How to Make an Epoxy Resin River Table

How to Make an Epoxy Resin River Table

Resin wood table tops are everywhere! This enviable look costs thousands to purchase, but is fairly easy to make yourself with some time, patience, special materials, and just a touch of building know-how. This easy DIY river table project calls for a reclaimed table base in a style that appeals to you. Using a pre-built base that you leave as-is or refinish to suit your taste takes lots of the work out of the process of building a resin top table. Let’s get started!

Essential Tools
Heat gun
Drill
Sander
Level
Sawhorses or a workbench large enough to support your DIY river table project
Essential Materials
This project begins with one table base of your choice. Choose a coffee table or a dining table, or go with a slim console table. You may want to choose a smaller design for your first epoxy resin river table, so that you can familiarize yourself with the process before moving on to something a bit larger. It’s all up to you!



wood, epoxy coat
Wood with epoxy coat, Wood with epoxy coat

The rest of the materials are a bit more specialized:

Two live edge wood planks of equal thickness, planed and sanded
Mineral spirits
Clear epoxy resin and hardener, enough to cover your project
Translucent tinting pigments in a shade of blue, green, or aquamarine that you like
Polishing compound
Silicone adhesive
Plywood for building frame to contain epoxy during pouring process
Tarp or plastic sheeting
Screws to build frame (this is broken down at the end of the project, no need to be picky about what kind to use)
Sandpaper, 1000 grit or higher