Posted on September 16th, 2023     

     Your custom beverage coaster is not just some random piece of wood that is thrown together. At KNR Studio and Ye Olde Woodshoppe we take the time to find the right piece of reclaimed wood. After the wood is selected and cut to size we spend a lot of time sanding it so that the finish will be flawless. Every piece is thought all the way through from the wood selection to the final inspection. 

     Next we work on an image or saying that will be applied to the beverage coaster. A lot of time this involves creating the graphic on the computer and getting proofs made to be sent out and approved. Next is setting the image up for size and coding so that image can be loaded into a program that the laser will read and understand. Then we make a trial burn to make sure that the image will look good on the final product. This trial burn is a very important step and is done on a piece of scrap wood to ensure quality of the burn. Then we set up the machine to do the actual burn of the image only after we are satisfied with the trial burn. 

     Our laser burner is set up to burn a line approx. .06 mm wide to ensure that we maintain the highest quality. To burn an image into just one 4" beverage coaster takes between 45 minutes an an hour, so a set of four beverage coasters will take between 3-4 hours to complete the final burn on the laser (this does not include the trial burns or adjustments made to the trial burns).

     After the beverage coaster is complete on the laser burner we then do a final smooth sanding of 400 - 800 grit sandpaper to remove any blemishes caused by the laser burning process. Then it is off to get a top coat of epoxy to seal and protect the burn. Each coaster gets two coats of epoxy to ensure that the top and all of the sides are properly sealed. Epoxy is an expensive process for sealing the beverage coasters but it is one that we feel is the best for our product. The epoxy that we use is a bar and table top epoxy that has a market value of approx. $97 per gallon. Each coat of epoxy cures for 24 hours before adding any additional coats. 

     After both coats of epoxy have cured we then sand any over pours off the bottom and coat the bottom with a clear polyurethane. the polyurethane has to set for up to 12 hours before we can send them off to inspection. During the inspection they will get the cork pads applied to the bottom of the coaster to help protect your furniture. after the inspection they are then logged into the system as complete and sent to the shipping department to be carefully packed and shipped to your home. 

     This entire process takes 4 to 5 days to complete the journey from start to finish. So you can see that when you purchase a set of wooden beverage coasters from KNR Studio you are not just purchasing something that was cheaply made over seas by migrant workers, you are purchasing a high quality product that you can be proud of that was made right here in the USA. Our pieces are never mass produced. We create each one with the highest quality that we can give knowing that they are built to last a lifetime.