DIY Epoxy River Table with Rocks Step-by-Step Tutorial

Epoxy River Table with Rocks – 3D Model

In order to provide a bit of background, this transparent epoxy river table with rocks was a custom order from one of my customers in California.
As I do with all my custom table orders, I create a 3D model of the item and send it to my customer for approval.

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This customer requested a reclaimed cypress wood desk with a glowing epoxy river and embedded blue rocks.
Also, this table resembles my epoxy resin river table with blue fire glass; however, this table is larger in size with many improvements.

Epoxy River Table with Embedded Rocks

I chose to use blue acrylic rocks instead of fire glass for this desk for 3 reasons.

1. Blue fire glass reflects light and the glow powder needs natural or artificial light to charge.
2. The fire glass I use is sharp and needs to be handled with care.
3. My saw I trim the ends of each table I make at the end of my projects and my saw blades don’t like to cut glass.

The fire glass has a unique, reflective look and it may appeal to many folks.

The picture below is a DIY wood slab epoxy bar top I built for a customer last year.

Ultimately, the acrylic rocks worked much better than the fire glass.

It also produces a very unique look which is more natural and clean.

Basically, choose fire glass if you like bling.

Otherwise, choose acrylic rocks if you like a more natural, organic look.

Mill Wood

The only stationary tool I have in my workshop is my bandsaw.

Due to various reasons, I sold all my stationary power tools and elected to use mobile power and hand tools for all my projects.

As a result, my local hardwood dealer mills the wood for me when I purchase it for a small fee.

First, they resawed piece of reclaimed cypress into two 2″ slabs.

Then, they ran it through their jointer to get a straight side.

Next, the 2 wood slabs were ran through our planer to get a flat surface.

Once I arrived home, I cross cut each 2″ cypress slab.

To ensure a straight cut, I referenced the flat side agains the rail on my MFT3 table and cut one side.

Then, I flipped the wood over and measured from the side I cut first 3 inches longer than the final dimensions.

Type of Wood for Epoxy River Desk

Any hardwood works best for an epoxy river table.
Hardwood species such as walnut, oak, maple, and many more are very dense with tight grain patterns.
This reduces air pockets (bubbles) by limiting the amount of epoxy resin which absorbs in the wood.

I use cypress wood on many of my projects because it is plentiful and comes in many variations.
My favorite cypress to use for river tables and epoxy bar tops is sinker cypress.
Although cypress wood is considered to be a hardwood species, it is not particularly dense like most hardwoods.

Check Wood Moisture Level

Before I begin any woodworking project, I check the wood moisture level with a wood moisture meter.
Wood is hygroscopic which means it gains or loses moisture depending on the relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding air.
Essentially, the correct moisture level prevents the wood from moving (shrinking or expanding) after the completion of the project.

This blog post explains wood moisture very well.

Epoxy River Table Mould

There are many ways to make an epoxy resin mould and I’ve tried most of them.
Ultimately, I build my resin moulds based on what I have available in my shop.
Most often, I have scrap wood, packing tape, and furniture wax available.
So, I used these materials to build the resin mould.

First, I place the wood on a flat and level surface.
Next, I completely covered the scrap particle board with packing tape and covered it with furniture wax.

Sand Live Edge Wood

Since the cypress wood slab was resawed and planed by my hardwood dealer, I only sanded the live edge.
Most live edge wood slabs contain bark or debris which need to be removed.
A soft sanding pad with 220 grit sandpaper works well to clean up the live edge without changing the shape or natural contours.

Filling Wood Cracks with Colored Epoxy

While inspecting the wood slabs, I noticed a wood crack on the underside of the cypress slab.
I decided to mix 12 ounces of epoxy resin along with a 1 drop of brown dye and 1 drop of black dye.
These colors matches the small streaks of dark grain and the live edge.

First, I filled the wood crack with epoxy resin.

Additionally, I filled the wood knots with resin as well.

After heating the resin with a torch, I moved the excess resin with a plastic spreader.

Essentially, resin gets thin when heated which enables it sink deeper in the wood crack.

Secure Wood Slabs to Resin Mould

As a final step before the resin pour, I positioned the cypress wood slabs on the resin mould.
I like to position the slabs 2″ wider than the final dimensions.
This allows me 1″ on each side to trim later in the project.
By the table being wider and longer than the final dimensions, I don’t have to worry about damaging the ends or sides during the build process.

Next, I cover 2 pieces end pieces of scrap wood with tape wider than the width of the river.
I secure them to each end of the river

Then, I seal around the perimeter of each wood slab to prevent leaking.

Lastly, I use scrap 2x4s with clamps to secure the wood slabs in place.
I make sure to perform this step immediately after sealing in order to compress the silicone caulk for a better seal.

Epoxy Resin for Deep Pours

Basically, the 2 main types of epoxy for table projects are classified by the depth, or thickness, that can be poured at one time.
This classification method suffices for epoxy river desk or table projects, but it is grossly oversimplified.
Deep pour epoxy cures slower and normally mixes at a 2:1 mixing ratio.
Thin pour epoxy cures quickly and normally mixes at a 1:1 mixing ratio.
Furthermore, deep pour epoxy speeds up the build process by reducing the number of pours.

