Fun resin project with koi

Made on a Glowforge
,
1

Since I’m currently on a resin kick, I made up a few of these little koi ponds to use for gifts. It’s super easy, you just apply these layered stickers to succeeding layers of resin in the box.

image
image806×619 175 KB
image
image877×569 236 KB

I cut the frames from 1/8” Baltic birch, adding a cute fish icon from the Premium graphics to one side. I stuck the frame down to wide tape, sealing all sides well with tape, and poured thin layers of resin. The first layer was of fine white gravel. After that I stuck the layered stickers in the order indicated on the sticker sheet. There are about 5-6 layers of resin in each box. The resin I used was a 2-part epoxy and you have to let each layer cure for at least 12 hrs before adding another layer. So it took close to a week to do. If you try one of these project, a tip I discovered was that you float the sticker on a few drops of resin, which allows you to position it correctly over the one on the previous layer before sticking it down permanently. After final curing, I ran all sides on a belt sander to clean up char and resin drips. Also, after removing the tape from the bottom I added a thin layer of pale blue tinted resin on the bottom to smooth things out.

52 Likes
2

The Koi don’t mind?? :open_mouth:

12 Likes
3

They do look pretty real, don’t they?

9 Likes
4

This is quite awesome :slight_smile: . I notice that the longer sides are bowed in slightly, is that from the resin retracting as it cures?

6 Likes
5

Actually, they aren’t bowed in real life. i think that’s a fisheye effect from my ipad camera lens.

6 Likes
6

hehe fish eye, such a fitting optical effect

9 Likes
7

They look amazingly real! the birch works well on the side, though the plys look look distracting on the edges. A thin picture frame shape could make it more like those depth images or frames and hide the ply edge.

The colors of the Koi and plants make it so much better.

6 Likes
8

So cool! I hadn’t seen or heard of these before!

5 Likes
9

What a great idea and mix of materials.

4 Likes
10

This is a true work of art.

2 Likes
11

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: That was my first thought (other than how amazing they were).

2 Likes
12

These are beautiful.

2 Likes
13

Wow! I can’t believe those are stickers!! Those look amazing!

4 Likes
14

Never would have guessed those were stickers! Incredible.

3 Likes
15

These are really cool!!

2 Likes
16

I’m apparently VERY TIRED at the moment…I read the first post and saw the picture and thought ‘what the H? my sister will be livid!’ My sister used to have a pond in her backyard with Koi…I thought you had cast one in resin…yeah, I’m tired…I’m going to bed…I’ll look at this in the morning because it looks too real to me right now…

6 Likes
17

Wow!!! We are going to call you resin queen!!!

4 Likes
18

@Livein3D, you should get the stickers and make one for your sister! I don’t think she would be fooled when she gets a close look.

2 Likes
19

I want you to know…you just about sent me down a rabbit hole again with this beauty…I’ve managed to hold off so far, but I’m about to blow a couple hundred bucks on resin products, and i wasted half a day wandering through stickers on Amazon. :smile:

4 Likes
20

Wow! resin queen!!! indeed! These are fabulous. You really ARE good at this.

3 Likes