Resin coffee table.

[wanabechippie]

Hey.

Apologies for random topic title...

A work colleague has asked me to make her a coffee table after I'd made her some nursery furniture. She's had this idea of having thin disks of varying sized logs/tree branches set into/covered with some sort of clear resin for the table top .... 'Jurassic park bug style' was the brief.....

I've got a fair idea of how to make the table and logs, but i've no idea about the clear resin part. I was thinking of something along the lines of fibre glass resin or .... something Never worked with any sort of resin, so have no idea what's tough or clear.

The tabletop would be approx 1000mm x 600mm ish, with a 20mm depth. Ideally it would be just clear resin, but perhaps have a toughened glass base beneath the resin would make it stronger? She's got one of those clear paperweights on her desk with an small branch cross-section in the middle which she's basing her ideas on. She'd like to be able to see through the logs and have them appear to be just floating.

Being a coffee table, the resin would have to be heat and scratch resistant as well as smooth. Is this achievable? Or would it be simpler to just go with glass?

Anyway... brain-fart over .

Any help, gratefully received.

 

[Deluks]

Have a look on ebay for resin, contact this seller for advice.

 

[Jasonb]

You must use a clear casting resin as in the link above because general purpose resin (fibreglass) will get too hot and tends to dry with a pink/brown tinge.

I've seen it done in large blocks which were then turned and hollowed on a lathe. You will need to sand and polish the top surface as it is unlikely to set perfectly flat. Go through the grades of glasspaper then finish with micro-mesh for a glass clear surface.

You may also want to have a look at this supplier that I use.

Jason

 

[wanabechippie]

Wow! Thanks for that, guys.

Would you say that this product will be strong enough for a table top of the dimensions I mentioned, without supporting it with glass?

Also, how much would you say I would need (assuming the log sections are 15mm thick, packed into the frame tightly and are covered by 5mm resin on either side)?

Thanks again for your help!