moved up higher. Using the transfer tape to transfer the design. It is as simple as rubbing the transfer tape with a scrapper and removing the transfer tape.

It is now time to add the resin to seal the decal. It is a good idea to make sure your surface is level to prevent the resin from running off

Here was my next mistake, but this happens when you make your projects up as you go. I poured a coat of resin to seal in the decal but straight away the resin started to bubble as it filled up all the tiny holes in the wood. If I were to do this project again, I would seal the wood surface first with 2 coats of clear polyurethane. This will fill in most of the tiny holes and prevent bubbles in the resin coat. I did use the flame to remove the bubbles but they kept forming long after I was able to use the flame. After a while, you can no longer use the flame, or you will cause the resin the burn or move, which will spoil the surface. I did have to lightly sand the surface after 24 hours and apply another thin coat of resin using a foam sponge. Once the front was dry, I added I thin coat of resin to the back. This coat is not poured on or the resin will flow through the cracks to the front, ruining the surface

This is the view from the back of the suncatcher, so you can only use it the one way.

Alternatively, you can make it into a lamp by adding a LED light strip around the inside of the back.

This was my first attempt at a wood suncatcher with a coloured resin. The corner shelf was made as a Christmas tree a few years back but can be used after Christmas too.

For more unique project check out my website Unique Creations by Anita