Resin wood table tops are everywhere! This enviable look costs thousands to purchase, but is fairly easy to make yourself with some time, patience, special materials, and just a touch of building know-how. This easy DIY river table project calls for a reclaimed table base in a style that appeals to you. Using a pre-built base that you leave as-is or refinish to suit your taste takes lots of the work out of the process of building a resin top table. Let’s get started!
Essential Tools
Heat gun
Drill
Sander
Level
Sawhorses or a workbench large enough to support your DIY river table project
Essential Materials
This project begins with one table base of your choice. Choose a coffee table or a dining table, or go with a slim console table. You may want to choose a smaller design for your first epoxy resin river table, so that you can familiarize yourself with the process before moving on to something a bit larger. It’s all up to you!
Plywood for building frame to contain epoxy during pouring process
Tarp or plastic sheeting
Screws to build frame (this is broken down at the end of the project, no need to be picky about what kind to use)
Sandpaper, 1000 grit or higher
How to Build a River Table
We’re starting this DIY river table tutorial with a few words of caution. First, be sure that you read all the literature that comes with the materials you’re working with. Choose compatible epoxy resin and hardener (you can buy these as a two-step kit for convenience) and ensure they are compatible with your tinting pigments.
Next, we want to stress the importance of choosing epoxy resin for this project. Do not use fiberglass resin, as it is flammable. Part of this process involves popping bubbles with a torch or heat gun. If you try this with fiberglass resin, your project will catch on fire, and this will burn down your shop or garage.
Finally, be sure to work in a warm, dust-free environment. Anything else could cause this project to fail.
Keep in mind that building a river table isn’t just construction. It’s an art project. Have fun with it!
1. Ensure all the bark has been removed from your live edge slabs. Be sure that both pieces are cut to the same length and sanded smooth. Plan for the finished top to rest nicely on top of the base you have chosen.
2. Use mineral spirits to clean any remaining debris from the live edge slabs.
3. Build a box with plywood. This simple box will serve as a dam to contain your epoxy resin. You can determine dimensions by arranging your slabs as you plan to position them inside the dam, with their straight edges on the outside and their live edges on the inside for the desirable river table effect. Make the river space as wide or narrow as you like.
4. Lay the tarp or plastic sheeting over your work area to protect it from spills. Set the dam on the sawhorses or table. Check to ensure that it is level. Don’t skip this step! Your table will have a slanted top if your work area is not level.
5. Place your boards inside the dam to ensure you like the fit. It should be snug but not so tight that you can’t move the planks. Then, remove the planks from the dam.
6. Seal the dam’s joints with silicone and then line the interior with plastic shipping tape.
7. Place the planks back in the dam. This is your last chance to adjust the planks’ alignment, so ensure that you’re happy with the layout.
8. You will start mixing epoxy but don’t prep your whole supply at once. Start with a small amount, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not add the pigment yet.
9. Brush a thin coating of clear epoxy onto the planks.
10. Add pigment to the epoxy remaining in the container. Mix more if you need to. You’ll pour a ¼ inch layer into the river, so try to gauge how much you’ll need.
11. After mixing pigment into the epoxy, pour the first layer of the river into the center area between the planks. Work slowly to avoid excess air bubble formation.
12. After pouring the first river layer, use your heat gun to pop bubbles as they come to the surface. Be very careful with this process. Do not get too close to the epoxy; don’t hold your heat gun next to any area for too long.
Use the low setting on the heat gun
Hold the heat gun at least 6 inches from the epoxy’s surface
Don’t use a hair dryer. Use a heat gun!
You can watch an expert pop bubbles in resin to understand how it works.
13. Let the epoxy dry before you begin with the next layer. You can wait overnight or start the next layer when the epoxy develops a dry film on top.
14. Mix another batch of epoxy with pigment, adding another ¼ inch layer to the river.
15. Repeat steps 12, 13, and 14 until your river rises just above the live edges on the plank. You don’t want it to overflow, but you want some extra material to sand off so that the finished project is perfect, even without a hollow area in the middle section. Be patient, and don’t hurry. Pouring too deep could cause the epoxy to bake, ruining your project.
16. After the last river layer is complete, let the project cure for 72 hours or as long as the resin epoxy manufacturer recommends. Proper curing time is essential for strength.
17. Pop the river table out of its mold. If this seems difficult, you can simply unscrew the sides of the mold and remove them. The tape should be easy to remove, and the plywood underneath can continue to support your project while you finish completing the top.
18. Sand the entire top until the river line is level with the rest of the table.
19. Finish with three coats of varnish or a sheer wood oil finish like Odie’s oil. The drying time and finish details will vary depending on your products. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions in the letter and choose products compatible with the epoxy resin you used for the river table.
20. When the table top is complete and dry, it’s ready to attach to the base.
21. Ensure that your base is clean, finished, and dry.
22. Select the hardware that works with the table base and the top you’ve chosen. Position the river table top on the base (be sure to get help if it’s enormous!) and double-check to ensure you like how it looks. Keep checking position as you fasten the base and top together. You may wish to use clamps for this step. If you do, protect your tabletop’s surface with a soft cloth, and don’t clamp any more challenging than is necessary to prevent movement.
23. That’s it! You’ve completed your very first DIY river table. Take photos, congratulate yourself, and enjoy showing it off.
How Much Time Does It Take to Build a DIY River Table?
It takes several days—often longer than a week—to complete this project. The active pouring process isn’t time-consuming, but you’ll spend plenty of time waiting between pours and then waiting for the final curing process to complete. Remember that thick, impressive slabs require more time and epoxy than their thinner counterparts.
What is the Average Cost to Build a River Table?
The cost depends on the wood you use and the amount of epoxy resin you need. Expect to pay more than $50/gallon for high-quality epoxy resin. We encourage you to get the best you can afford for this project and avoid cheap products. When it’s complete, your handcrafted river table will be a fantastic work of art!
We can’t stress enough the importance of learning all about the materials used in this DIY epoxy resin river table before you start. It’s best to start small when learning this technique. Once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be ready to move on to larger river tables that look even more impressive.
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