Create a beautiful floating shelf yourself by encapsulating a live-edge wooden plank in epoxy! For Jevi's bedroom, we cast a stunning piece of wood in epoxy, and he is absolutely thrilled with it. In this article, you will learn step-by-step how to do this yourself. Plus, this is a great low-cost way to experiment with casting wood in epoxy if you want to make an epoxy table later on!
Supplies for epoxy casting:
Other requirements:
First, start by selecting a nice piece of wood. This can be any piece of timber you like. There are companies specializing in live-edge slabs, and we sourced a great offcut from one. We sawed straight edges and flattened the plank as much as possible, then sanded it using 80-grit sandpaper.
To make the shelf extra cool, we engraved the name "Jevi" into it and filled the lettering with Glow in the Dark Epoxy Casting Resin.
Before constructing the mold, the wood must be sealed. By brushing or rolling epoxy casting resin over the plank a few times, you seal it airtight to prevent air bubbles from escaping the wood into the resin during the pour.
Mix a small amount (e.g., 160 grams) of epoxy casting resin at the correct ratio. Always mix the epoxy resin thoroughly. Place the wood on a piece of plastic sheet and coat the top surface with epoxy. You can also use a velour roller for flat areas. Pop bubbles using the gas torch.
Now we construct the mold using melamine board. Formwork plywood (betonplex) can also be used, as long as the surface is smooth enough so epoxy won't adhere to it easily. Build the base first. Place the plank on the board and trace around it. You can decide how thick you want the epoxy border around the wood to be. For our shelf, this is just a few millimeters, but you can make it as thick as you prefer. Don't forget to account for the thickness reserved for the vertical side walls.
Cut out the base board as neatly as possible, then cut the vertical side panels. Don't cut the side panels too short — during the pour, you can decide how high the epoxy rises over the plank. The exact height of the side walls isn't overly critical as long as they are tall enough.
Now cover all inside surfaces of the boards with clear packaging tape. This prevents the epoxy from bonding to the mold. Once fully taped, screw the vertical side panels one by one onto the base board until a sealed box is formed. Finally, seal all internal joints and seams using silicone sealant. Epoxy does not adhere to silicone.
Now that the mold is ready, you can begin pouring. First, pour a thin layer to serve as the bottom base. Mix approximately 800 grams (or more) of epoxy thoroughly. Pour it into the mold and pop surface bubbles with the gas torch. Allow it to cure for roughly 10 to 24 hours.
Next, we fix the wooden plank in place. We won't fully submerge the plank in epoxy yet because it needs to be anchored first. Mix another batch of approx. 800 grams of epoxy resin thoroughly. Pour half into the mold and immediately pop air bubbles with the torch.
Carefully lower the wooden plank into the mold and position it. Then pour the remaining 400 grams of epoxy around the edges. Allow to cure for about 10 to 24 hours.
Once the "bonding layer" has cured, we can pour the main layer. Mix approx. 1.6 kg batches of epoxy casting resin until the mold is filled to the desired level. Pour the epoxy around the edges first until it rises over the top of the plank. It looks best if the epoxy thickness on top is roughly equal to that on the bottom. Degas with the gas torch after each pour.
Allow the entire pour to cure for at least 4 days. Then remove it from the mold. Unscrew the panels and carefully pry the wood away from the cured shelf using a wooden wedge for leverage.
Once the shelf is completely out of the mold, finish the edges. They will still be quite sharp. You can round or bevel the edges nicely using a router, or ease them with a sander using 80-grit sandpaper.
To achieve smoothly rounded edges and fix any minor surface imperfections, you can optionally pour a thin top layer of epoxy casting resin over the top. Elevate the shelf on 2 cups so it sits off the work surface. Mix approx. 800 grams of epoxy resin and pour it over the shelf. Degas thoroughly with the gas torch. Tape the underside beforehand with packaging tape to prevent having to sand away cured drips later.
Supplies for polishing the live-edge shelf:
To give the shelf a truly flawless finish, polishing is recommended. RESION High Gloss Polish works best on epoxy. Sand the entire shelf progressively from grit 320 all the way up to 2000. Clean the surface thoroughly between grit changes. Sand sufficiently at each stage and do not skip grits, or sanding scratches will remain visible.
Once smoothly sanded up to 2000 grit, begin polishing. Apply a small amount of polishing compound to the pad and start buffing. Do not polish at excessively high RPM to prevent the compound from overheating. Spray water on the workpiece regularly to keep it cool.
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