Master class on creating a “money” tabletop. My translation.
Firstly, if you want your coins to have a shine, you will need to polish them, a quick way to do this is:
Fill the bowl about a quarter full with water, pour in some Tarn-X, and then swirl the bowl over the sink (in case of splashes) to evenly wet the coins in the liquid. It only takes a few seconds. When they are evenly shiny, place them in a colander in the sink and thoroughly rinse off any excess product with water. Place the coins on a towel and dry.
We made the tabletop into the desired shape from plywood and then painted it. Since our front end was rounded, we started there.
The husband pressed a long metal ruler to the end of the table so that the coins would not move until they were completely fixed with glue.
So how did you bend the coins? - you ask. Here's how: My husband found an old titanium ring and wrapped some insulating tape so that the inner size of the ring would fit the size of the coin inside. After some trial and error, he discovered that by pinching the coin inside with pliers, he could create the correct fold to match the fold of the edge of the table... However, be warned, this is HARD. I tried my best and couldn't bend a penny. Even my husband wore gloves to protect his hands while he worked.
NOTE: If you don't want to (or can't) bend the coins, don't focus on the radial end, make a right angle. In the end, this is a feature that you can completely do without.
Once the first line of bent coins was glued down, the job was just to cover the entire table with coins.
We used coins of the same size, but the denominations are different, there are even Canadian and Bahamian coins. They were glued with an offset relative to each other. My husband later cut off the coins hanging on the edge using a Dremel. Using heavy tin snips, he also cut small “patches” of coins to fill in the empty spaces and joints.
All this took him about two nights. By that time the table was completely covered with coins, we worked on it for 6 nights.
Next comes the worst part: coating our work with epoxy resin. We install our tabletop in a small room, the floor of which is covered with a thick layer of plastic film. The epoxy takes several days to dry and during this time you need to protect the drying area from dust, hair, animal hair, etc. (close the room, the ventilation hole, if you can).
You may notice that our epoxy is tinted with the “golden orange” color, this is not on purpose - we had it lying around for a very long time, and since it is expensive (about $100), we decided to use it anyway. Plus, this shade just makes the coins look a little more gold and it looks pretty nice.
After everything is filled with epoxy resin, you need to level it so that the ends are also covered with the composition. Its excess will flow onto the film. They can be collected with a spatula and applied to uncoated areas at the ends.
New modern building materials appear on the market every day, and there are so many ideas for decorating your home with handmade items.
We've collected some interesting ideas how to make a countertop with epoxy resin and make it original and unique appearance and also decorate the interior of the house.. 
We'll show you step-by-step the process of creating an epoxy countertop yourself, with creative ideas and craft skills. The tabletop is made of coins, looks great and will decorate any interior. For this purpose, you can use coins of any countries that you still have after traveling. To do this you will need coins, epoxy resin glue, and a ruler.
To create a product, the coins must be the same size. They must be thoroughly cleaned of oxides and dirt. You can use special tools for this that will cope with this task in a few seconds. 
Place the first row of coins on the countertop. If you have a rounded edge, you will need to bend the coins using simple tools - a steel ring and pliers. 
Use a long straight edge or spirit level across your countertop to make sure your coin surface is level and that the coins will stay in place and won't fall off. Using glue, we glue the coins onto the surface of our tabletop. 
Continue gluing coins until the entire surface is covered. 
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We cover the floor with a polyethylene protective layer to avoid damage to the floor covering. We install our tabletop on a stand so that we can move it freely around the perimeter of the product. 
Make sure we have enough glue, then pour it onto the central part of the tabletop and carefully spread it over the surface using a wooden or plastic spatula. 
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Epoxy resin should cover the surface of the countertop with a thickness of at least 4-6 mm. 
Work very well with the ends of the product; cover them well with resin. 
In order for the remaining air to escape when pouring the resin, we heat the surface with a manual gas burner. 
After removing the air, leave the surface for 2-3 days, this is necessary for the epoxy resin to dry completely. After 3 days you received the original fabulous tabletop. 
The furnishings in the house ensure that it is cozy and matches your tastes. However, furniture stores are not always able to offer something that suits your vision of the interior. Yes and standard solutions- is not at all what suits people who strive for individual design. It’s easier, of course, to order an exclusive and pay money for it. But it’s much more interesting to implement the idea yourself. For example, for a tabletop it makes it possible to create any creative surface, unique and inimitable. Of course, you will have to work hard. But epoxy is a fairly simple material to work with, and mastering the basics of handling it is not difficult.
Advantages of the material
What is especially good about epoxy resin for pouring countertops is that when it dries, it retains its original volume. Varnish, for example, dries due to the evaporation of the liquid entering it. As a result, its layer shrinks, which often creates problems. The hardening of the resin is caused by a chemical reaction. And if you require a lens by design, you will get it. Moreover, it will not be subject to chips, removal, or deformation. And just a flat surface will remain flat, without sagging as it dries.
