Resin Info Needed

[fortress]

Hello,
Is the waterclear easy to use and can the bubbles be dealt with without the use of machines?
Also, do you cast with one pour or put down a bed first?
I have only cast once with epoxy easycast I could not get rid of the tiny bubbles.
I want to do my own thing with resin, but I didn't know what to use, I bought the stuff before I became a member here.
I just want something relatively cheap that will do the job.
Thank you please.

 

[Jim]

You will be better starting out using Polyester Resin John, in the past i have made blanks with very little bubbles without using any pressure or vacuum .. As you progress you can then invest in more equipment if you feel it necessary ..

 

[fortress]

Thanks again Jim, is there any particular brand that I could use?

 

[Jim]

Here is what i use John ..

 

[fortress]

And yet again, I thank you Jim.
I have just ordered some.

 

[Penpal]

Over her temperature controlling methods sure help and advice given by Les in Canada is in the library on IAP.

Peter.

 

[GSteer]

Interesting thread, sounds like I could cast without needing to degass or pressurize.

Jim - how good is the polyester resin at filling gaps without trapping air bubbles? I'm thinking along the lines of casting including plates of material that are around 1.5mm thick, if placed on edge vertically and 'stacked' horizontally around 2mm apart (with some sort of spacer to ensure evenness) do you think the polyester resin would fill the gaps ok?

 

[brody2123]

Polyester will shrink a little during the curing process so separation is possible.

 

[GSteer]

Aha, thanks for the heads up Brody. As a longer term idea then... polyurethane under pressure would be the way to go ?

 

[brody2123]

Hello,
Is the waterclear easy to use and can the bubbles be dealt with without the use of machines?
Also, do you cast with one pour or put down a bed first?
I have only cast once with epoxy easycast I could not get rid of the tiny bubbles.
I want to do my own thing with resin, but I didn't know what to use, I bought the stuff before I became a member here.
I just want something relatively cheap that will do the job.
Thank you please.

Water clear is easy to use as long as you are accurate with the catalyst. It will bond to itself well if used in layers.
What you making?

 

[brody2123]

Aha, thanks for the heads up Brody. As a longer term idea then... polyurethane under pressure would be the way to go ?

That's the badger. Polyurethane is the stuff. That's not to say that you can't use polyester for anything other than straight forward blanks but polyurethane gives more repeatable results imo.

 

[21William]

I've seen this, anyone tried it?

http://www.mbfg.co.uk/polyurethane-casting-resin/easyflo_clear.html

"Since Parts A and B are super-low viscosity liquids, they are easy to mix, provide excellent detail penetration, and make bubble-free castings without vacuum degassing or pressure casting techniques."

 

[fortress]

Thanks to everybody, I've ordered some gear that Jim put me onto,
Water clear polyester resin.

 

[sfurini]

I've seen this, anyone tried it?

http://www.mbfg.co.uk/polyurethane-casting-resin/easyflo_clear.html

"Since Parts A and B are super-low viscosity liquids, they are easy to mix, provide excellent detail penetration, and make bubble-free castings without vacuum degassing or pressure casting techniques."

I've used the Polycraft SG2000 Paintable Fast Cast Polyurethane Liquid Plastic Casting Resin from them - works well. I've just ordered some of this to see what it's like: Polytek EasyFlo 60 Polyurethane Liquid Plastic Casting Resin.

The SG2000 was used for this pen: http://www.penturners.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16314

 

[fortress]

Very nice colours Stewart,
what do you use for a releasing agent, do you make your own?

 

[21William]

I've just ordered some of this to see what it's like: Polytek EasyFlo 60 Polyurethane Liquid Plastic Casting Resin.

That's the same stuff I just linked to. Let us know how it works.

 

[sfurini]

I made two silicone moulds (from bathroom silicone), no release agent and no pressure pot or degassing chamber. There's enough flex in the mould to just pop the blank out when it's cured. I started with the second smallest pack they did so it wasn't a huge outlay, but you might need some dyes as well. I had some alumilite dyes from metalclay.co.uk which work fine with the polyurethane.

My moulds:

 

[fortress]

Thank you Stewart, I've got one of them Fred Wissen things with the white plugs from the USA.

 

[Penpal]

Fred Wissen things are the way to go for repeatability, well done using the gun silastic.

Peter.

 

[wm460]

Look forwards to seeing what you do.