Make an Epoxy Ocean Motif Serving Board

Two serving boards together with an epoxy ocean motif and turtles. — Set of two finished serving boards with an epoxy ocean motif and turtle engravings.

Make an epoxy ocean motif serving board – step-by-step

For these serving boards, I worked with reclaimed wood, laser engraving and multiple epoxy layers to build the ocean motif. Everything was done in phases: preparing, engraving, pouring, sanding, pouring again and finishing.

Below I explain how I did it, so you know what to do and what to watch out for if you want to make this yourself.

1. Prepare the wood

I started with rough wood.

First I removed the bark. Then I sanded everything up to grit 360. I did not plane it, I only sanded it.

I kept the natural shape of the wood. This preserved the character of the wood.

Removing bark from rough wood — Rough wooden boards are manually debarked as the start of the epoxy ocean motif serving board project.

Rough wooden serving board clamped during sanding with a random orbital sander. — Rough wooden serving board clamped during sanding, already cut to size.

Important in this phase:

Remove loose fibers completely
Leave no dust in cracks or grain (compressed air is very useful here)
Wood must be dry

I did not treat the underside of the boards, I only sanded it.

The epoxy was later poured directly onto the wood, so a clean surface is important.

2. Laser engraving before pouring

I first laser-engraved the turtles with my Sculpfun S30 Pro Max. I designed the composition in LightBurn.

You first need the engraved figure, only then can you fill it with epoxy.

After laser engraving, I thoroughly removed dust and degreased everything so no dust gets into the epoxy and to avoid adhesion issues.

Design in LightBurn for two turtles on a serving board, prepared for laser engraving with the Sculpfun S30 Pro Max.

Sculpfun S30 Pro Max in operation — Active laser engraving of the serving board with the Sculpfun S30 Pro Max while creating the turtle motif.

Serving board with laser engraving of a large and small turtle, engraved with Sculpfun S30 Pro Max. — First laser engraving on the wooden serving board: both turtles are visible after engraving with the Sculpfun S30 Pro Max.

3. Prevent amine blush during winter months

To reduce the risk of amine blush, I deliberately worked in a controlled environment. My workspace is the coldest room in our house, so I had to create a kind of microclimate for pouring.

Epoxy:

Mr Boat deep pour for the pouring layers
letsresin as coating

Everything cured in a propagator/grow box with:

silica gel (orange) against moisture
temperature control

Silica gel in propagator — Moisture control during epoxy curing with orange silica gel in the closed grow box to reduce condensation and amine blush.

Propagator with temperature control — Serving board in a closed grow box with controlled conditions to let epoxy cure protected from moisture and cold.

Thermostat for stable curing — Bio Green thermostat set to 20 degrees for a stable temperature during the epoxy process in the grow box.

By keeping temperature and humidity stable, I had less risk of amine blush.

You can read more in my separate post: How to prevent amine blush.

4. First pouring phase – turtles and sea

For this part of the project, I used Mr Boat epoxy 70.

The board was in a plastic box that served as a mold. The epoxy was poured directly onto the wood so it could bond to it.

Because this was deep-pour epoxy, I could pour deeper here to get enough depth in the ocean motif.

In this phase I:

mica (2 colors: blue and turquoise) mixed to color the turtles and build the sea

Serving board in a plastic box as mold — Preparation for epoxy pouring: the engraved serving board is in a plastic box, ready for the ocean layer.

Pouring epoxy with mica — Pouring phase with mica pigment for the ocean color: epoxy is applied next to the engraved wooden part of the serving board.

Using weights during pouring — During pouring, the board is pressed down with weights so it stays stable in the mold.

Important when using deep pour:

Make sure your mold is level
Respect the maximum pour thickness of the epoxy
Mix correctly according to ratio
Allow enough curing time before continuing

During this pouring phase, one of the boards had a flash cure. As a result, my mold deformed due to the heat generated. I will explain this in more detail in another post.

5. Demolding and intermediate corrections

After curing, I demolded it.

After that I:

Sanded away excess epoxy
Corrected imperfections
Filled small holes again (in the next step while pouring the waves)

Before pouring again, the surface must be clean and suitable for adhesion.

Serving board just out of the mold — Serving board just taken out of the mold. It is not yet sanded and must be sanded first for the next finishing step.

Serving board with epoxy ocean motif and turtles during intermediate sanding with a random orbital sander. — Serving board with epoxy ocean motif and turtles during intermediate sanding with a sander.

6. Build the waves

For the waves, I first poured a very thin clear epoxy layer over the already cured sea. That thin layer prevents the white epoxy from grabbing the surface immediately.

Then I applied the white epoxy and blew it out with a heat gun. Because of that thin base layer, the white resin glides better over the existing epoxy and gives a more natural wave transition.

To promote cell formation, I lightly misted some alcohol over the surface. This helps create more structure and movement in the white edge.

After blowing it out, I let everything fully cure again before pouring the next finishing layer.

Blowing out the white wave layer with a heat gun — Intermediate sanding of the epoxy layer in preparation for the next pour layer.

Thin layer for building waves — Blowing out the white wave layer with a heat gun for a natural ocean effect.

Serving board after sanding, with holes corrected with epoxy in preparation for pouring the waves. — Intermediate phase after sanding: small holes are corrected with epoxy, then the wave pour follows for the ocean effect.

7. Finishing

After the wave layer was partially cured, not fully but still tacky, I poured the topcoat with Let’s resin epoxy.

After full curing, I sanded away the sharp edges and excess epoxy from pouring with an angle grinder so the board got a clean rounded shape.

Then I routed off excess epoxy from the underside with a router. Not always easy when you do not have guides.

After routing and grinding (with a sanding disc), I re-sanded the back and sides of the serving boards from grit 60 to grit 380.

After that I removed all dust and finished everything with Osmo TopOil for a food-safe, natural finish.

Refining edges with an angle grinder — Finishing phase of the epoxy serving board with an angle grinder to finish edges and surface cleanly and flat.

Routing away excess epoxy on the serving board with a router. — After curing, excess epoxy is routed away.

Can of Osmo TopOil food-safe worktop oil for finishing a wooden serving board. — Close-up of Osmo TopOil, the food-safe oil used for the final finishing of the serving board.

Finishing with Osmo TopOil — The finished serving board is degreased and then treated with food-safe worktop oil for wood protection and nourishment.

What I used or what you can use as an alternative:

Tools

Materials

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