Introduction: Glow River Bench

About: I'm a follower of Christ, a husband, a father, and a novice wood dabbler ?

Just a little fun with an old piece of barn lumber, some glow powder, and epoxy

Step 1: Routing the River

After running an old piece of barn wood through the planer a couple times, I looked at the wood and there was a really cool knot and hole in the middle of it that looked like an island. So I drew a river being split by the island onto the wood and with a flush cut router bit I routed out a little over ¼ inch in depth of wood following the lines I had created for the river.

Step 2: The River Glow Bench

as you can tell from the video, after routing out the "river", I clamped painters tape and a scrap piece of wood to each edge of the board to contain the epoxy I was getting ready to pour into the river. I used approximately 5 grams of glow powder to a half pint of epoxy. I poured the powder into the epoxy after I mixed the resin and hardener. I used a scrap stick to level out the epoxy and make sure that it covered the entire board. I just made sure a little of the epoxy was on the spots that were not the "RIVER". after everything cured I only sanded the sides of the board to remove a little of the sharp edges that occurred from the epoxy.

I hope you all were ok with the teaching of a 7 year old. I didn't think she did a half bad job of explaining things for being her first time teaching in front of the camera....but I'm partial to her :)

Step 3: Here Is the Board Glowing Before I Made the Base for It

Step 4: Making the Base

There are several ways to make the base. I started with a simple frame that the bench top would set on and used pocket hole screws to join it all together. The measurements for the base will vary depending on your bench top, but as you can tell I made a simple box that the top would set on then I took my legs to the ground from the top of the base 13 ½ inches to make the total height 15 ½". I used wood glue and two pocket holes on each leg then created a T to help brace from 4 inches up the leg also using pocket hole screws to join these together.

I also posted a pic of the new way that I am doing my legs that is actually a lot sturdier and takes less time. in that version I use a 6" pieces of barn lumber to run perpendicular to the bench top. I routed a ¼" deep line the width of the bench top in the middle on the bottom side of the bench top, then used some scrap 2x8 boards for the legs. Using the bandsaw, I cut a grove for the bottom brace board to fit into and a decorative circle (Used my epoxy mixing cup lid as a guide). Then I test fit the pieces together and when i was satisfied I added Wood glue and clamped it all together.

Step 5: Final Product

so it does have to have a light source to "charge up" the glow river, but it has a really cool effect and everyone that has seen it has loved that effect it has.

Please feel free to comment. I do apologize for not having as many step by step photos as I do in my other instructables, but you get the idea of how it works. if you would like to see more of my projects please check out my other instructables and also go to www.facebook.com/carpenterinthecity or www.facebook.com/carpenterinthecity I also have a Facebook page where I post my work www.facebook.com/carpenterinthecity

I'd love to hear your comments and feedback so please leave them here or feel free to contact me through any of my social media

Reclaimed Wood Contest 2016

Participated in the
Reclaimed Wood Contest 2016