We’ve all seen those “river” tables where a lovely old piece of tree is filled with some blue resin to create a water-like aesthetic. This project from [smartyleowl] takes that basic idea, but pushes it further, and the result is a beautiful build that is as much a diorama as it is a simple lamp.
First up, an appropriate rough piece of unprepared wood is chosen to create a cliff for the underwater scene. Speckles of UV-reactive blue powder are scattered on to the wood and some little plastic coral and marine plants are stuck down as well. A mold is then constructed around the wood using acrylic. Small whale and diver figurines are dangled in place, and blue resin poured in to complete the underwater scene. Once the resin has hardened, it’s polished to a clear sheen and its edges are nicely beveled. It’s then placed on a illuminated base which lights the scene from below, giving it a somewhat ethereal underwater quality.
It’s not a complicated project by any means, but it’s a great example of the beautiful things one can create with the creative application of colored resin. Producing a lamp that looks this good obviously takes some skill, of course – getting a bubble-free resin pour and a nice shiny finish on the wood isn’t easy. However, there’s no reason you can’t start learning today! Video after the break.
If you want to hate on peoples creativity then you should go back to E**blog forums.
And what is the problem? “Art form that uses something in a way in which it was not originally intended.” describes this project very well.
It’s a beautiful piece and I really admire the ability, but please, never operate a table saw like that! I know way more people missing fingers from table saws than you can count on non-saw user hands…
I am glad I wasn’t the only one who felt highly uncomfortable watching him operate that saw.
I wasn’t uncomfortable watching him carefully use the table saw. He knew what he was doing.
I felt less comfortable putting such in an instructional video. Others who don’t know what they’re doing might not survive as well.
While not ideal I’m not sure how else you suggest they make this cut. Using a large sled that completely immobilized both sides would be ideal, but without that a normal fence or miter guide would only make it more dangerous. They elevated the blade to alleviate binding, kept the riving knife in place, and guided it slowly by hand. It would have taken a notable amount of hand-induced twist to cause a binding kick. What they did here isn’t something I’d recommend to a novice, but someone with years of woodworking experience who knows the feel and sound of a blade beginning to bind should be able to make cuts like this without issue. Sure there are expensive and time consuming solutions like a custom sled, but with proper respect like they demonstrated this seems like a pretty safe operation.
Personally I’d use my track saw or at least hot glue a 1/4″ plywood runner to one side to run along my fence, but those are more to keep the line perfectly straight than add any safety to what you see being done here.
I only bring this all up because I’ve seen far more danger when people seem to think that it’s always safer to use a guide when in fact that can promote much more dangerous buildup of pressure. A spring with nothing to press against isn’t a threat and they seem to be doing a good job of ensuring that with the method demonstrated here.
There are a few way this could have be done in a very little time with a miter guide and a wood scrap in a safe manner, but if you want to go freehand (and I suggest you not) there are still two big no-nos here: one is embracing the piece on its two sides, the other is moving the right hand on the blade side of the piece at the end of the cut, both hands should be on the external side.
I’m sure it’s down to my poor table saw skills/lack of jargon, but what you’re describing doesn’t quite make sense to me. A table saw has a saw in the middle, and table on both the right and left. There’s no blade side or external side. I’d love to learn to be safer with my cuts, but I’m going to need a better description.
Imagine a long workpiece where you want to cut off a smaller piece. Viewing from the start side of the table, the left is the external side, right ( where the shorter piece is) the blade side. To keep stability, you keep your hands on one side of the blade only. A cover on top of the blade saves your hand/face/arm in case you loose stability and tumble over because the workpiece , which needed a lot of pressure force to get though the cut once of a sudden came free and you loose your footing. In a reflex you try to easen your fall with a hand. That had lands now on the safety top in stead of the spinning blade.
Imagine your worst scenario helps preventing it.
There are a lot of tips on yt about how to safely use any tool you might come across.
John check the video at 0:25: the right hand is pushing the piece going towards the blade. As macsimski said, at the end of the cut the pressure you are giving to the piece is release, and the part will move/rotate in an unpredictable way, so that hand can easily came in contact with the spinning blade! By placing you hold on the other side of the piece, where the left hand is, you greatly reduce this risk, but still it is not a great practice. Much better would be to push using a stick, but the “correct” way to safely use a table saw is never go freehand. Here I would have screwed a rectangular piece of board on the part and cut it by sliding against a fence, it guarantees a cleaner cut too.
And your point is?
Aren’t we the little sourpuss today
We’re not here to hear someone complain. If you don’t like it, scroll down.
Would love to see how he suspended the diver and whale. At what point do you remove the bar that’s holding it without ruining the resin.
That’s exactly what I was wondering too.
Pour the resin in two batches. Pour half of the resin the first time, wait for it to set and remove the fixed bracket. Then pour in the remaining resin.
Please don’t dive that close to a killer whale!