Epoxy Pour Tables & Other Art: How John Pursued his Passion for Woodworking

John says he started by making art for veterans and it grew out of control from there

When John first started doing woodworking art, he says he really didn't know what he was doing.

But he kept at it and now he's moving towards becoming a full-time woodworker, creating epoxy resin tables, folding benches, river boards and other types of projects for his customers.

"I enjoy making furniture and it's something the sawmill has helped me out with greatly," he says.

John shared his story with Woodland Mills so others can see how he's following his passion and becoming a woodworker, so follow his steps.

How it Started

John says he's been a general contractor for most of his career, but for several years now he's been doing woodworking on the side and he's wanting to transition to doing it full time.

"I've always made furniture on the side, and I do art on the side also, with resin and wood," says John.

Since getting his Woodland Mills HM122 Portable Sawmill he's been able to mill his own lumber for his tables and other woodworking projects, giving him more power to create truly custom projects for his customers.

"I just love it. It sets up perfect and it's easy to operate," he says. "For me it's the perfect setup."

John first started by doing small projects. He began with wall-hanging replicas of retirement patches for veterans made from wood and epoxy resin. Then he started doing similar projects, like wooden silhouettes of different countries painted in the colors of their flags.

"I started making everything pretty much that you could imagine," he says, including folding camping tables, picnic tables and more epoxy projects like river tables and other custom made deep pour epoxy projects.

John says he meets his customers and finds out what they want before delivering a truly unique project. Either the design or the wood is tailored to the customer's tastes, so each project is completely different from anyone else's.

"I want to make art that is indicative of the person who wants it, that's unique to them," says John.

How John makes epoxy resin projects

So how does John do it?

He starts with the lumber. Living in remote Alaska, John has plenty of trees on his property and lots of felled logs that he's easily able to turn into lumber with his portable sawmill.

With his own solar kiln on his property he's easily able to use the sun's heat to dry and prepare his boards for his projects.

When he starts working, John says he doesn't like using fasteners or hardware from the store, so instead he uses wood dowls from the same timber he sources his boards from so the project almost entirely comes from the same tree species.

Add in some live edges, and John is able to make some truly great projects that allows the natural beauty of the wood to shine through.

"I try to make everything from scratch here, even down to brackets," he says. "If I do use brackets, I'll weld them and make them myself."

On top of stenciling and other design techniques, John also does a lot of art inside the epoxy. By using clear epoxy, he's able to put hand-crafted fish or other decorations inside the epoxy river.

One table he made had a small village with a river running through it, which was then poured over with epoxy. It's a stunning project that reveals John's care and attention to the little details and how he aims to deliver something unique to every customer.

Advice for other new woodworkers?

John has been working to shift his career towards woodworking, and he's already accomplished some incredible projects.

For others looking to follow in his footsteps, especially for those breathtaking epoxy pour projects, there's a few steps you can follow to really make them shine.

• • Do unique river table projects, taking inspiration from projects like John's

  • Watch videos online on how to do deep pour epoxy projects and ask creators who are willing to share their advice

  • Find beautiful species, like maple or walnut, with natural burls or imperfections that will make for unique final results

  • Talk to your customers and see what they want, so you can craft something truly custom made for them

John highly recommends looking up tutorials online from people who do woodworking or wooden art. There's a lot of how-to guides, such as how to hand carve or do epoxy pours.

"You can do a lot of really neat stuff with even high-gloss spray paint," says John. "Just start out cheap, with a cheaper line and cheaper resin and just try it out."

When he started he just copied what others were doing online, and even though he found it difficult to copy their technique, he found you end up creating your own style as you go.

"We're all minded a little bit different on how we think it should go," he says. "You get your own technique down and then it's uniquely yours."

Just don't give up, and once you've done project after project, you'll find your rhythm and a style that's all your own, adds John.