Scrap Wood Coasters

Wooden drink coasters are a great thing to make with scrap wood. DIY scrap wood coasters can be made in lots of different ways with lots of different results. Whether you glue up a bunch of boards and then trim them down, or you make them individually, wood coasters are always nice.

Scrap Wood Coasters

I wanted to make a wood coaster for my brother. He recently sent me a photo of his desk and he was using a receipt as a coaster. Not good. I used scrap poplar from my DIY mid-century crib build to make something he’d use.

Cutting the Scraps

Obviously, you could just cut some 4″x4″ pieces of wood, sand them down and have a coaster. But I wanted to make this unique and a little special.

I cut five pieces of wood to three different widths. The most important thing when making wooden coasters is to make sure all pieces are flush. If you have a planer, that make it easy. If not, you can used a table saw for exact measurements and sand it down.

I glued up the five pieces of wood with the grains going in different directions. Then I let it dry, then sanded down.

Personalization

In order to make this coaster personal, I used my Dremel Stylo+ that I won at the Haven Conference to carve my brother’s initials. The Stylo+ feels like a thick pen in my hand, so I have a lot of control over the carving. I traced his initials on the wood and then lightly pressed the Stylo+ against the wood to carve them out.

Finally, I needed to stain the coaster. Using one stain on the whole thing would have been easier, but less dramatic. I alternated with Rust-Oleum Varathane Early American and Worn Navy and used painters tape to seal the lines on each piece.

Read our full review of Early American wood stain by Varathane!

I added a piece of felt to the underside of the coaster so it doesn’t scratch anything and it was done. I love how it turned out.

My brother’s initials really stand out on the scrap wood coaster thanks to the stain. The colors match his style and now he can be a real adult. Next time, I think I’ll glue up more wood and slice them down to make several at a time, but this one is custom and unique.

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