Caloosahatchee Slabs & Lumber

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Caloosahatchee Slabs & Lumber Southwest Florida's One-Stop Shop for all things wood and epoxy related.

10/01/2026

This is how you create depth in an epoxy ocean without making it look like one flat pour. 🌊🪵

This 3D ocean serving tray uses a smart combination of tabletop epoxy and deep pour epoxy to build the effect layer by layer.

The tabletop epoxy gives you more control while creating the waves and ocean pattern. Then, instead of continuing to stack thicker tabletop resin, he finishes with a clear deep pour layer. That helps create the depth while reducing the microbubble issues you can get when building up thicker layers with tabletop epoxy.

One trick I’ve seen for the white waves is lightly misting alcohol to encourage more cellular formation. If you’re chasing that foamy, breaking-wave appearance, it can add another level of detail to the ocean effect.

Then comes the part every woodworker loves: sanding. 😂 This one gets surfaced and sanded all the way to 1,000 grit before the food-safe finish and handles go on.

I also liked his reusable mold setup. You can tell this process has been refined through plenty of trial and error.

The only thing I wish he shared? Exactly which finish he used. We typically reach for hard-wax oils like OSMO or Rubio Monocoat depending on the project.

Overall, excellent work and a really clean combination of live edge wood, epoxy resin, and functional art.

Epoxy artists, what technique do you use to get the most realistic ocean waves?

09/30/2026

Blue epoxy river tables get plenty of hate, but there’s a reason clients keep asking for them. 👀

After years of building custom furniture, you start seeing the same requests. And yes, teal and blue epoxy show up a lot. Some woodworkers may be tired of the look, but at the end of the day, you build what the client wants.

This river table from GG Woodworks is a perfect example. Live edge wood, a teal-blue epoxy river, and a clean finished build without anything in the process making me question how it was done.

It also hits close to home because epoxy river tables played a huge role in building our woodworking business here in Southwest Florida. We’ve made everything from small coffee tables to massive custom resin tables around 16 feet long.

That eventually grew into more than epoxy tables. Traditional woodworking, specialty epoxy products, mica powders, and even a walk-in lumber section where local woodworkers can pick through boards and slabs themselves.

Sometimes the project people call “overdone” is exactly what customers want, and sometimes it’s the product that helps build an entire business.

GG Woodworks, nice job on this one.

Woodworkers: are you still building blue epoxy river tables, or are you ready to retire the blue?

09/29/2026

A glass-like epoxy flood coat looks simple until you’ve actually done one. 👀

This live edge bar top is a great example of why a quality epoxy finish takes more than pouring resin and walking away.

The process starts with a seal coat, followed by sanding and scuffing before the flood coat goes down. That seal coat matters, especially around knots, cracks, and voids where trapped air can work its way into the epoxy and create bubbles.

One thing I’d approach differently is the underside. In our woodworking shop, we like to sand to 220 grit, flip the piece, spray sanding sealer underneath, then roll it back over and start the epoxy process. That gets the wood sealed on all sides earlier and helps reduce the chance of movement or warping while everything cures.

And don’t overlook the drips underneath. You can have a beautiful glass-like surface, but leaving hardened epoxy drips on the edges and underside immediately takes away from the quality of the finished piece.

Overall, this was a solid build. The live edge kept some of its darker natural character instead of being stripped completely clean, and the finished bar works beautifully with the light, rustic space.

8/10 from me. Very well done.

Woodworkers, what’s your preferred process for getting a clean, bubble-free epoxy flood coat?

09/29/2026

A true waterfall joint isn’t just two pieces of wood joined at the corner. The grain should actually flow over the edge. 🪵

That starts with choosing a wood slab long enough to account for the tabletop AND the waterfall section. Cut the 45° miter correctly, fold that section down, and the grain continues naturally from the top to the side.

But there’s another challenge: end grain to end grain is a weak glue joint.

That’s where good woodworking techniques matter. A Domino joiner helps reinforce the joint and creates additional face-to-face bonding instead of relying entirely on the end grain. Clean miters, proper alignment, and even clamping pressure all contribute to a stronger finished piece.

One small change I’d make is using a thickened paste epoxy designed to tolerate a little wood movement. Wood naturally expands and contracts, so having an adhesive that can accommodate some movement can help protect that seam over time.

Other than that, this was about as close to a picture-perfect waterfall table demonstration as you can get. Clean miters, proper grain continuity, Domino joinery, parallel jaw clamps, and a clear step-by-step process.

Save this if you’re planning a waterfall woodworking project.

What would you use for the joint: wood glue, thickened epoxy, or something else?

09/28/2026

There’s a big difference between leaving a live edge and simply leaving the bark on. 👀🪵

This build caught my attention because he actually explained something a lot of woodworking videos skip: the cambium layer and why bark removal matters.

He starts with George Nakashima, one of the biggest names in live-edge furniture, then builds a black walnut charcuterie board inspired by that style. As someone who’s worked around sawmilling, kiln drying, and plenty of live edge slabs, I appreciated seeing the reasoning behind the process explained instead of just showing the finished product.

Bark might look great on a wood slab, but it can eventually loosen, flake, or delaminate. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times in the shop and during kiln drying. The natural edge underneath is the actual live edge.

The black walnut was a solid choice too. It’s workable, sands beautifully, and there’s a reason it continues to show up in custom furniture and high-end woodworking projects.

The one part I’m not completely sold on? The finishing technique. It’s different from how I would approach it, but I’m curious enough that I might test it myself and see how it holds up.

