Artisan Resin River Table

Resin river tables,
poured to order in Brooklyn

Where the shape comes from

The channel down the middle of a river table is not drawn. It is whatever gap is left when two live-edge slabs are set apart from each other. The tree decides the line and we decide the spacing. Widen the gap and the resin reads as open water. Narrow it and the two edges nearly touch, like a stream between banks.

Pigment and pour

Resin is tinted with pigment before it goes into the mold. Turquoise and deep blue read as water, black reads as a void, and clear leaves the floor visible through the top. Pigment is mixed to a sample before the real pour, because color shifts as the material cures and cannot be adjusted afterward.

The pour itself is watched from start to finish. Viscous material traps air, so it goes in slowly and in stages on thick tops, and the cure runs at a controlled temperature. What comes out of the mold is flattened, sanded through progressive grits, polished, and sealed.

What goes into the resin

Stones, pebbles, and shells can be set into the channel while it is still liquid. They have to be dry and stable, and they have to sit below the finished surface so the top still sands flat. Placed with any care, they make the channel read as a riverbed rather than a colored stripe.