3 Beginner Epoxy Projects

I have been building and selling custom furniture for over 10 years and for the last 8 I have specialized in live edge and epoxy furniture. Over those years I have learned hundreds of tips, tricks, techniques and insights to make sure my projects have a 100% success rate. My goal is to increase efficiency, minimize mistakes, and costs. 

If you’re just getting started, here are 3 projects that will help you become comfortable using epoxy without having to worry about wasting a ton of money.

Project 1 - Epoxy Serving Board

When getting started with epoxy projects it can be very intimidating trying to do all of the little things that you need to do in order to be successful.  Everything from building a mold that won't leak,  selecting the correct material,  choosing your correct epoxy type and  selecting the right colors.  This is why I think building small serving boards is a great way to get your feet wet in building epoxy furniture. 

First off you can purchase pre-made molds from a ton of different distributors online that will eliminate the need to build your own and concern yourself with leaks.  These are also reusable and good to have around for when you do get into building bigger furniture and have excess epoxy.  I also think that a serving board is small enough that you don't need large Tools in order to actually build it.  If your board is under 12 inches you can use your planer and your hand sander to get incredible results.  You also won't need to use a ton of epoxy in order to start these projects.  The main reason I prefer a serving board over coasters is because a coaster doesn't require the use of deep pour epoxy resin while a serving board should be at least one inch thick.  Therefore you will get to use deep poor resin which is what you will primarily be using in your future furniture builds. 

Project 2 - Small River End Table 

The second project I suggest for beginners to try is a small river end table.  Reason being is that you can still potentially use a pre-made mold,  but you don't need to use a ton of epoxy in case you screw something up.  This can be a relatively cheaper experiment compared to going for a full-fledged build where you might waste hundreds of dollars on materials.  I think this is important to build confidence and familiarity with the materials as well as getting yourself set up to understand the process of actually building a table. 

You can buy table bases online for projects like this that are relatively cheap and easy to install.  because the project isn't excessively huge you can also test out different finishes to find one that you like.  If you end up screwing the project up it is relatively quick to resand it and try another finish.  By building this table you'll also be able to learn how to fill cracks and voids as well as get a smooth and consistent top once you're done.  This is basically great practice for a furniture piece on a small scale before getting into larger projects. 

Project 3 - River Coffee Table 

The last beginner project I recommend is going to be a coffee table.  To build a coffee table you're probably going to be using at least a 3 gallon kit of deep pore epoxy resin which will be critical in learning how to use Deport resin effectively in your future Furniture builds.  I would always suggest using materials that are readily available and not crazy rare if it is your first project.  building a coffee table that is roughly 3 ft by 2 ft is also a great opportunity to build a mold by hand to learn proper mold building techniques.  The great thing about it is you can build one of these molds without having to use an entire sheet of melamine therefore getting you more yield and potentially more practice. 

Lastly, building a coffee table also gives you the ability to purchase legs and save you time. This will allow you to focus on building a proper top and honing in on the skills you need to make sure it is exactly what you want. 

If you're someone looking to expand your epoxy skills and you want to know all of the tips and tricks of the trade to avoid all the headaches and hardships that could potentially come along with building epoxy tables, check out my Live Edge and Epoxy Masterclass.  This course is a combination of my 10 year experience of building custom furniture and specializing in epoxy tables.  You'll save hundreds of dollars and hours of time by skipping the line and not having to learn on your own.