CNC Leveling and Epoxy Pour

When you’ve poured epoxy into a river table or similar project, your next step will be to level the resin flush with the wood surface on the table top. Smoothing the resin flush can be tricky, but is critical in giving your piece a final high quality finish that will impress those who experience the piece through looking and touching. If you own a CNC, that can provide you with an efficient and highly precise method of flushing the surface so that it is flat and uniform. To flush the surface of your resin river table or simile project, a couple things are going to be important:

Choose the right bit. With so many bits available for use on a CNC, how will you know which option is best for flush cutting the resin on your river table? George shares his bit recommendation for this technique, and you might be surprised when you see it because it is an uncommon bit, but one that is highly effective for this task. It is also much more efficient than typical straight bits that you might consider using, because of the massive diameter of the bit.

Secure the piece with proper hold downs. Because a river table generally has an organic shape along the edges, it will be important to give some careful consideration to how the work piece is secured. To ensure the highest possible surface quality, you do not want the piece to become loose or vibrate at all during the cutting process.

Multiple passes are best. When removing a large mass of material in an operation like this, it is better to remove it in multiple light passes rather than in a single pass.

After you have mastered the process of onion skinning, check out more CNC techniques that you can add to your arsenal.