Overall: 7/10. Good craftsmanship, some woodworking history, and actual technical information instead of just another build montage.

Woodworkers, would you trust that finishing process, or would you finish this piece differently?

09/25/2026

This is what happens when woodworking, electricity, and epoxy resin collide. ⚡

Walnut paired with that electric blue resin is already a killer combination, but the process behind this piece is what makes it interesting.

The maker used fractal burning to create the branching patterns through the wood, then took the extra time to clean and widen those burned channels before adding the blue epoxy resin.

That cleanup matters. Leaving loose charcoal and burnt material behind can introduce bubbles and defects into the epoxy. Cleaning out the channels also gives the resin more room, creating those wider, more defined blue pathways instead of thin lines.

But the finishing work might be the best part.

After what looked like a hard wax oil application, the surface was buffed further, bringing the shine back to the epoxy while keeping the walnut itself from becoming overly glossy. It’s a subtle detail, but those extra finishing steps are often what separate an interesting woodworking project from a seriously polished piece of custom furniture.

9/10. Excellent work. 👏

What do you think of the combination: blue epoxy + walnut, or would you choose a different resin color?

09/24/2026

A $250 walnut slab turned into a $7,700 tabletop, but the price isn’t the most interesting part of this build.

This 12-foot black walnut slab sat for months before Cam from Blacktail Studio found the right client and the right design for it.

The client wanted one thing for sure: black epoxy with black walnut. Around 12 gallons of epoxy resin later, the slab was left to cure for 2–3 weeks before coming out of the form. That wait matters. Pulling an epoxy table from the mold too early is one of those mistakes that can compromise a lot of work.

From there came industrial surfacing, a LOT of sanding, trimming with a track saw, and finally a conversion varnish finish.

Watching Cam’s process, what stands out isn’t just the finished table. It’s the consistency. He’s been producing this level of custom woodworking as a one-man shop for years, from the build itself to the final presentation.

There’s a reason woodworkers still study builds like this. Good materials matter, but patience, technique, finishing, and attention to detail are what turn a raw wood slab into custom furniture.

10/10 from us. 👏

Would you keep the natural voids filled with black epoxy, or would you have designed this walnut slab differently?

09/23/2026

Sometimes you watch another woodworker’s process and there’s almost nothing to critique. This was one of those builds. 👏

From the mold setup to the final finish, their process was incredibly clean.

The mold itself is similar to what a lot of experienced woodworkers use for epoxy tables: plywood walls slightly taller than the slab with a smooth tape surface so the cured epoxy releases easily. And despite one of the most common questions we get, you don’t necessarily need mold release. A wedge, a few taps, and a properly prepared mold can pop right apart.

Their clamping setup was a little different from ours. We use 2x2 steel bars to keep the wood slabs from floating during the epoxy pour, while they appeared to use lumber. Honestly, the steel might even be a little overkill considering how much upward pressure you’re actually dealing with.

Then came the finish.

What looks like Rubio Monocoat hardwax oil, applied with a buffing pad, brought the walnut and black epoxy together beautifully.

And that combination is hard to beat. Walnut + black epoxy is timeless. Unlike brighter epoxy colors that can limit your options if you redecorate later, black works with almost anything.

As woodworkers, we can usually find something we’d change about another build.

This one? 10/10. No notes. 🔥

Would you choose timeless black epoxy for your own river table, or go with a bolder color?

09/22/2026

One tiny leak can ruin an entire epoxy pour. 👀

This is actually a solid example of a proven river table process, especially for anyone getting into epoxy woodworking.

Pre-sealing the live edge before the main pour helps keep air from escaping out of the wood while the epoxy cures. But one detail that matters just as much is what happens after that seal coat cures: rough it back up before the main pour. Around 100 grit gives the next layer of epoxy resin something to mechanically bond to.

And don’t underestimate tiny knots or cracks.

I’ve seen an eight-gallon pour lose nearly half its epoxy through one tiny knot in a live edge slab. The opening looked harmless, but there was a path through the wood that nobody could see. That’s exactly why I still like building a containment box with a little extra room around double live edges. It’s cheap insurance against a very expensive mess.

The teal epoxy in this one is pretty slick too. Semi-transparent blue-green dye gives it that stained-glass look without completely hiding what’s happening underneath.

Nothing overly fancy here. Just a standard, proven process that works, which is exactly why I’d put this on the watch list for anyone learning how to build an epoxy river table.

What’s the worst epoxy leak you’ve ever had during a pour?

09/22/2026

The advice isn’t wrong. It’s just missing one VERY important step. 👀

Sealing a live edge slab before a river pour can absolutely help prevent trapped air from escaping into the epoxy and creating bubbles. But covering the entire slab in expensive deep pour epoxy? That wouldn’t be my first choice.

A bar top epoxy can do the job for significantly less, and there are other products I’d reach for before using deep pour just to seal the wood.

But here’s the bigger issue: you need to scuff that sealed surface before the main pour.

Skip that step and your epoxy may not get the mechanical bond it needs, which can lead to delamination later. That’s a much bigger problem than a few bubbles.

This is why woodworking advice needs context. The basic idea might be right, but one missing step can completely change the outcome of an epoxy table.

For beginners getting into custom woodworking and epoxy resin projects, understanding why each step matters is just as important as knowing what product to use.

Would you use deep pour epoxy to seal the slab, or do you have another product you prefer?

Address

11350 Metro Parkway #101
Fort Myers, FL
33966

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

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+12393315925

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