Resin filled table tops

[powertools]

I have come across a guy on youtube who takes slabs of wood cut from the full length of tree trunks that have splits in them almost running the full length. He fill the splits with resin and makes table tops from them. They look amazing but my question is won't the wood move over time and crack away from the resin filler?

 

[marcros]

they seem to last. I presume that the epoxy glues the splits back together and then the top moves as one. Either that or the wooden part is on the edge and it is similar to a breadboard end which is only fixed in the middle.

are you thinking of making one?

 

[Doug71]

I have often wondered about this. The most stunning tables are made of the most gnarly wood with big splits and knots etc in, I just can't imagine how it won't move. The pieces are often finished to a very high standard so it's not like a new crack will add to the rusticness. Many of the tables cost a few thousand as they are considered a piece of art, I would be interested to know what is written in the guarantee about movement, splits etc.

 

[Droogs]

usually the wood is entirely encased in a thin film of resin andd so does not get to meet the atmosphere nor the humidity

 

[Mickjay]

No idea what any guarantee against splitting is but one of my sons has a table that's 2.4m x 1.0m and it has metal straps to the underside about 300mm centres bridging the resin to join the 2 sides. Don't know if that's good or not but it looks amazing.

 

[marcros]

I like them, but I wonder how long they will remain fashionable for. Watching YouTube, you would assume that every other house has one, but that is based on what I watch. I am yet to see one in person.

when I make a dining table, I will either go live edge with butterflies but no resin, or square edges and minimal defects. Part of me is temped to have a go at a resin hybrid coffee table though.

 

[Yojevol]

I joiner friend of mine had this elm kicking around in his workshop for about 20 years......he gave it to me and I made this...It's 800 x 500 x 450

Have a look at this thread of a few weeks ago

 

[dannyr]

I think they've had their 15mins of celebrity - especially the luminous blue and green.

The earlier versions tended to be black - a bit more tasteful?

And how many butterfly inserts do you want?

Sounds like I don't like 'different' furniture, but actually I'm all for experimenting and a few new forms do really work, design and use wise.

 

[marcros]

What I do like about both is being able to use wood that would previously have been discarded. I accept that sometimes trees need to be felled, particularly street trees but we have a duty not to waste resources.

 

[julianf]

I've been using it on smaller parts recently and would like to do a table, however, whilst I think some of the tables look good, they're too slick and modern for the look of our own house.

More the sort of thing for a modern house or a swanky bar or somthing, I think?

 

[Junah]

I think they've had their 15mins of celebrity - especially the luminous blue and green.

The earlier versions tended to be black - a bit more tasteful?

And how many butterfly inserts do you want?

Sounds like I don't like 'different' furniture, but actually I'm all for experimenting and a few new forms do really work, design and use wise.

I'm fed up of seeing them too, a phase that will pass hopefully.

 

[julianf]

I'm fed up of seeing them too, a phase that will pass hopefully.

I bet you're only "seeing" them on YouTube though?

Or face book, or whatever... Just not actually in real life?

What I mean is, go on YouTube and it looks like everyone and their dog has one. I've seen a grand total of one in real live, and that was when I was picking up wood (ie being made rather than in someone's house)

I think they're considerably less popular than YouTube would have you believe.

I've even spoken to friends, as I wouldn't mind making one, I just don't want one, and none of my personal friends want one either. They all, pretty much, feel the same as me - they're cool, but they wouldn't actually want one.

 

[Steliz]

It would be quite a financial risk to even just have a go. The cost of epoxy is pretty high and if it fails or is full of bubbles then that's a lot of dough down the drain.

 

[topchippyles]

I have done a few of these as mill my own stuff.Like all timber need to be seasoned first ideally.The apoxy resin is stronger than the timber and super strong.You either love them or hate them is my experience.

I am doing an oak beam at the moment with a tint of red in it.I will take some photos and upload them id you guys are interested.

 

[powertools]

they seem to last. I presume that the epoxy glues the splits back together and then the top moves as one. Either that or the wooden part is on the edge and it is similar to a breadboard end which is only fixed in the middle.

are you thinking of making one?

I am not thinking of making a full size table my workshop and machines are not big enough and I have no need for one but I do think that there could be potential in using the same process in making small boxes to add some interest.

 

[AJB Temple]

Cautionary tale: I have made a small resin table - about 6 ft long. Couple of years ago. It was done for a close friend / business partner as she had seen one on Instagram (she's addicted). She chose a large piece of figured elm from my stock of random stuff, I cut it in half and flipped one to make a book match) and she chose the resin colour. I followed the process on you tube, including heat (blowtorch in my case) to get the bubbles out, and she bought the resin from the US. I used clear resin on the back just to ensure everything was encased in an effort to stop much movement (along with standard joinery techniques). We had to construct an anti dust indoor tent to do the finishing and I had her in action with a vacuum cleaner quite a lot as dust is the enemy of this stuff if you are doing a whole top finish. It took ages and I did not enjoy the fiddly process one bit.

She was and still is delighted and she uses it as her desk in her pristine house.

