I made myself a coffee mug!

Started with a scrap chunk of 4x4 pine I had lying around. I don't really have access to any dark walnuts or oaks so I had to work with what I had.

I cut the 4x4 into 4 pieces, twisted the top piece and the bottom piece so the grain wouldn't line up, used a 2 3/4 whole saw for the inside, glued it all together and left it overnight. Then lots of rough cuts and sanding.

I don't own or have access to a lathe so I just made a lot of rough cuts to get the shape where I wanted it and lots of sanding.

2nd coat of stains. Dark walnut on the top, bottom and the line in the middle. The middle pieces are barn red. Once all dried i covered the whole thing in a second coat of dark walnut because the barn red was too overpowering.

First coat of Epoxy

Epoxy is all dry, sanded down and added a second coat to get the air bubbles out.

All finished!

When I sanded the first coat of Epoxy I sanded heavier that normal and pulled some of the stain off so I'd get that lighter color in random spots.

Lastly I couldn't find a Resin/Epoxy or oil that was food safe AND temperature resilient for coffee. It was one or the other, so I found a glass insert and put a small bead of clear silicone around the edge to make sure no liquid could get behind the glass.