Another advantage that epoxy resin has is price. The material is cheaper than others designed to create durable surfaces. The cost on average ranges between 200 and 280 rubles per kilogram. And if you need epoxy resin in bulk, the price will drop to 180-190, depending on the size of the batch.
Guarantee of success: preparation
To mix the material you will need a bowl (the volume depends on how much epoxy you need), a mixing stick and two measuring containers. Before mixing, you need to carefully study the instructions: the proportions of the components are different and depend on the manufacturer. They must be strictly observed, otherwise the material will not harden well.
First, the epoxy is measured, and then the resin hardener. You need to pour it into the base, and not vice versa. The combined materials are kneaded as thoroughly as possible; the quality of hardening also depends on this. Once homogeneity is achieved, you need to wait until the resin reaches the desired consistency, after which you can use it for its intended purpose.
Which stage to use for what?
Countertop epoxy resin comes in several thicknesses, and each is suitable for a different purpose.
- Liquid stage: the composition flows freely from the stick. Ideal condition for filling molds - at this stage all corners and depressions will be filled.
- Thickness like “liquid honey”. It flows viscously from the sampler, lingering at the tip. Exactly what you need to create drops and lenses. Also suitable for filling soft shapes, for example, for a round tabletop.
- “Thick honey” stage. It is practically unsuitable for pouring, but it is impeccable as an adhesive - previous consistencies will run off.
- The next stage, in which the resin is separated from the total mass with difficulty, is of little use for any purpose. Either they don’t bring it to this point, or they wait for it to thicken even more.
- The rubber phase allows you to create fancy shapes, like modeling from plasticine. True, in order for the epoxy resin for the countertop to retain its shape, it will have to be fixed in the desired position, otherwise it will straighten out.
The last stage is solid. When the epoxy reaches it, your countertop is ready.
Subtleties of the process
Before you make an epoxy resin countertop, take care not to add any further work to yourself. In particular, cover the table you are working on or the floor under the workbench with polyethylene - leaked resin can be removed with great effort.
Until the surface dries, it will collect all the dust. Consider your coverage option in advance. For example, low racks on which the film “roof” will be stretched.
No water should get into either the resin or the hardener. Including from the air, so it’s not worth working in high humidity. A certain temperature regime is also required: if the room temperature is less than 22 Celsius, you risk getting a poorly hardened countertop. You can speed up hardening by increasing the temperature, for example, by placing the product on a radiator. You should not heat it with a hairdryer: the resin will boil and give a huge number of bubbles.
If a bubble appears near the surface when the epoxy resin for the countertop is just being poured, you can blow on it through a cocktail tube, a thin syringe, or even a housing ballpoint pen. The ball will burst without spoiling the craft.
Nuances of use
A tabletop made of epoxy resin, made by hand, has its own characteristics in operation. Firstly, the material tends to turn yellow from sun rays, and sometimes from heat. If you plan to place a table in a southern room or kitchen, as well as in a poorly protected garden gazebo, buy a base with a UV filter.
Secondly, the cold sometimes causes flakes or grains to form on the countertop. You can return it to its original appearance by heating it to 40-60 degrees.
Thirdly, epoxy resin is not very suitable for countertops used in kitchen conditions, since it can emit toxins when heated. If you want to place such a table in the kitchen, cover the surface with a protective transparent varnish. Best of all - designed for yachts.
Table top mold
You will need it if you want to make it completely out of epoxy, without using anything as a supporting surface. For the form, you can take glass of the required size. It is thoroughly washed, wiped dry and degreased with acetone. Then the surface is rubbed with wax mastic, which after a third of an hour is polished with a dry rag. The edges can be made from If you want perfectly smooth edges of the tabletop, buy polished ones. Inner surface processed with a mixture of turpentine and paraffin. They are attached to the glass with window putty.
All of these procedures are required to ensure that the epoxy resin for the countertop does not stick to the mold, and the finished product is easily removed from it. However, if you intend to insert the surface into a “frame”, you do not need to worry about the smoothness of the cuts. in this case, the sides can be assembled from any available material and sandwiched with polyethylene or rubber - epoxy will not stick to them.
Otherwise, everything is simple: prepare the solution, bring it to the desired consistency and pour it. To obtain a varied structure, you can tint the resin with water-insoluble dyes or add inclusions to it - small pebbles, fragments of colored glass, etc.
Coin idea
It is not at all necessary to make a countertop only from this material. Epoxy resin for countertops makes it possible to use a variety of additional elements. For example, if you have an old but strong tabletop, you can actually make a new one out of it, and a very unusual one at that. The surface is cleaned; you can paint it in a suitable color. Old coins are cleaned with a special solution. The tabletop is laid evenly, with low borders along the edges. Coins are laid out inside the “box”. There is no need to fasten them in any way. All that remains is to fill the mold with epoxy and wait for it to set. This idea is especially good for a bar counter.
