After my adventure with making a Penny Table, I decided epoxy resin was fun and wanted to try some more. I had a small side table in my stash and it wasn’t nice enough for pennies, but it was perfect to use for a bottle cap table.
How I made a bottle cap table.
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Supplies
- Small table with recessed area
- Assorted bottle caps
- Two part Epoxy
- Clear silicone caulk
- thin plywood
- stain
- culinary torch
- disposable glue brush
- hose bib knob
This little table was sad. It had a thick veneered insert and dated little handle for a non existent drawer.
I had even started testing out paint colors at one point on the edge trying to figure out what to do with it.
I always look over pieces completely to see if there are any markings or labels to hint at any kind of story…
…nothing really, so I pulled out the insert, since it was far thicker than I needed it to be. I sanded the support edges just a bit to make sure any leftover glue residue was gone.
Then, I used a piece of 1/4″ plywood scrap to make a new insert, did a quick stain to one side and used silicone caulk to seal it all around, concentrating on the bottom. I noticed some off colorings on the edges of the table and while this is a rustic piece, they looked odd. I chose to use stain to help those areas blend in better with the overall look.
Quick Tip: Epoxy is thinner than you think. It can and will ooze and run out of any small opening you miss.
Once the caulk was ready, I did a dry layout of how the bottle caps would fit best.
Next, I mixed a very small amount of epoxy and began laying out the bottle caps in that epoxy base.
Follow the instructions on the box. It takes a day or two for the product to fully cure. Ramping up the heat in the room, can speed the process along.
Then, with the base set, I mixed up more epoxy and poured it on to fill in the rest of the space. The carbon dioxide produced by a kitchen torch comes in handy to pop bubbles in the surface as it’s settling. A the disposable glue brush is great if you have drips on the edges to clean them up and smooth them out.
Quick Tip: Letting the resin settle for 10-15 mins before working on bubbles and drips will make the whole process faster and generally keep from overtorching.
Once finished, I used a faucet knob to finish the bottle cap table off and carted it off to my store.
This bottle cap table is currently AVAILABLE for sale at The Painted Pig in Lovettsville, VA.
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6 Comments
Annette
February 4, 2020 at 1:02 AMLooks great. What brand epoxy did you use? It’s on my list to make one of these.
Scottie
February 4, 2020 at 8:06 AMHi Annette! Thanks for stopping by! I used the Envirotex. I linked to the exact one on Amazon for you above. Here is is again though just in case: https://amzn.to/3b8DW03 Good Luck with your project! I hope you’ll send me a photo when it’s complete!
Natalie
April 29, 2021 at 5:38 AMHi Scottie! The finish looks so good! It looks like the glossy finish from the epoxy goes right to the edges of the wood. Can you tell me how you got the resin right up to the edges of the table without it spilling over the edge?
Scottie
January 1, 2022 at 3:59 PMIt does go to the edge and right over. I used a chip brush to brush the epoxy onto the edge and over the side. Then you check on it every 15 mins or so for at least the first hour so you can clean up any drips on that bottom edge (underneath). By that time it has usually set up pretty well and you can just leave it to fully harden.
Angela
June 1, 2023 at 2:03 PMDo you recall how many bottle caps you used? I have a little over 400 and I’m wondering if I should do a side table or a larger table.
Scottie
August 13, 2023 at 10:13 AMI do not. I would think that is easily enough for a side table… probably a large table as well. Laying them out is certainly the easiest way to tell. Or lay them out in a 12×12 area and see how many it takes to fill that space then do some math? That would probably be the least “messy” way of figuring it out, though less fun.