Main Project Plans and Inspiration – Epoxy Coffee Table with Drawer

For my main project, I want to tackle building an epoxy resin maple wood coffee table.  My inspiration comes from my love of nature as well as my love for wood working.  I first started working with wood for my Invention and Innovation class at CU and I fell in love.  It was a camping kitchen box made of poplar wood straight out of the lumber yard.  The process was long but the end result was worth it.

I learned how to use new power equipment tools as well as see the lumber transform into something extraordinary.  This project will allow me to keep building on those skills and have a piece I can utilize daily.  Also, having a piece of nature in the center of my living room doesn’t sound to bad.  On my free time, I enjoy spending my time outdoors snowboarding, hiking, camping, running, really anything you can name, and find so much peace when I’m out there.  I want to bring nature to me and this felt like a nice touch when I can’t make it into mother nature.

In the picture above, this is just a piece of maple wood without epoxy running through it but a clear epoxy finish.  There’s so much character that is brought to simplicity especially when it comes to the natural grains of wood.  I hope to bring out the character in my piece and accent the wood with a black epoxy.  The black will allow the wood to pop out and be the star of the show.

Moving onto the plans for my project, I know this will take a lot of time so I’m trying to develop a plan where I can consistently work on it and enjoy it along the way.  My first step will be to determine how big I will like it.  Some of the considerations I will take into account is the width so I can move it easily through doors as well as a moving drawer that can be installed with little enough structural integrity.  Also, I believe finding legs will be a difficult decision in this process and making sure that table is level.  I will purchase a maple piece from a lumbar yard and develop a frame it based off my final dimensions.

I considered a blue epoxy to exemplify an ocean but as I’ve done research this is a more difficult process for a beginner like me.  Eventually I think it would be great to get to this point.

Other things I’m considering with my plan are acquiring the right equipment to finish the wood such as sanding equipment and a wax coat for the finish.  It’s fairly easy to get cutting equipment but I also know that maple wood is fairly hard so I may need to use a special saw for it.  There needs to be more research and testing done on the finish and making sure that I can alleviate the air bubble pockets that happen often with these types of project.

Overall, I’m excited to start working on this project and hope to bring the audience a piece of nature.

Works Cited:

https://www.tradingpostdepot.com/product-page/spalting-maple-coffee-table-with-clear-epoxy?gQT=1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1628028550/unique-live-edge-coffee-table-walnut?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ps-a-home_and_living&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAiAlPu9BhAjEiwA5NDSAxUIE88BU9o8Qo40EGt3m2h0T-95Y8u2om3IXr4xiylPQ_udifdmrBoCf6gQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_21506855513_167985819319_716809514320_pla-303628061699_c__1628028550_12768591&utm_custom2=21506855513&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlPu9BhAjEiwA5NDSAxUIE88BU9o8Qo40EGt3m2h0T-95Y8u2om3IXr4xiylPQ_udifdmrBoCf6gQAvD_BwE