Wood + Resin Pendant Necklaces — Burl + Epoxy Build Plan No. 24, PDF Plan with Layout Diagram, Cut List & Costs

Build the best use for your best offcuts: a jagged piece of walnut or maple burl that would be firewood anywhere else becomes the mountain edge or shoreline inside a jewel of tinted epoxy — and no two pendants can ever match. This 5-page PDF plan (Build Plan No. 24 in the Fox Feather Farms winter series) makes the 2 x 1 in (5.1 x 2.5 cm) pendant, 3/8 in thick, on a 20 in waxed cotton cord, by the batch method: cast one 6 x 3 in slab with the burl covering about 60% of it, then cut four pendants from the slab. Inside: a layout diagram of the flagship pendant and the casting slab, a cut list per slab, a full materials list with per-line costs in Canadian dollars (about $9 typical per pendant), the tools required, finishes and cure times, and a 7-step build summary. Teardrop, round disc, and mini shapes come from the same slab; an 18 in stainless chain is the upgrade option in the cut list. The two failure-preventers are spelled out: seal the burl first or it outgasses bubbles into the resin for hours, and never skip a grit wet-sanding 220 to 3000 or the skip shows as a cloudy band under the polish. Builder's notes name the colourways after local places and cover matching earrings from the same slab and casting a pendant from a piece of keepsake wood. About 45–60 minutes per pendant solo, 20–25 minutes each in a batch of twelve, plus a 48–72 hour cure before cutting. Personal use only — print and use as often as you like for yourself or as gifts; please don't redistribute the files or resell them.

What you need: Dry burl or figured walnut/maple offcuts, clear jewellery casting epoxy (15–20 ml per pendant), a 6 x 3 in slab mold, a bandsaw or scroll saw, wet/dry sandpaper 120–3000 with polishing compound, waxed cotton cord and findings. A printer if you want the plan on paper.