Hi
having seen many questions about casting resins I thought it might be nice to give a general guide to the four most popular resins.
POLYESTER RESIN
I think this is the one we all know, a cheap mostly clear resin. It is slow setting and stinks like hell, I use it outside as I do wonder if the fumes are toxic . Manufactures do state use in a well ventilated area. It is described as hard and chippy/brittle when turning ( often will chip or break when dropped ) , however fast lathe speed and good sharp tools tend to get around the problem.
EPOXY RESIN
It is expensive compared to other resins. Often used with fibreglass for repairs on boats, Robin reliant cars and Kit cars and similar. Again a slow setting resin like Polyester but without the smell. Good as a glue. Sets hard so would follow turning guide for Polyester resin.
POLYURETHANE RESIN
Manufactured in USA by a company called Alumilite. Polyurethane is softer than the above resins so no chip outs as such, also there is no smell and is readily available in the UK from various manufacturers. It is a fast cure resin, going from casting to turning on a lathe in 1hour. BUT due to the fast cure it tends to trap bubbles and so needs to be used with a pressure pot, it has been said to me to vibrate or use a vacuum chamber, even with what they call "slow set " you haven't got time.Comes in clear and opaque, the product I use is not a true white like Alumilite but very close.
UV RESIN
Probably not used a lot by pen turners /casters as as its name suggests it is cured by ultra violet you can take it outside or use a UV lamp, I have used this to stick mirrors back to car windscreens and for repairing Swarovski crystal and other glass with a high lead content.I am not going to say much more as I doubt that many of you will ever use this.
As I child I had access to many wonderful things that health and safety have now banned, my dad ( now deceased ) was involved in the development of a type of epoxy for use in the aircraft industry and also worked on Concorde, so I gained a lot from him. I had my first motorcycle before I was 7 years old and my first car when I was 12, I later became a design engineer like my dad and began to add to my knowledge of adhesives and resins. It is from this back ground that I make the above statements just in case anyone is wondering .
I hope this helps many of you casting or thinking about it
Good Luck
having seen many questions about casting resins I thought it might be nice to give a general guide to the four most popular resins.
POLYESTER RESIN
I think this is the one we all know, a cheap mostly clear resin. It is slow setting and stinks like hell, I use it outside as I do wonder if the fumes are toxic . Manufactures do state use in a well ventilated area. It is described as hard and chippy/brittle when turning ( often will chip or break when dropped ) , however fast lathe speed and good sharp tools tend to get around the problem.
EPOXY RESIN
It is expensive compared to other resins. Often used with fibreglass for repairs on boats, Robin reliant cars and Kit cars and similar. Again a slow setting resin like Polyester but without the smell. Good as a glue. Sets hard so would follow turning guide for Polyester resin.
POLYURETHANE RESIN
Manufactured in USA by a company called Alumilite. Polyurethane is softer than the above resins so no chip outs as such, also there is no smell and is readily available in the UK from various manufacturers. It is a fast cure resin, going from casting to turning on a lathe in 1hour. BUT due to the fast cure it tends to trap bubbles and so needs to be used with a pressure pot, it has been said to me to vibrate or use a vacuum chamber, even with what they call "slow set " you haven't got time.Comes in clear and opaque, the product I use is not a true white like Alumilite but very close.
UV RESIN
Probably not used a lot by pen turners /casters as as its name suggests it is cured by ultra violet you can take it outside or use a UV lamp, I have used this to stick mirrors back to car windscreens and for repairing Swarovski crystal and other glass with a high lead content.I am not going to say much more as I doubt that many of you will ever use this.
As I child I had access to many wonderful things that health and safety have now banned, my dad ( now deceased ) was involved in the development of a type of epoxy for use in the aircraft industry and also worked on Concorde, so I gained a lot from him. I had my first motorcycle before I was 7 years old and my first car when I was 12, I later became a design engineer like my dad and began to add to my knowledge of adhesives and resins. It is from this back ground that I make the above statements just in case anyone is wondering .
I hope this helps many of you casting or thinking about it
Good Luck
