instructables

Epoxy Resin and Walnut LED Night Lamp

by Well Done Tips

This time I had the main goal to try a very rst-time Bu ng pad and automotive polishing paste
epoxy resin casting. I’ll show you how from epoxy
resin, American walnut, and cheap electronics I made Danish oil for wood nish
this stunning LED night lamp.
Sandpaper 400, 800, 1000, 1500 grit.
How I did it - you can check by looking DIY video or
you can follow up instructions bellow. Electric tape

For this project you will need: To o ls :

M a t e ria ls : Belt sander with 80 grit sandpaper

Walnut 20x20x120mm and 20x20x200 ( or other your Miter saw

preferred wood)
Palm router
Wood glue, CA glue
Orbital sander with 120, 240 and 320 grit sandpaper
Transparent epoxy resing for deep casting
Drill and bits
Fairy string LED light
Clamps and some other usual bits and bobs which is
Plastic sheets for casting form (mold) laying around the workshop.

Hot glue Cutters

Micro USB connector Soldering iron and solder

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 https://youtu.be/dKYcvCpFHhc

Step 1: Materials

One of the main materials will be those American walnut pieces. Since I don't have a thickness planer - I ordered to
prepare all workpieces of the required size. They all are in 20 by 20 millimeters. Talking about length - the longer
ones are in 200, and the shorter in 120-millimeter length.

Step 2: The First Glue Up

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The very rst step is to glue every 4 pieces together by misaligning them in a random pattern. The same procedure
was done with longer pieces too.

When the glue was dried - prepared the surface for the next glue-up by sanding down to get a nice at surface.

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Step 3: The Second Glue-up

The second glue-up was similar to the rst one. The only di erence was that this time I glued 4 already pre-glued
boards to a solid rectangular wood block.

Glue dried and I got two solid walnut blocks.

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Step 4: Flattening Ends

Used miter saw and attened one end of each block. Sacri cial plywood pieces helped to avoid any walnut tear
outs.

Cleaned cut ends with the sandpaper. Take a look at that nice end grain!

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Step 5: Few Holes for Electronics

I used a palm router and milled a hole on the at walnut block end. Here will be hidden all electronics parts.

Drilled 3-millimeter hole all the way thru the block. Thru this hole will be wired LEDs from top to bottom.

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Step 6: Preparing Wood Surface for the Epoxy

I mixed a small part of the same epoxy resin which will be used later and covered all wood surfaces which will have
a contact with epoxy resin pour. This should seal the wood and prevent the formation of bubbles in the casting.

Step 7: The Electronics

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I bought this fairy string LED light with 100pcs of I’m planning to use this one - constant light.
individual colored LEDs connected inline. It could be
powered from any USB power source, like the power Cut the power wire and managed it all the way thru. I
bank, smartphone charger, laptop and etc. My fairy used hot glue to seal the hole and xed the wire in it.
string light version had a controller that gives a few
di erent operating modes. However most of the time

Step 8: The Casting Mold

From random plastic that layed around I start making
the outer form for epoxy resin pour. Placed on the
side a straight reference and adjusted to my preferred
spacing of wood pieces. To seal up all edges I used hot
glue. All seams should be weather tight because the
resin will nd the smallest hole or crack and will
follow out. I take my time and sealed all joints to avoid
the mentioned situation. On the top, I made a small
barrier to keep epoxy resin over ll.

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Step 9: The Epoxy Resing

Ok, the epoxy resin. I bought locally this highly
transparent and UV stabilized epoxy casting resin. It’s
designed to use in deep pours, like up to 10
centimeters. Mine will be only 8 centimeters deep so I
should work just ne. I poured the resing and
hardener according to the indicated mixing ratio and
mixed very very well. After that, I gave a light
transparent color tone by adding a few drops of
turquoise pigment. Once again a bit of mixing and I
poured the resin into the form.
This is very slow curing epoxy resin so all bubbles will
escape naturally. Here is the casting after 20 minutes -
I can’t see any of bubbles (last picture).

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Step 10: Taking Out

This epoxy requires 3 days to fully cure, but I left it a bit longer. One week later the resin was rock solid and it was
the perfect time to remove from the mold.

Step 11: Lot of Sanding

To clean all sides I used a belt sander and 80 grit sandpaper. When the job was done here I changed it to an orbital
sander and passed with 120, 240, and 320 grit sandpaper.

After that moved to the ner grits and sanded by hand. Started with 400 grit, then 800 grit, 1000 and nished with
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1500 grit sandpaper.

Step 12: Polishing the Epoxy

To bring back the shine I used 8 centimeters bu ng pad on a drill and a regular automotive polishing paste. After
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good 20minutes of polishing the shine is back.

Step 13: Working on Electronic Part

It is time to rework the electronic part so, that It will t in our prepared place. First of all, I need to desolder a power
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on/o button and relocate it. Second - I no need this USB connector anymore, so it should be desoldered too. All
electronics should t inside this hole.

Step 14: Some Soldering

To x the power button in needed place I desoldered from the mainboard and made a simple housing with
extended two wires. To x it in the palace I use CA glue and activator. Soldered micro USB port to the power IN
terminals, extended wires from the ON/OFF button, and lastly soldered the fairy light wires.

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Step 15: Closing the Internals of Light

Finished up with some electric tape and hidden inside the hole. CA glue helped to x permanently the micro USB
port in needed place. With the thin piece of walnut and a few drops of wood glue - closed the hole.

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Step 16: Finishing the Wood

Finished up with some electric tape and hidden inside the hole. CA glue helped to x permanently the micro USB
port in needed place. With the thin piece of walnut and a few drops of wood glue - closed the hole.

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Step 17: The Result

And here it is - clear epoxy resin and walnut fairy string LED lamp.

As for the very rst project with the epoxy resin casting - the result exceeded my expectations. Despite a few small
mistakes made during the project - I’m more than happy with the nished product. It’s a pity that the camera
cannot transmit a real view of how it looks in real. If you ever tried to lm a lamp or any light source, you
understand my pain.

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Step 18: BONUS

By the way, do you remember those two o cuts left by attening the main pieces? They weren’t thrown out. I made
another smaller and darker lamp version.

I used epoxy resin made for casting for the rst time, but certainly not the last. I will de nitely use it again in the
future, especially in projects where I will combine several di erent materials by using epoxy resin.

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I just love the way this looks!

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