You can craft your own set of stylish coasters with a beautiful pattern. The process is called patterned plywood and it can be used for a variety of projects, like coasters.
But here we’ll show you how to make coasters. The process is quite simple, but it takes some time to make the patterned plywood. But most of the time is waiting for the glue to dry.
How to make the patterned plywood?
It’s quite simple, you need a sheet of plywood that you saw in strips where all are the same width. Remember that the width of the strips must not be higher than you can cut on your table saw.
Then glue the strips together as shown in the picture above. You should be aware of that we will later cut this block of strips at an angle of 45 degrees. To not lose too much in the cut, glue the strips at 45 degrees. By this we mean that you shift each strip so that you get about 45 degrees at the end of the block you glue together. The more accurate you are, the less scrap you get.
Use clamps to compress the strips together while the glue dries. After the glue is completely dry, then you cut it into new strips. But this time you have to use a miter gauge on your table saw, which you set to 45 degrees. First, you cut off the ends, try to get as little scraps as possible. Then you will cut the strips. I like to vary the size of the strips so that I can vary the pattern. But I recommend cutting the strips in pairs, as the pattern is best when you have two of the same thickness next to each other.
How to determine the pattern
The next step is to glue these 45-degree strips together into a pattern. Here you can make many different patterns based on how you sawed up the strips. I like to have strips of different sizes, but you might like that the pattern is the same. Choose what you like best.
Here you have to use a good amount of glue and you have to use a lot of clamps. If you want a little more information on how to make a block with patterned plywood, you can see the video I made below here. Read more below the video on how to make coasters of pattern plywood.
This is how you make the coasters of patterned plywood
So far, you have learned how to make pattern plywood. Now you are going to learn how to make coasters of the patterned plywood block. You take the block with the pattern plywood also you have to saw it into slices. The slices should be in the thickness you want the coasters to be. But let them be a little bigger as some will be gone during sanding.
Remember that the thinner you make them, the greater the danger is that they may break while you work on them. After you have finished sanding them, you can reinforce them with what you treat them with. But we will go through this in more detail later in this article.
Cuting out the coasters
There are mainly two methods you can use to cut the block into slices. This is with a table saw or a band saw. You can of course also use hand saws, but this will take much more time. The best method is with a band saw, then you can more easily get straight and nice slices to work with.
I do not have a band saw, so I have to use my table saw. The table saw is not large enough to saw through the entire block. So I have to saw it from both sides. It`s very important is to make sure that the blade is at a 90-degree angle to the base of the table saw. If it is only a few degrees wrong, the cuts will not hit each other and you have to sand extra hard to get the slices smooth.
What shape should the coasters have?
Now you need to decide what size and shape these patterned plywood coasters should be. I have made both round and square coasters from patterned plywood. Squares are the safest shape to make as there is a greater risk of pieces breaking off when you make them round.
I used a jigsaw to saw them round. Make sure to cut them a few millimeters outside the line. Then I use the sanding machine to sand up to the line. You can of course also use a band saw or a scroll saw to make them round. If you like to use hand saws, a coping saw can be used for this.
Sanding and surface treatment on the coasters
When the coasters are in the shape you want, it is ready to get them ready for finish. I sand them from 80 to 400, but you can stop at 180, anything over this does not have much to say. Although these are made of plywood, the wood fibers can rise again when you apply certain types of finishes. So you may want to wipe them with a damp cloth and let them dry. After they are dried up, sand them again from 100 and up to 180 (or 400 for my part). Then you avoid the fibers rising when you put on the finish.
Which finish should you use on coasters?
On coasters, it is important to use a treatment of the wood that makes it waterproof. This is to prevent water from drawing in and destroying the coaster. Just think of all the moisture that settles on an ice-cold beer on a hot day.
On my patterned plywood coasters, I first use two coats of mineral oil. If the fibers in the wood stick up, I sand them with the same sandpaper I sanded them last with(180 or 400) between the two rounds of oil. Then I starve with cutting board butter made from mineral oil and beeswax. I rub this in well and polish the coasters with it. Then I let them dry and polish them again with a lint-free cloth. The wax will harden and make both the wood stronger but it will also keep the water away. But this treatment does not last forever, so you need to put a new finish on them when needed.
Finish that reinforces coasters of patterned plywood
Have you made very thin coasters from patterned plywood or do you know that they can get some hard treatment? Then it is good to use a treatment that can give the coasters extra strength in addition to keeping them waterproof. Varnish is the easiest, if you give the coasters several coats of varnish, this will help keep them stronger. But it is important to choose a varnish that can withstand water. Also, check that it can withstand a hot cup of tea or coffee on it.
Should you pick it up a couple of notches, then you can choose to treat them with epoxy. A thin layer of surface epoxy will make the coasters very durable. Be aware that some epoxy can get a light yellow color. So to avoid this, check that the one you are going to use is clear. It is also possible to mix some color pigment in the epoxy to give them an exciting color. Just do not mix in so much color that the nice patterned plywood pattern does not appear.
What you need to make pattern plywood coasters
Materials:
18mm / 3/4″ Plywood Board (You can use other thicknesses as well)
Wood glue
Oil, varnish or epoxy
Tools:
Table saw
Clamps
Sander
Jigsaw (optional)
Band saw (optional)
Why make coasters?
Coasters are a popular tabletop accessory. They keep your tables from getting water rings and stains. In my opinion, there are not many other coasters that look more stylish than pattern plywood coasters. These are also perfect as a gift. I have given away several and constantly I get pictures sent from family and friends that show them in use under their glasses.
Video tutorials on how to make patterned plywood coasters
See also these two videos that show how I made round and square patterned plywood coasters.
See more of my videos on Youtube here. If you liked this article then you might also like this one where I made a chess set of patterned plywood
