Carve the pocket, then add color
Get a glass-smooth inlay by carving a pocket, pour the epoxy and let it cure, sand, and polish it.
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Wood and epoxy
Explore CNC carving with epoxy: a state-outline inlay in a cutting board, red lettering on shop clamp racks, colorful geode wall art, blue oceans on a world map, a cast serving tray, and resin accents in turned wood.
Open the projects for the designs and build instructions, then read the makers’ lessons below. The cutting-board example documents a maker’s process, not a food-contact certification for your resin, colorant, or finished board.
Real projects from the Easel gallery
Each project has a working preview and copy path. Open one to inspect the design, then adapt the size, material, tooling, and resin process for your own shop.
Cutting Board Epoxy Inlayby Frank GraffagninoA hard-maple board with a shallow state-outline pocket filled with dark epoxy. The maker recommends testing the carve in inexpensive stock and using a reliable center zero when rounded edges make corner zeroing difficult.
Bessey Clamp Racks with Epoxy Logoby Steve MoseleyWorkshop storage cut from Baltic birch plywood, with straight-bit logo pockets filled with tinted epoxy. The build covers sealing, pouring, assembly, and hanging the loaded racks securely.
Geode Slices (3 sizes)by Evan and KatelynThree CNC-cut plywood or MDF bases finished as colorful resin wall pieces. The shared Easel file provides the shapes; the makers recommend practicing the resin process on a smaller piece first.
World map-epoxy inlayby Ashley StillsonA birch-plywood map with blue epoxy filling the oceans. Ashley wet-sanded the cured fill with micro mesh and applied gloss spray lacquer; the shared design gives you the map and lettering to adapt.
Serving Tray Templateby Evan and KatelynA handled blue resin tray made with a CNC-cut mold. The shared Easel file is the HDPE tray template, not the finished casting; Evan and Katelyn's video covers the mold and resin steps.
Epoxy resin, CNC and woodturningby Scrap Wood CityCarved cavities become curved resin accents after turning on a lathe. Scrap Wood City made a bowl form, pen, and night light cap; the shared file supplies the CNC cavity design, with the resin fill and lathe work still to do.
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Lessons from the makers
Lessons from clamp racks, dominoes, and a letter opener, with the original instructions and comments close at hand.
Read the discussions without an account. Sign in to post a question in the project comments.
Steve compared straight bits with a 60-degree V-bit for his Bessey logos. With the sloped V-carved sides, a shallow epoxy fill made the lettering look wider; a higher fill made it look narrower. He chose straight bits for a more consistent filled logo. He also noted play in his Z-axis during the V-bit test, so this was not a controlled comparison.
Project notes by Steve Moseley: read the source.
From Bessey Clamp Racks with Epoxy Logo by Steve Moseley.
Ask a questionSteve reports tinted epoxy traveling as far as two inches through wood outside a carved area, leaving discoloration he could not sand away. For his clamp racks, he applied two coats of water-based topcoat before the pour and kept the glue edges uncoated. That is his documented finish combination, not a compatibility guarantee for other resins and sealers.
Project notes by Steve Moseley: read the source.
From Bessey Clamp Racks with Epoxy Logo by Steve Moseley.
Ask a questionSarah tried epoxy-filled pips on her dominoes and found painting much faster. The filled look was worth considering, but the epoxy dots spread after looking full. She worked in small batches, filling one number at a time. Her build gives you a real comparison to weigh before choosing that finish.
Project notes by Sarah Milne: read the source.
From Mexican Train Dominoes by Sarah Milne.
Ask a questionJohn ground too much epoxy off the back of his leather-and-ebony letter opener and freed the ebony pins it was holding. Later, sanding the ebony left black dust on the white inlay, which he removed with a chisel. His build shows two finishing problems that only became visible after shaping.
Project notes by John Z Zhu: read the source.
From Tanto Letter Opener by John Z Zhu.
Ask a questionStart with a real community design, adapt the pocket or base for your material, and prepare the carve in Easel before you mix the epoxy.
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