Live Edge Epoxy Coasters
Why We Did It
Mixing a large bowl of epoxy and pouring 4 different projects seemed like a good idea, for some reason. Phoebe and I used coffee brown epoxy to make a matching charcuterie board with coasters.
Making the Mold
We started by making a mold from 1/8″ melamine sheets. We already have a post for how to make a mold. We can add one specifically for coasters but its much simpler than the one we made for a charcuterie board.
We cut the melamine sheets to make a 4″x20″ base, cut some sides and taped it all together with tuck tape, then sealed the inside corners with caulking. The tape should hold but even a tiny hole leaks epoxy everywhere. Everything gets sprayed with mold release prior to placing the wood pieces.
Setting It Up
For the live edged pieces I cut some maple into 3/8″ thick pieces. I wedged a chisel into one side and hammered it to split the wood. It took a few tries to get enough pieces to lay out in the molds. We used 2X2 scraps of wood covered in tuck tape and some dusty cans of soup to keep the wood pieces from floating in the epoxy.
The epoxy was mixed and colour added according to the directions for the brand we used. When we poured it the epoxy was the same level as the wood, it sunk a bit as it dried though.
Forming It Into Coasters
Ideally we would have added some clear epoxy after it had cured awhile. The epoxy level was lower than the wood when we were going to finish the coasters. To even things out I (Elizabeth) used a hand planer. This made the coasters thinner than we had wanted them to be, and was incredibly messy. I also planed down the bottom of the coasters where some of the epoxy had seeped under the wood. I guess we did not use a heavy enough soup. I used a thin board fastened to the end of another board to hold the strip of coaster board in place
Finishing Touches
The coasters were already 4″ wide from the mold. It is easier to work with a 20″ strip than a bunch of short pieces for pouring and planing. Once this was complete we cut them into 4″ pieces. Five coasters is an odd number. The original plan was to use the fifth to create a holder for the other 4 but we did not do this in the end. Maybe next time.
Nothing in life seems complete without a lot of sanding. We sanded down to a very fine 600 grit sandpaper, then sprayed them with a bit of water to raise the grain in the wood, and sanded it some more
After the final sanding the coasters were buffed with a food grade wood oil that we had bought at the lumber store and ready for use!