For this project, I used Liquid Glass 2.0 Superclear Epoxy as it allows for 2″ to 4″ pours.

The thickness variation of 2″ to 4″ accommodates various environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
Warm, humid environments speed up the curing process while cool, less humid environments slow down the curing process.
Remember, slower cures allow for deeper pours while fast cures do not.

First Epoxy Resin Mixture

For the first epoxy resin pour, I used multiple mixing containers and a total of 192 ounces of epoxy.
The multiple mixing containers make it easy to properly mix large batches with 2:1 mixing ratios such as this epoxy.

First, I poured 64 ounces of part A in 2 containers for a total of 128 ounces of part A.
Next, I poured 32 ounces of part B in 2 containers for a total of 64 ounces of part B.

Then, I poured 1 64 ounce container of part A and one 32 ounce container of part B into 1 large mixing container.

I repeated the process for the other containers. So, I ended up with 2 96 ounce containers for a total of 192 ounces.

As a quick epoxy mixing tip, always mix the material until it turns clear as this is a sign it is ready to be poured.

The container at the top of the picture below has not been mixed.

Conversely, the container below it has already been mixed and very clear.

Epoxy Glow Powder

Once each container was mixed, I added blue epoxy glow powder to each mixture.
This fluorescent blue glow powder is blue while at rest and produces a blue glow.
Other glow powder colors tend to be a pearl white at rest and turn colors while glowing.

First, I poured roughly half of the 8 ounce bag in one resin batch.

The epoxy glow powder clumps together at the bottom and releases bubbles which produces a satisfying look.

I mixed the material in each container for roughly 3 minutes.
My favorite epoxy mixing technique starts with 3 circles clockwise.

Then, 3 circles counterclockwise followed by 3 bottom scrapes.

Once I finished mixing the epoxy and glow powder, I poured half of one container in the other.
Then, I mixed the half full container to make sure no blue glow powder stuck to the bottom.
Next, I repeated the process with the other container.

Epoxy Glow Powder Base Layer

After the glow powder and epoxy were fully mixed, I poured each container to from the base layer of the transparent epoxy river table with rocks.

Next, I removed the bubbles with my mini torch. Surprisingly, this deep pour epoxy did not produce many air bubbles at all.

The picture below shows the blue epoxy glow powder glowing in the dark after the first pour.

DIY Epoxy River Table with Blue Rocks

As I mentioned earlier in this DIY tutorial, I used acrylic rocks for this epoxy river desk.
The acrylic rocks will be covered with transparent clear resin to create a unique visual – especially when the epoxy river desk glows.

After the base layer cured for 48 hours, I spread the blue acrylic rocks on top of the epoxy glow powder layer.

This transparent epoxy river table with rocks required to bags of blue acrylic rock to cover the surface of the river.

Second Pour for Epoxy River Table with Rocks

After I evenly spread the acrylic rocks and they were about 1″ below the surface of the table, I started the second pour.

First, I labeled my buckets from the first pour.
It may be an issue if I use the part B bucket from the first pour for part A in the second epoxy pour.

Next, I mixed 96 ounces of resin using the same procedure as the first epoxy pour.
I poured the resin on top of the acrylic rocks.

While pouring the resin, I noticed the acrylic rocks floated to the surface.
I’m not sure why I didn’t anticipate this happening.
Consequently, I will need to stop about 1/2″ from the top and perform an extra pour to reach the top of the wood slabs.

A paint stick worked perfectly to spread the rocks evenly across the transparent epoxy river table with rocks.

After I spread the rocks, I used my mini torch to remove the small amount of air bubbles.

Since the acrylic rocks float, I used my level to make certain I didn’t have a protruding rock on the surface.
Also, I used the 4′ level to make sure the epoxy river desk was level.

Final Epoxy Pour

After 3 full days, I prepared the final epoxy pour.

I mixed 192 ounces of resin and filled the remaining 3/4″ until the epoxy was level with the surface of the wood slabs.

This epoxy covers the surface well and it is very clear. I really enjoyed working with it.

Flatten Wood Slab with Router

Although I took great care to ensure the epoxy river desk remained level, I needed to flatten the wood slabs with my router.
Ideally, this step should not be needed; however, I poured a too much epoxy.
Rather than sand the epoxy and risk burning the epoxy, I chose to use my wood slab flattening jig and router to take off 1/16″ off the top.

My wood flattening jig consists of 2 90 degree aluminum corner pieces with a 2×2 wood block on each end.
The wood blocks are 1/8″ wider than the base of my router to prevent sticking and kickback.

Remove Epoxy Mould

After I flattened the epoxy river table with rocks, I removed it from the epoxy mould.
To my dismay, I discovered epoxy leaked under the desk.
Luckily, the epoxy leak was not bad.

A small hole caused the leak, which was a result of not sealing the wood to the mould properly.