Hey Fellow Crafters,
For more than a year, I've sent the DIY (mis)Adventures Newsletter to nearly 1,000 of you - home repairs, garden projects, random workshop fixes. But here's what kept happening: your questions weren't about raised beds or door hinges. They were about resin.
How to fix sticky pours. Which epoxy actually works for river tables. Why bubbles keep showing up. Whether you really need a pressure pot. How to get that glass-smooth finish without hours of sanding.
If you've ever stood in your workshop staring at a piece that didn't cure right, or found yourself three YouTube tutorials deep wondering why your results look nothing like theirs - you know what I'm talking about. You're not alone.
You deserved better than surface-level tips scattered between unrelated topics.
The old newsletter is done. What's coming is sharper.
Meet the Guild
DIY (mis)Adventures has evolved into Resin Craft Guild. Same author. Same passion for making things. New workshop, new site (www.resincraftguild.com), complete focus on woodworking and resin casting - making these materials work together without burning time or money.
Most resin advice online falls into two camps: vague manufacturer instructions that assume you already know what you're doing, or affiliate-heavy content that pushes products without telling you where they actually fail. You're left guessing, buying the wrong materials, and redoing pours that should have worked the first time.
Let's fix that together.
Inside the Guild
This isn't about narrowing down for the sake of it. It's about mastery over breadth. One domain, fully explored - giving you the specific, tested, experience-based guidance that eliminates guesswork and moves your projects from "I hope this works" to "I know this will work."
Who is this written for:
DIY makers and hobby woodworkers combining resin with woodworking, especially beginners who want to skip the costly trial-and-error phase
Crafting professionals looking for reliable epoxy reviews, tool comparisons, and special price offers
Designers and interior décor enthusiasts interested in wood-resin combinations as interior elements
What each issue brings you:
Real tutorials with context. Not just "do this," but why it matters and what happens when you skip it. The kind of detail that prevents expensive mistakes.
Honest material and tool reviews. What I'm actually using in my shop, what it excels at, and (just as importantly) where it falls short. No affiliate-driven hype disguised as advice.
Projects that teach principles. Real builds that show how materials behave, how design decisions affect outcomes, and what works in actual home environments versus what just looks good in photos.
Fresh inspiration. Project ideas and design insights that spark your next creation - whether it's a functional kitchen piece, an ambient-lit wall art, or a custom furniture element that transforms a space.
How do you see this change?
I'd really appreciate hearing your take
This Week's Insight: Ambient Light Epoxy Art
Article summary: Integrating LED strips into resin projects transforms functional pieces into ambient-lit décor, but success depends on proper LED placement depth and working from both sides of your piece.
Key takeaways:
Leave at least 10mm of material behind your inlay pocket to house the LED strip properly - any thinner creates hot spots instead of ambient glow
Work front-to-back: flatten the front side first after curing, then remove material from the back until you reach the inlay pocket
Use RGB LED strips (12V) with remote control and install distancers on the back to create a halo effect that makes pieces appear to float
Motion detectors make kitchen applications like knife racks energy-efficient and add a "wow" moment when activated
My take:
This isn't just about embedding lights in resin - it's about designing from the back forward and understanding how light moves through materials. Most tutorials focus on the pour, but the real skill is in creating that 10mm edge depth and spacing the piece off the wall correctly. Get those two things right, and you transform a woodworking project into something that looks like it came from a high-end design studio. The motion detector trick alone has changed how I approach functional kitchen pieces.
Project Inspiration: Coffee Bean Knife Holder
I made this magnetic knife holder for my brother and his wife - solid oak, clear resin, coffee beans suspended inside. It works because the resin isn't trying to steal attention from the wood. They're merged perfectly.
What I like most is how the poured coffee beans give the piece depth without overwhelming it. The beans matter because my brother and his wife are dedicated coffee lovers, so this piece actually belongs in their kitchen. And beyond the aesthetics, it has high practical value, the magnetic feature keeps knives organized and accessible while adding character to the wall.
Takeaway for designers: resin can be easily combined with locally meaningful materials to elevate the impression of where the piece will live. Don't just add things for decoration, add them because they belong there.
Materials & Tools Spotlight: Space-Saving Miter Saws
I've spent most of 2025 building my new 25m² workshop. It's definitely bigger than what I used to have, but even with more space, every centimeter counts when planning a functional layout.
My challenge: I need a miter saw station along one wall, but traditional sliding miter saws with rear-mounted rails require at least 100cm of clearance just to slide back and forth. In a workshop where I'm also finishing epoxy pieces, storing materials, and moving safely around equipment, that's real estate I can't afford to give up.
The solution exists, but most makers don't know about it: miter saws with front-mounted rail systems. Instead of sliding backwards into your wall space, the blade assembly moves forward on fixed rails. Same cutting capacity, fraction of the footprint.
I compared the major players - Bosch GCM12GDL, DeWalt DWS780, Makita LS1219L, and the Festool Kapex. The Kapex impressed me with its unique cut depth adjustment system, but at that price point, I kept looking.
Then I found the Metabo KGSV 72 Xact. Same dual-rod design as the Kapex - rails mounted on both sides of the blade for maximum stability during cuts - but at nearly half the cost. This matters when you're cutting wood for epoxy inlays where precision directly affects how clean your resin pours settle.
What you sacrifice: These compact designs cost more than traditional rear-sliding saws. If you have a garage or dedicated space with room to spare, a standard slider will serve you fine and save money.
Why I'm choosing it anyway: The Metabo gives me 60cm of wall clearance back. That's a huge space saver. When you're fitting both woodworking tools plus CNC, laser, 3D printer and resin casting into 25m², those centimeters add up fast.
Bottom line: If your workshop feels cramped or you're planning a compact build, don't default to traditional miter saw designs just because they're familiar. The Metabo KGSV 72 Xact delivers Kapex - level stability at a craftsman's budget, and the space savings might solve layout problems you didn't realize you could fix.
Quick Win of the Week
Pro tip from the knife holder project: pour resin pieces with embedded objects at least in two layers. The first base layer fixes your objects in position. The second layer creates the depth effect. Try it in one pour and everything floats to the top.
Your Guild Invitation
If this focus on resin crafting resonates also with you, I'd love to have you stay. If you were here for the broader DIY content, I completely understand - no hard feelings either way.
I'm looking forward to forging this path together, building a community where makers share real experience, skip the expensive mistakes, and help each other create work we're proud of.
What's your biggest resin challenge right now?
Let me know by replying. Your feedback shapes what comes next.
Next week: we'll review epoxy casting basics and the resin type selection process - choosing the right epoxy for your specific project without wasting money on trial and error.
Petr from Resin Craft Guild
www.resincraftguild.com
P.S. All the old DIY (mis)Adventures content is still archived, and www.diymisadventures.com is redirected to resincraftguild.com. You're not losing anything.