My top five constraints for this river table project include Aesthetic of the wood itself, Aesthetic of the finished table, Cost (and therefore size), epoxy curing process/environment, and Time.  All of these constraints were set by myself when seeing the viability of each project I was researching.

Constraint 1: Aesthetic of the Wood Itself

This whole project starts with the piece of wood.  After finding the perfect piece of wood, almost everything else should just fall into place.  Things such as table size, amount of epoxy, machining operations, time it will take, and overall cost follow the piece of lumber that I get.

After doing a lot of research I have decided that I want a darker piece of wood with lighter edges.  I really like the way other projects that I have seen on the internet look with the darker wood.  The next piece to the aesthetic of the wood is that it must have a good amount of curves, both globally and locally on the piece of wood.  I do not like some of the river tables that I have seen on the internet solely because there was little to no variance in the wood itself.  I went to a place called TC Woods in Ft Lupton and found the piece of wood that I am going to use.  This is the piece shown in the featured image.  It doesn’t have as much variance locally, but it does curve globally and has some variances that could represent.  The first picture below shows how much better a very weird piece of wood looks.  The second picture shows how the straight piece of wood looks in the table.  I like the first picture so much better.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/624551775/river-table-dining-tables

The 20+ Most Unique River Tables

Constraint 2: Aesthetic of the Finished Table

The second constraint of this project is that the table must have a natural aesthetic given from the wood and it must also have an ocean aesthetic given by the combination of epoxy, epoxy color, and wood combinations. I want the epoxy to be clear enough to resemble what the ocean looks like with super clear water in places like Cancun.  I also want the epoxy to have some sort of green/blue/turquoise color which also is seen in places such as Cancun or near islands. below is a picture of Cancun that is inspiring this aesthetic.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/cancun-travel-guide-1588615

Constraint 3: Cost (and Therefore Size)

The third constraint is cost.  The materials for this project, especially the epoxy, is very expensive.  This in turn limits the overall size of the table.  From my cost projections, I am estimating that I can afford to make a table that is about 2ftx4ftx2inches.

Constraint 4: Epoxy Curing Process/Environment

The portion of the project that I am most worried about is the curing process for the epoxy.  I am going to need to let it cure for 48 hours in a temperature controlled environment that is between 70F-85F.  This will be tricky, especially since we are in Colorado and it has been very cold lately.  My house is heated and Can definitely reach these temperatures.  What im worried about is whether it can keep a constant temperature or not.  I am going to have to wait for a warm stretch of days that way I can minimize the fluctuation of temperature inside of my house.

Constraint 5: Time

The last constraint is time.  I am not worried about this constraint, but I cannot deny that it is there.  I am giving myself about six weeks from today in order to finish this project.  I have already gotten started and feel that I am on track.