Both YouTube videos for our custom resin epoxy table build and our surprise resin guitar for Paul Stanley from KISS have been out for quite some time now, but with the guitar video currently gaining traction, I thought it would be a great time to reflect on the entire process and how things came to be.
In June 2024, Dylan realized we had received an email from none other than Paul Stanley himself. We had to double-check whether it was real, but when we got confirmation that it was truly Paul himself, we excitedly showed it to our shop foreman, Jon. Jon is the biggest classic rock fan that I have ever known. Jon's response to this news was simple: "Can I go on the install?" The answer was, of course, a yes. But that's a year down the line at this point.
So for the next few months, we were in communication, back and forth with Paul. Paul knew exactly what his budget was and what kind of wood he was looking for, which we admire in a client, but it's definitely more of a challenge to please them when that's the case. We showed him many slabs from our friends at GL Veneer, and Paul actually even went there to take a look on his own; this worked because both Stanley and GL Veneer are based in Los Angeles.
Ultimately, he couldn't find a slab from GL Veneer, but he did notice all of Jeff's guitars and played a mini show for Daniel, Jeff, and their staff. So they may not have gotten the sale, but they have something to remember for the rest of their lives.
So, where did Paul find his slab from? We went to our friends, still on the West Coast, but in Portland, Oregon, from Goby Walnut. Stanley ended up selecting a high-quality, claro walnut burl slab that perfectly fit his vision.
So, after the slab was selected, after months of looking for the perfect one, it was time to start building Paul Stanley's custom resin and wood dining table.
Step 1: Taking it out of one of our C Cans, which is always fun, because the slab we need is never on the top. So after sorting through and moving many slabs around on our forklift, we're able to set it down and bring it into the shop.
Step 2: We cut the slab to Paul's desired length, but before we physically cut anything, Ibrahim creates a rendering in Blender using the slab, and we go back and forth with Paul again so that we can get the perfect resin-to-wood ratio and the right layout. Once that's all been confirmed, then we can finally take our saw to this piece.
Step 3: We debark the entire piece. The bark on a slab can look very cool, but unfortunately, when you pour resin on a slab with bark still attached, the resin bonds to the bark, not the slab itself, and the bark detaches from the slab and floats in the resin. Not only does it look bad, but it also compromises the entire bond of the slab with the resin. So this is a tedious step, but very crucial to the appearance and longevity of the table.
Step 4: We build a mould for the table in our room. We take the table measurements and oversize it, then we create a mould using HDPE and MDF covered in Tuck Tape. Everything is on top of our custom-made water-cooled tables. These water-cooled tables are crucial to ensure that we don't flash-cure the resin. After we finish building the mould, we silicone everything down and wait over 24 hours to drop the slab in. After dropping the slab into the mould, we secure it down with MDF covered in Tuck tape, and clamp everything down to ensure nothing floats
Step 5: After securing the slab in the mould, it's time to mix up the resin and hardener. We swear by Black Forest Deep Resin; it cures slowly, so it releases most bubbles on its own, allowing for larger pours without worry of overheating and cracking. You have to calculate how many buckets to mix up for each pour. Luckily, we have a calculator on our website that you can use for your future projects. You must mix the Deep Resin with a 2:1 ratio, or it will not cure properly.
Step 6: Add the pigment(s) and/or dye(s)s. We get a lot of comments from people on YouTube and Instagram telling us that we should do other colours than just blue and black, but those two colours are our most popular amongst clients, and Paul was no different. For Paul, we mixed up our Black Forest Pigments and some dye from Colorfx. Then, we let it sit for 7 days to cure.
Step 7: After waiting a week, we can come along and demold the piece and bring it down to flatten it on our Avid CNC machine. We recently upgraded to an SCM Sander, so we only have to flatten one side on the CNC before bringing it onto the SCM. Once it's on the SCM sander, we take it up to 180 grit. After taking it through the heavy-duty sander, we bring it out for hand sanding with an orbital Mirka sander. Hand sanding is crucial; otherwise, you will have big machine marks in your slab. Once in this stage, you sand all the way up to 320, unless, in this case, you're Paul Stanley.
Step 8: For Paul's table, we did a completely different technique; we still took the slab itself to 320 grit, but we sanded the resin river all the way up to 4000 grit. 4000 grit allows for an extremely shiny surface, so we're able to fully polish the resin to look like glass.
Step 9: After we complete the polishing step, we apply a coat of our Black Forest Furniture Oil, followed by our LED Oil, then we finally top it off with a Base & Top Coat of BF Ceramics.
Step 10: After all the finishes cure, it's time to pack this into a perfectly sized crate full of foam to cushion it from every angle to ensure its safety in transit from Calgary, Alberta to Los Angeles, California.
Step 11: Deliver a table to a celebrity's home in LA. Finally, by July 2025, we were able to go to LA, to Paul Stanley's house, and deliver his custom, one-of-a-kind table straight to him. As if this wasn't nerve-wracking enough, when we got on-site, we realized Paul's property was on a giant hill, as was his driveway.
Step 12: Breathe. Luckily, we got the table in (almost) without a hitch, and we watched Paul unwrap it and watched his face light up.
You can watch this entire process, as well as Paul's full reaction, here: Delivering A Table to Paul Stanley of KISS.
Or, if you don't have 40 minutes to spare, check out the short version here: Paul Stanley's First Look at His Table.
Global News also ended up writing an article and filming a news segment about this table, which you can watch here: Rock Legend Commissions "Unique Piece of Art" From Small Calgary Company.
You may have noticed that the X-Base got skipped over in this. Building an X-Base will be a future post you'll have to keep an eye out for.
And as for the guitar build process? That will be next, and will be linked on this page when it's up and ready!