My view: they've had their day, they are a total pig to make a good job of, and I would not make one for myself. Though I kept the view to myself I thought it was a waste of a nice piece of elm but it does look cool in her house.

My favourite table is a very old refectory table made of three planks about 3" thick. It's extremely battered and heavy and I love it. It is at least 400 years old and I very much doubt that the resin table will be preserved down through the generations for that long. Most will not be kept beyond one generation I reckon.

 

[topchippyles]

Cautionary tale: I have made a small resin table - about 6 ft long. Couple of years ago. It was done for a close friend / business partner as she had seen one on Instagram (she's addicted). She chose a large piece of figured elm from my stock of random stuff, I cut it in half and flipped one to make a book match) and she chose the resin colour. I followed the process on you tube, including heat (blowtorch in my case) to get the bubbles out, and she bought the resin from the US. I used clear resin on the back just to ensure everything was encased in an effort to stop much movement (along with standard joinery techniques). We had to construct an anti dust indoor tent to do the finishing and I had her in action with a vacuum cleaner quite a lot as dust is the enemy of this stuff if you are doing a whole top finish. It took ages and I did not enjoy the fiddly process one bit.

She was and still is delighted and she uses it as her desk in her pristine house.

My view: they've had their day, they are a total pig to make a good job of, and I would not make one for myself. Though I kept the view to myself I thought it was a waste of a nice piece of elm but it does look cool in her house.

My favourite table is a very old refectory table made of three planks about 3" thick. It's extremely battered and heavy and I love it. It is at least 400 years old and I very much doubt that the resin table will be preserved down through the generations for that long. Most will not be kept beyond one generation I reckon.

We all have different tastes remember and what suits one does not suite another.

 

[Felix]

Here's my tuppence-ha'penny's worth....

I think resin still has a big role to play in the design and execution of woodworking projects. Granted, 'river' tables are ubiquitous and their longevity as a saleable product may be coming to an end. However other (similar) uses of resin can still make a project interesting. It can be inlaid in some routed or carved design. It can also be used as an infill on a panel design, form the bottom parts of console table legs (or any legs for that matter) and the corners of tables - you could even make your butterfly wedges out of it - and they would look really good in a metallic pigment. You can buy some moulding rubber to make a mould of one of your butterflies and you could make dozens........ As beautiful as wood is, sometimes just a little bit of bling transforms the whole thing...

In short I don't think that you should write resin off until you've explored what you as an individual can do with it. Resin pigments are mixable and you can therefore produce your own mix of colours - I have used and mixed the metallic pigments in a couple of the projects that I have done and I'm really pleased with the outcome. I make lamps normally using stained glass, but I am experimenting with using resin as it is really versatile in that area. I can design a lighting panel - cut out the design on a scrollsaw and pour the resin in a couple of hours - whereas if I used glass it could take a day or two to shape and foil the glass (some of the panels I make have over 200 pieces of individually cut glass). In addition I can use multiple colours in different areas of the panel....so for me it's great addition to my 'armoury'.

I don't necessarily agree with the worries regarding the movement of tables made using resin - remember the wood is generally on the outside of the resin and therefore is totally free to expand and contract at will. I'm sure there is some co-efficient of linear expansion that relates to expoxy resin, but I don't think that it will play as much a part as the movement of the timber. The legs or support framing could be designed to accommodate any timber movement.

As for the longevity of the tables - if the timber was well looked after and kept in a reasonably stable environment (in an ideal world) then I see no reason for a 'river' table not to last for as long as any well made all timber table. Having said that, if it was a toss-up between a 'river' table and a 400yr old rectory table ' the 'river' table would be in the skip.....well maybe at the back of the shed.

On the matter of cost - yes epoxy resin is quite expensive, but inlaying resin can be relatively cheap compared to making 'river' tables. I looked at making a 2.4m x 900mm x 63mm river table using 2 x 300mm elm wany edged boards and the cost of the resin alone was going to be about £500!! - that's partly why they are so expensive.

Here's a couple of images: one of inlaid resin and the other is a panel.....the hearts were supposed to be blood red - but opaque pigments are not strong enough if you want a more solid colour. The lamp looks an odd shape due to the angle the image was taken.

Don't discount resin because of resin 'river' tables.......you could be missing out on your next big sale....

Cheers
Dean

 

[powertools]

bowmaster many thanks for posting that.
When I first saw the resin tables I had no interest in making one but I did think that the process had potential to add interest to smaller items and I can see that it could transform items made on the scroll saw.
Your input has given me food for thought and I can see that in the near future a small amount of resin will be in my workshop to try it out.

 

[marcros]

bowmaster many thanks for posting that.
When I first saw the resin tables I had no interest in making one but I did think that the process had potential to add interest to smaller items and I can see that it could transform items made on the scroll saw.
Your input has given me food for thought and I can see that in the near future a small amount of resin will be in my workshop to try it out.

I know what you mean, but pay attention to the temperatures required. I dont know if there is a minimum but it gets very thick at low temps. Epoxy is not strong smelling so you may get away with doing it in the house- polyester resin you wont.