Awesome Resin

Mike from Modustrial Maker got his hands on some Mexican Logwood stumps and decided to use them to make a coffee table. After cutting the wood into even lengths, he set them into an epoxy bath. A cross-section of each tree can be seen through the tabletop while the stumps provide support. It took a lot of effort, but the end result is worth it.

A few years back, maker Peter Brown attempted to build an axe with a handle made from gummy bears and resin. Unfortunately, it turned into a sticky mess after sanding. Now he’s back to try it again, but this time he molded his own faux gummies from resin so they’d hold up better to the process.

You’ll never forget where you put your phone, wallet, and keys if you drop them inside a human skull. Suck UK’s polyresin skull has lost its mind, so there’s plenty of space for holding your everyday accessories. It doubles as a sunglass and headphone holder and comes in bone white, goth black, or flashy gold.

We’ve seen tables that use resin or glass to create the illusion of water. Woodworker Screaming Donkey built a coffee table with a real liquid-filled center. He started out with some olive wood burl which he de-barked, cut into pieces, bathed in resin, and gradually refined. After that, he filled it with water, mica, glycerin, and pigments, agitated by magnetic stirrers.

Burls Art has created a few guitar bodies from colored pencils. This time, he made a 5-string bass using a similar technique. Before sealing the pieces in resin, he sorted and grouped the colors and fanned them out into a bold, angular design. He also added a timer to the video to show how long it took to build.

Inspired by the stainless steel pool ball made by MyMechanics, Cool Again Restoration set out to make their own. They used different techniques to set their pool ball apart and incorporated copper and epoxy resin. They started by machining cylindrical sections, gradually refining into a spherical shape. We’d love to see a whole rack filled with these.

We’ve seen guitars made from unusual materials, but this is the first one we’ve seen that was made from leaves. Gitara Maker was inspired to create the guitar after seeing fallen leaves on a camping trip. He built the guitar’s body by stacking flattened layers of leaves with clear resin, shaping it with a scroll saw, and applying top coats for a shiny finish.

Scotland’s Wildflower Designs makes these unique coasters with tree-like patterns by applying high-voltage electricity to oak wood. They fill the one-of-a-kind patterns with colored resin then finish them with butcher’s block oil. They also make cutting boards and tabletops using the technique. Sold in sets of two or more. The price shown is for a pair.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from makers is that you can create all kinds of things from items bathed in resin and cut into shape. In this video, Peter Brown takes a bunch of shredded CDs and turns the shards into a large iridescent bracelet.

Tables with glass tops can be fragile and difficult to transport. But what if the glass was pre-broken? That’s what Homemade Modern did when he made this side table by mixing cracked glass with epoxy resin and pouring them into a custom silicone mold. This approach means he could crank out multiple tables if he wants.

Boise, Idaho’s Alpine Wood Co. makes extraordinary furniture from wood, metal, and resin. Among their collection is this beautiful black walnut dining table with a deep blue river of resin running through its center. It comes in sizes ranging from 48″ x 30″ to 96″ x 48″, with the larger models doubling as a ping pong table. Benches sold separately.

Woodworker Jack Mack shows us how a bunch of wood veneer strips can become a beautiful piece of functional art. He started by placing the colorful wood strips into a bucket he filled with resin, then carved the piece by hand on a lathe into a vase. It’s not until it’s close to its final form that its eye-catching patterns are revealed.

After artist Kayakasaurus saw a photo of a colorful slug caterpillar, he wanted to make a larger-than-life version. He started by sculpting a digital model of the blue and yellow creature’s body, then output it on a Elegoo Jupiter resin 3D printer. His application of transparent paint and fuzzy flocking really bring it to life.

Maker Peter Brown once made a handle for an ice cream scoop out of moldable thermoplastic, but it didn’t last. So he decided to retrofit his brass scoop with something more appropriate. He took a big batch of colorful sprinkles, submerged them in resin, then turned the block on a lathe to form the handle.

Give your cacti or other small houseplants a special place on your shelf in these spooky resin skull planters. The trio is based on the classic Three Wise Monkeys image, also known as “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Though if you had a cactus instead of a brain, you wouldn’t have to worry about any of those things.

Most analog watches have markers that glow in the dark. But the DX3 Plus from Ultimate Field Watch also has a glowing case. Its durable resin body is infused with phosphorescent material, so the whole thing glows in the dark. It has a 4-year battery life, 50 M water resistance, and sits on a Defender Drab nylon webbing strap.

When it comes to 3D printers, bigger is usually better, so you can print large or multiple objects. But My N Mi went the opposite direction and engineered a 3D printer you might find in a dollhouse. Despite measuring just 18 x 31 x 41 mm, the palm-sized resin printer makes surprisingly good prints. Here’s another tiny print sample.

The TIE fighters from Star Wars are some of the most intimidating spacecraft in the history of science fiction. Scott’s Mini Workshop celebrates the Empire’s starfighter by encasing it in resin, then turning it into a perfect sphere on his lathe. He’s also made an X-Wing fighter sphere using the same technique.

Artist Thalasso hobbyer makes amazing dioramas, often with undersea creatures as their subject. This gnarly sea monster was inspired by a fellow artist’s illustration of a nightmarish vision. They sculpted the beast from wire and clay, surrounded it with tiny sharks, fish, and a diver, then submerged them in ocean blue resin.

This video from Jack Mack Woodturning shows how the artist turned hundreds of sheets of colored paper and resin into a unique bowl. After cutting chunks of the composite into pieces, Jack placed them in an other bowl of resin, then turned the dried shape on a lathe to create the finished piece.

Kids today probably don’t even know what a CD or DVD is, but for a while, these were the best way to deliver music, movies, and games. Maker Nick Zammeti took advantage of the mirrored, prismatic discs, attaching hundreds of the shiny shards to a resin guitar body. It took a couple of tries, but the finished design came out great.

Wood Season shows us how they created a chess board that looks like its playing surface is floating on water. The trick was encasing oak wood blocks in a thick bath of clear resin, then backlighting them with LEDs. A pearlescent resin backing and floating pine cones add to the effect. The set is available for sale on Etsy.

Add an artful splash of color to any space with this unique flame-inspired light bulb. Each bulb is handcrafted from a swirl of orange and yellow pigments submerged in resin. The 100-lumen LED light source provides a warm, ambient glow and is cool to the touch. It’s also available with a wooden or vintage metal and wood base.