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Repurpose Copper Pennies Into Mini Tiles

Edited by abdoul sow, Robbi, Eng, Lynn and 1 other

It's super simple to use - just pour it over the coins and then rinse. Polishing some of the coins gives the end outcome a attractive mix of glossy and tarnished finishes.

Steps

1
Prep and landing
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1. We built my desk from scratch to fit the space we needed, but you could use a pre-existing table top or desk, no problem. We made it very dark before beginning to set the pennies.
2. Start putting your pennies on the front brim, securing them with a little spot of super glue. We clamped a direct edge leader to guide our first line, and angled our first line of coins to fit around the rounded brim of the table. You don't have to do this, though. You could place the pennies just on the top, and snip them in a straight line.
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2
Getting angled
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1. If you conclude that you do want to angle your coins to cover the edges, here's how we did it: We covered a little piece of electric strip around one of John's titanium rings to pad it somewhat. (He wears a size 10.5 ring, if that helps.) Then John utilized pliers to bend each penny to the interior bend of the ring. Just attach the penny interior the ring, and clamp down with the pliers.
2. Equitable alert: This needs an allotment of hand power, much more than I, weakling geek girl that I am, could ever organize. John was dressed in hefty cowhide work hand-coverings to protect his palms, since he had to bend a assortment of coins.
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3
Mind-numbing tedium is your ally
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1. Now, start gluing! I expended about four nights employed on arranging and gluing down each coin. It would have gone much faster, but I was mindfully arranging the distinct colors and mixing in "special" pennies (wheaties, other nations' coins, etc.) in at normal intervals.
2. As you can glimpse from the second image, it only took a tiny spot of glue to secure each coin, but you will need to glue them all.
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4
Mind your borders
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1. If you have a Dremel, glue the pennies on first - hanging over the brim - and then trim them off subsequently. (first picture) If you don't have a Dremel, use heavy snips to slash the coins before gluing them down.
2. In the second picture you can glimpse how John angled and snipped the pennies to wrap around the desk's corner brim. This was the trickiest part, and required plenty of hand strength (and powerful snips!)
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5
Arrange to dispense
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1. When your exterior is ready, prep your locality for pouring the epoxy. You need someplace you can leave it undisturbed for about two days, and that is somewhat dust-free. We set up in a back room of our dwelling.
2. Cover the floor with lots of trash bags - very, VERY, significant - as the epoxy will be dripping down to the floor - and set your table top on some sawhorses or other stands, making sure that the borders are free.
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6
POUR
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1. Mix and pour your two-part bar top epoxy. I'm regretful I don't recall the accurate brand we utilised, but so long as you use the stuff bistros use for their tabletops, you'll be fine. Our epoxy was vintage - left over from another task - so it had yellowed a bit. You can glimpse the golden tint in the photographs. Generally epoxy is crystal clear, though, so don't let my photographs scare you. :)
2. Once you've poured it all on (use as much as the mark dictates for the allowance of locality you're covering), start tilting your exterior to get the epoxy all the way to the edges. You desire it to drip over the borders, in alignment. (See why you need all that plastic on the floor?)
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7
Even things out
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1. To get an even coating on your edges, you may need to scoop some epoxy off the floor with a metal spatula or spoon and dump it back on the brim. Do this as often as necessary to get a glossy covering.
2. Also, keep in mind that the pennies on the borders will prevent the epoxy there from being glass smooth. My table has a somewhat ripple effect to the front brim, which I really believe feels cooling. Just be certain that the epoxy gets in all the chinks, and that you don't miss any areas.
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8
Torch it
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1. This part is amazingly fun: Use a little assault torch (like the one you have in your kitchen for toasting the creme brulee) and pass it rapidly over the exterior of your epoxy - about six inches above it - to eliminate all the air bubbles. (And there will be a LOT of air bubbles.) The air bubbles will rise and burst like illusion, departing a glass-smooth surface. Like I said: Joy!
2. I hate waiting. But now, you wait.
3. Your epoxy should take about a day to set up, and two days to cure. Check the label of your epoxy, and go by that to be certain.
4. When it's completely set, use a utility cutting-edge to cut/scrape off any surplus epoxy drips from the bottom borders of your table, and finish it as you would any other surface.
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9
And you're done!
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