Wood plus resin
A very elegant solution would be to combine epoxy with natural wood. Either a regular tabletop is knocked together from boards with cavities, or they are artistically cut out on the finished one. The surface is sanded until smooth; Fluorescent dyes are added to the diluted resin. All cleaned cavities are filled with the composition. After drying, the tabletop is coated in several layers with intermediate sanding. An unusual and colorful table is ready!
If you've ever wanted to purchase inlaid furniture in the form of a cheap coffee table, then this Instructable is for you! I was about to throw out my old cheap glass table when I came up with the idea of inlaid it with coins. Since I really hate throwing things away, naturally this turned out to be a good idea. By the way, this is not the first coin craft I offer. Take a look - it’s also very interesting!
Step 1: Pick furniture according to your capabilities
I only needed a few things for this project. First of all, there was an old, ugly table, with glass top. Second, I used an adhesive that works on non-porous surfaces (I used Goop, but there are other similar adhesives). Thirdly, it cost me a lot cheap- I probably used about $4 worth of pennies. And finally I used a solution. I first had to test various compositions of the solution before I selected the color scheme of the solution for myself.
Step 2. Start gluing
We started gluing the pennies on the outer edge. table. In our particular case, we decided to make two rows of heads, two rows of tails, etc. After gluing all the coins, we leave the product for the glue to dry as recommended by the manufacturers.
Step 3: Add Solution
Once the glue was dry, we applied the filling solution between the coins. I mixed a very small batch of the solution, mixing it to a fairly thick consistency. After mixing, I let it sit for 20 minutes and stirred again to make sure all the dry ingredients were well combined. Since I did this part myself, I didn't get a photo of the process, but it was pretty easy. I put some mortar on the table and used a plastic putty knife to cover every crevice with it. After going through all the voids, I left it for another 20 minutes. Next, I took a damp sponge and began wiping the solution off the coins, cleaning the sponge frequently. After cleaning all the seams, I wiped them down with a dry paper towel. All that is left is for the solution to dry overnight.
Step 4. In conclusion
This turned out to be a fairly simple and inexpensive way to turn a cheap, ugly table into inlaid furniture- a real work of art. And this is the most cheap coffee table IR, which I had.
By the way, it makes no sense to tell me that I violated federal laws by defacement of coins. The coins were not damaged in any way (no cutting, drilling, or anything else was necessary). All coins remain untouched. No coins were harmed in the creation of this table....
The coins should shine. To do this they need to be polished
Fill the bowl about a quarter full with water, pour in some Tarn-X, and then swirl the bowl over the sink (in case of splashes) to evenly wet the coins in the liquid. It only takes a few seconds. When they are uniformly shiny, place them in a colander in the sink and thoroughly rinse off any excess product with water. Place coins on a towel and dry 
We made the tabletop into the desired shape from plywood and then painted it. Since our front end was rounded, we started there
The husband pressed a long metal ruler to the end of the table so that the coins would not move until they were completely fixed with glue. 
So how did you bend the coins? - you ask. Here's how: My husband found an old titanium ring and wrapped some insulating tape so that the inner size of the ring would fit the size of the coin inside. After some trial and error, he discovered that by pinching the coin inside with pliers, he could create the correct fold to match the fold of the edge of the table... However, be warned, this is HARD. I tried my best and couldn't bend a penny. Even my husband wore gloves to protect his hands while he worked. 
NOTE: If you don't want to (or can't) bend the coins, don't focus on the radial end, make a right angle. In the end, this is a feature that you can completely do without.
Once the first line of bent coins was glued, the job was just to cover the entire table with coins.... 
We used coins of the same size, but the denominations are different, there are even Canadian and Bahamian coins. They were glued with an offset relative to each other. My husband later cut off the coins hanging on the edge using a Dremel. Using heavy tin snips, he also cut small “patches” of coins to fill in the empty spaces and joints. 
All this took him about two nights. By that time the table was completely covered with coins, we worked on it for 6 nights.
Next comes the worst part: coating our work with epoxy resin. We install our tabletop in a small room, the floor of which is covered with a thick layer of plastic film. The epoxy takes several days to dry and during this time you need to protect the drying area from dust, hair, animal hair, etc. (close the room, ventilation hole, if you can) 
You may notice that our epoxy is tinted with the “golden orange” color, this is not on purpose - we had it lying around for a very long time, and since it is expensive (about $100), we decided to use it anyway. Plus, this shade just makes the coins look a little more gold and it looks pretty nice 
After everything is filled with epoxy resin, you need to level it so that the ends are also covered with the composition. Its excess will flow onto the film. They can be collected with a spatula and applied to uncoated areas at the ends 
Then take autogen 
Torch to get rid of bubbles in epoxy resin. And believe me, there will be lots and lots of bubbles. Keeping the flame within 6 inches of the surface, move it and watch the bubbles magically rise up and away, leaving a beautiful glass-smooth surface.
We wait two more days and... Voila! The beautiful work surface in the wall is ready! 
Based on materials from epbot.com
And here is a floor made of coins. Made using the same technology.
