How to Make Geode Resin Coasters: The Clear Quartz Technique

Geode resin coasters in the Clear Quartz style are built in layers, worked with heat at a specific point in the process to produce radiating crystal lines, and finished with gold leaf and a hand-gilded edge. The technique is mine: I developed and named it, and I have taught it to hundreds of students through my workbook and live sessions on Zoom.

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The crystal banding and gold centre that give the Clear Quartz coaster its name. This is what a well-timed pour looks like.

What the Clear Quartz technique is

I named it Clear Quartz because the finished piece reads like a cross section of natural quartz crystal: a still centre, a ring of defined banding, and fine lines radiating outward to a torn, gilded edge. The effect convinces people they are looking at stone. That is the point.

What makes it distinct from other geode resin work is the character of the lacing and exactly where the gold lands. Both come from decisions made at a specific stage of the pour, not from adjustments you can chase afterwards. I spent a long time working out what those decisions were before I felt confident teaching the method, which is why I was careful about how I documented it.

If you have searched for this technique by name and arrived here, you have found the source.

A full studio batch still in the moulds. The temperature gauge and the mica powder are both doing something important here.

What you need for Clear Quartz coasters

The supplies list is shorter than most people expect. A clear, stable resin is the one place not to cut corners: the quality of your cure determines whether the piece stays crystal clear in a year or starts to yellow. Colour pigments, gold leaf, something to gild the edge with, and a heat tool round out the essentials. The moulds matter too — the wavy, irregular edge of a geode mould is what gives the finished coaster its natural, stone-like outline. A smooth round mould will not produce the same result.

What is not on the list matters as much as what is: there is no fixing a pour that has moved past its working window, and there are no shortcuts in the cure time.

Where Clear Quartz coasters tend to go wrong

The first solo attempt usually disappoints, and almost always for the same small set of reasons rather than random bad luck.

The crystal banding fails to form, which tells me something specific about what happened with the heat or the timing. Colour fields that should stay distinct muddy into each other. Gold that should sit on the surface sinks into it instead. Each of these points to a decision made at the wrong moment, and each is completely fixable once you understand what it is telling you.

Underneath those, the standard resin problems compound things on a first attempt: bubbles that were not cleared, sticky patches that trace back to the measuring stage, a gilded edge that looks uneven under light. These have nothing to do with the Clear Quartz method specifically. They are the things every beginner works through, and they are the reason the first batch is better thought of as research.

Six from one session. No two centres are the same, which is what makes a set interesting.

How to learn the Clear Quartz technique

There are two ways I teach this.

The first is The Clear Quartz Technique Workbook, which takes you through the full method in the order it happens: every layer, every decision, and what to do when a pour is not going the way you planned. It is written to sit open at the bench with you, to be returned to, and to make sense on a second and third read when your hands know more than they did the first time. If you learn best by working through something at your own pace, the workbook is built for you.

The second is a private session on Zoom. We make a set of coasters together in real time: I can see what is happening on your side, I can tell you exactly when to move and what to look for, and you finish the session with completed pieces and the method working in your hands rather than sitting in your head waiting to be tried. It covers the same technique as the workbook, with the difference that someone is there reading your specific resin and your specific room as it happens.

Most people find one leads naturally to the other.

The same technique in cream and warm gold. Change the palette and the piece changes completely; the method does not.

Questions people ask

Is the Clear Quartz technique your original method?
Yes. I developed and named it, and I have been teaching it since. The workbook that documents it came from this studio. You will not find this technique under the same name anywhere else.

How long does a set of Clear Quartz coasters take to make?
The pour and surface work take around thirty minutes for a set of six. After that the resin cures for twenty four hours before the pieces come out of the mould, and I gild the edge on the day after. The hands-on time is small; the patience required is larger.

Can a complete beginner attempt this technique?
Yes. It does take more precision than a basic pour, because there is a specific point in the process where timing matters a great deal. Most beginners who try alone get the general shape of a geode coaster but miss the crystal banding that makes the result look like quartz. Learning what that moment feels like is the core of what the workbook and the live session both teach, in different ways.

What moulds work best for this technique?
A silicone geode or agate coaster mould with a wavy, irregular edge. That rim is what you gild after curing, and it gives the finished piece its natural outline. Ten to twelve centimetres across works well for a standard coaster. The wave is not decorative; it is part of the result.

Are resin coasters heat resistant enough for everyday use?
A fully cured epoxy coaster handles a warm mug without issue. Resin softens under high heat, so a pan straight from the hob is too much. Use the coaster for cups and glasses, and it will stay flat and clear for years.

If you want to make your first Clear Quartz coasters with me on Zoom, a private session covers the full technique in one sitting. We pour, work the surface and gild together, and you finish with completed pieces and a method that is yours to repeat. Booking details and everything the session includes are on the private workshop page.