This is pretty cool. Ran across it on another forum. I wouldn’t mind having a bar top like this.
https://mymodernmet.com/crocodile-bar-top-scott-dow-woodworking/
https://mymodernmet.com/crocodile-bar-top-scott-dow-woodworking/
- Thread starter SharpsNitro
- Start date
Kind of like these steps I found online. It's amazing what kind of talent is out there.
And money. I wonder how much those stairs cost. Live edge/poured epoxy tables run several thousand dollars.
Is that mesquite wood?
I made this tabletop for a small coffee table last summer because I wanted to try it. And needed a coffee table top! Serious work involved… just to do a “forts of Lake Champlain” table.
Those stairs must have cost a fortune!
Those stairs must have cost a fortune!
And here I thought your skill set was limited. That's pretty phenomenal !!
Are the bottom contours in the blue areas a representation of actual depth data or just the way you made the table? It's still impressive either way.
Actually carved to lake depth on a CNC mill. Friends of mine makes the lake cut-outs for people to hang on their cottage walls. Takes charts and translates them into code for his CNC router. But he doesn’t do the epoxy fill. Turns out the epoxy filling is actually pretty easy. The hard part is keeping up enough meniscus to cut it back. But it worked out really well.
The only thing I would’ve done differently is put the brass markers in at the very end. Because I could have had someone with a shape or table cut the epoxy back. As it was, I had to do it with a Mill and a long facing tool. Which was fine. But a couple of passes under a shape or table would’ve been way easier. But you can’t do that with brass pins in it.
It was actually a really fun project. It now sits in my office
My buddy will actually make the cut out tables of just about any lake so if you want to try it yourself, PM me and I’ll put you guys in touch. He doesn’t even charge a ton.
Cheers.
Sirhr
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After the epoxy pour, what did you do sand or flatten it? It looks very well done.
I’ll write up in more detail when I get home. And correct the stupid voice to text errors above when I’m on a proper keyboard. Thanks for the interest. Cheers.
So the epoxy was poured so it stood 'proud' of the wood. What I 'wanted' to do was run it through a shaper or a belt-sander table to cut back. BUT I made the mistake of putting in brass pins to show the locations of forts and battles on Lake Champlain between F/I wars through the War of 1812. Noone would 'touch' putting it through a blade or belt with brass on the wood.
So I set it up on the mill and using a facing cutter (for metal) and in several passes shaved the epoxy off. I had let it harden up for about 10 days so it was really rugged. It cut beautifully... just like soft metal. I stopped just short of the wood and then finshed with palm sander using 80 through 400 grit. Then hand sanded the epoxy up to 1000 grit. Then finished with Minwax Spar urethane aerosol, about 10 coats. Towards the end, wet sanded and got all the 'white poweder' out of any tiny grains. Then coated a couple of more times for final finish.
IF there had been no brass in there, anyone with a shaper table or a belt sanding table could have run it through a few passes and cut it back dead smooth in seconds. So if you want to put in pins or metal... do it last!
Note that there is no 'lake/swamp' exactly where the swamp is on that map... that was a nasty spot in the board, but I sort of fudged it and lowered the Missisquoi swamps and the swamps on the Quebec Border... they're a bit 'south' of where they should be. But the effect is the same...
In sunlight the epoxy is really cool!
One other thing I did was before pouring the epoxy, I painted the wood with 'depth' lines darker in the lower areas, white around the shore. It really added to the 'depth' effect.
I just did it because I saw all these YouTube videos and postings here and said... I want to try that. Glad I did. It's a really cool table. Everyone should give it a shot!!
Sirhr
Well it turned out well. I think a large sander would have been fine, in light passes those belts grind through metal, of course it's not my wide belt sander. I like the waves in the epoxy - adds a lot of texture. I need to make one of these, yours is inspiration. (no we won't do a hug fellow pit members)
That looks awesome. What epoxy did you use? Or can post a link to where you got the colors? PM if that's easier.
Ive looked into that a little for making my own wine stoppers and pens. Those are very expensive to buy like the pics below.
I got the epoxy from the guy who cut the table for me. He just let me use what I needed. He also had the color packs. As he 'tried' epoxy and finds it a PITA, he wasn't using it. I gave him back the leftovers. So not sure the brand(s) but I can find out
I think it's pretty generic stuff, though, and the people doing it on YouTube post product names. I just got the materials for free so I didn't pay much attention to brand.
One thing I learned is that a VERY small amount of pigment goes a long way. And adding the 'pearl or metallic' powder helps make the water look very three-dimensional. The way I got the 'currents' was by getting the epoxy in and then dragging a piece of wire through the epoxy to get the 'shapes' I wanted in the water. I think I saw that done on YouTube.
If anything, I added too much pigment as I would have liked to see more of my painted lake-floor. It's pretty hard to see beyond the first 1/8" and the lake is 3/4" deep at places.
Cheers,
Sirhr
I think it's pretty generic stuff, though, and the people doing it on YouTube post product names. I just got the materials for free so I didn't pay much attention to brand.
One thing I learned is that a VERY small amount of pigment goes a long way. And adding the 'pearl or metallic' powder helps make the water look very three-dimensional. The way I got the 'currents' was by getting the epoxy in and then dragging a piece of wire through the epoxy to get the 'shapes' I wanted in the water. I think I saw that done on YouTube.
If anything, I added too much pigment as I would have liked to see more of my painted lake-floor. It's pretty hard to see beyond the first 1/8" and the lake is 3/4" deep at places.
Cheers,
Sirhr
BTW, back to the OP's post... that table is unreal! The Croc.
It said it took him 100 hours? That's 2.5 weeks? That's all? I would have thought something like that would take weeks of solid work. I know he used a chainsaw for some of it. But... damn! Some utterly mad skills right there. Michaelangelo level stuff!
Thanks for posting! I sent the link to some carver/woodworker friends.
Sirhr
It said it took him 100 hours? That's 2.5 weeks? That's all? I would have thought something like that would take weeks of solid work. I know he used a chainsaw for some of it. But... damn! Some utterly mad skills right there. Michaelangelo level stuff!
Thanks for posting! I sent the link to some carver/woodworker friends.
Sirhr
winestoppers.
my first guess was buttplugs.
I've been in the bearpit too long.
Iz jus make'em. What you do with em is on you. Id just hate to think of that pointy end trying to head out first once its in...
You can see in a couple of pictures that he rough cut the croc with an NC router.
Well, those CNC routers don't just program themselves....
Still amazing skills!
Sirhr
My comment on the router was directed at why it ”only” took him 100 hours. Still a lot of detail work after the rough out.
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