Pecky Cypress Glow-in-the-Dark Coffee Table

Glow-in-the-Dark Pecky Cypress Coffee Table

I originally made this table for my wife's workshop, but when my son moved into an apartment at college he wound up with it.

He told me the chicks dig it!

I found several short pieces of pecky cypress in a pallet of flooring scraps that I bought from E. B. Smith's Cypress Depot in Port Barre, LA. I tossed them on the scrap pile and grumbled about people hiding trash in the middle of a pallet load of lumber.

That evening I was cruising the internet and saw a post with a live edge bar top that the craftsman had filled viods and knot with epoxy. The novelty was, he had mixed glow-in-the-dark powder with the resin!

I fetched those scrap piece off the burn pile and used the biscuit jointer to glued up a large plank to use for a coffee table.

Notice the Long Pecks or Voids in the Surface

For my purpose, I wanted the worst side up. On the bottom side, I found the exact center and drove a finishing nail. I made a loop in a piece of nylon string and dropped it over this nail, then stretched the string to one edge of the plank and tied a pencil to it. Then I scribed an arc from side to side. I did the same thing on the other end and cut along these lines with a saber saw. The symmetrical curves at each end looked pretty good as shown in the picture above.

For the legs I used the worst pieces of rough cut ,2 inch, stock from my scrap pile.
I used a piece of 1/4 in luan plywood to sketch out the shape of the table legs. Then I cut these out on the band saw to use as a pattern.

I had to cut this pattern into three pieces on account of I did't have any stock big enough to make a solid leg from one piece. These were cut from 2 X 6 rough cut stock and assembled with pegs and glue.

I ordered some bar top epoxy and some blue, glow-in-the-dark powder. I waited until these arrived by UPS.

That driver knows where I live! We're on a first name basis.

Before I mixed the epoxy, I took great care to seal all the cracks and knot holes that went all the way through the plank.

I bought a couple of rolls of aluminium tape to use for this.

There were several places along the edge that I had to form a dam to compensate for missing material. If you are the first one to say "one half SBD" in the comments you win 0.5 SBD. Using the instructions that came with the glow powder I mixed enough epoxy to fill all the voids. You must read the directions for using this product closely.

You do not want excessive bubbles in this product and once mixed you have to work fast.

A heat gun or small torch can be passed quickly over the surface to pop the inevitable bubbles that do occur.

Use the epoxy sparingly. I had to sand the excess off and it wasn't an easy task! I bet I went through a whole box of 80 grit paper to get it level.

I assembled my three piece legs using pegs and glue and used a pecky rough cut 2 X 4 for a longitudinal brace. These I treated with epoxy and glow power also.

I used extra long pocket hole screws to attach the brace and filled the counter sinks with walnut pegs.

Then I sanded the entire piece to a 400 grit finish.

Here's the Finished Piece Getting a Coat of Polyurethane

I put 5 coats of polyurethane on the top and sanded between each coat. It finished to a high gloss that was very reflective.

I experimented with exposing the top to different light sources. Florescent light charged the surface pretty well. I had less than desirable results from incandescent bulbs. But when exposed to sunlight or black light the results were spectacular!

The luminescence would dim over time but lasted at least 9 hours when exposed to florescent lights or sunlight.

Here is the result , on the left is a view in the dark on the right is the same camera view with the lights on!

I hope you enjoyed this little post, I had fun making it.
CARRY ON!