Introduction: Transformable Resin Table
I made this transformable resin table as a school project. This is the first prototype which looks nice but has also a few points of improvement which I will mention further on.
Materials:
- Epoxy casting resin (1 liters)
- Different pigments
- Black paint
- Triplex wood: 3x 85x85mm and 6mm thick
- Wooden stick with a diameter of 14 mm and a minimal length of 200 mm
This is what I used for my table but it is probably better to use a 9 or 12 mm thick plate to improve the strength of the table (legs).
Tools:
- Lasercutting machine
- Woodglue
- Thin gloves
- Mixing cubs and spatulas
- Fohn
Brush
Step 1: Lasercut and Saw
Download the laser-cut files and position them on your plates.
What you need for the table are:
- 6 pairs of caps
- 3 long legs
- 3 short legs
- 1 table top with a diameter of 80 mm.
When you have laser-cut all the items you also have to saw 6 little sticks of 24 mm which will connect the legs.
This 24 mm is based on the thickness of the wood so if you choose a larger thickness the sticks have to be longer. This can be calculated by taking 4x the thickness of the wood.
Sand all the components after you have laser-cut and saw them to remove the ash and impurities.
Step 2: Glue Together
Position the short/top legs by making a triangle of the long/bottom. Now you can mark the rough placement of the short/leg on the bottom side of the table top. When you have done that you can but the legs away, turn the table top around and make your rough placement precise by measuring everything relative to each other and the sides of the table top.
When you're sure of your placement positions you can glue the short/top legs to the bottom side of the table top.
Glue isn't the best/right way to connect the legs to the table top so feel free to improve this.
After you have glued the short/top legs to the bottom side of the table top you can also glue to caps together like shown in the pictures. Make sure you have 6 pairs of caps.
The caps I have made may look a little different but that was because I didn't laser-cut enough caps so I had to make some extra by myself (with a saw, drill and file) so you can ignore the look of the caps in the last picture. Just pay attention to the numbers.
Step 3: Pouring the Table Top
Make sure that your table top lays level/horizontal and you have something underneath it before you start pouring the epoxy casting resin.
When everything is ready, put on the gloves and mix around 1 liters of epoxy casting resin. Divide the epoxy casting resin so that you have half of the amount to make black and the other half is divided into three cups for the other colors.
I have used black as my base and orange, blue and turquoise as my finish colors but you can choose whatever colors you like off course.
Mix the pigments with the right amount of epoxy casting resin and pour the black epoxy casting resin over the table top and fully cover it. After that you can pour the other cups with colored epoxy casting resin over the table top in the way you like it and spread it/make effects with a fohn.
If you have never worked with (colored) resin before, I recommend to do a small test first so that you know how the material behaves and looks before you finally pour it on the table top.
Step 4: Paint
When the Epoxy casting resin is dried you can sand and paint the other parts. I have choosen to paint them black because I liked that the most in combination with the colors I have used for the table top, but you can choose whatever color you like or don't paint it at all.
Paint each component/side twice and sanded it in between to get the best result.
Step 5: Assemble the Table
When all the painted parts are dried you can assemble the table by putting the little sticks through the lowest holes of the legs. To make sure the sticks stay in place you put the caps on each end of it.
When you want to put the table in the high position you lift the table top, turn the bottom legs and secure them by putting the other sticks through the highest holes of the legs (and place the caps again).