Anyone know about resin casting?

Technician Q

Technician Q

(she/her)
And could help me out? Having dissected a clockwork toy we'd like to encase it in resin as a sort of "exploded diagram" but my head is going round trying to work out what resin we need. I'm going to need to pour it in layers but it seems that there are a myriad different types! Any help such as links to products or written instructions would be gratefully received :love: It's fairly large - I think of the order of a 10-12cm cube depending on exactly how I arrange the outer casing - but if that is likely to be a problem we could make it smaller by just doing the motor.
 
Physbang

Physbang

Amazon give results for "resin kits for beginners" Might be a good place to start. Haven't done it myself since I was little.
 
W

Womble

I used to prepare resin rounds for EPMA and used products from Buehler with great success, although what you are doing is much bigger than the one inch rounds I turned out. If you've got shapes where there's a chance for bubbles to get trapped or just complex shapes and you want it to get in all the nooks and cranny's use a resin with low viscosity (runny). Don't overdo the hardener or the mixture will get too hot and the resin will go yellow.

Depending on what you're casting it in you might want some sort of release agent, Buehler also sell this. A vacuum pump and bell jar/desiccator are also very handy for drawing out bubbles.

Another route is using epoxy for wood turning is also very popular and there's a million YouTube videos about the process.

You'll probably want to get a nice polished surface on one side as well, just keep going down grades of sand paper until you finish on something like 2400 wet and dry stuck down to a very flat surface.
 
S

sciviv

I used to use resin for making jewellery from a company called resin8. They do a product called fill it epoxy resin for pouring deep transparent castings. There is a telephone number on their web site, maybe they could give you some advice over the phone.
www.resin8.co.uk

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www.resin8.co.uk

They also do videos on youtube which might be helpful. It can be tricky and you may have to have a practice attempt first.
 
A

Andrew Symonds

I actually developed some of the resins Border Fine Arts used to use to make the statues and stuff. There are lots of different polymers you could use, acrylic resins would probably give you the clearest cast, polyester resins will always a have a colour cast as to get fast cure times they use cobalt compounds with a a catalyst. I'd recommend contacting one of the distributors that supplies small quantities of resins to boat repairers. A quick search found this one https://www.elichem.co.uk/.
 
Boba Fett

Boba Fett

I've used resin from East Coast Fibreglass for a few years,
As Andrew says best stay away from the polyester resins as they don't set clear and are best used with a dye.
My wife uses 1 of their epoxy resins for making castings and jewellery.
they have been helpful many times when myself or my wife have had questions.

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/
 
karen b

karen b

COMMITTEE
Stokes1 said:
Anyone else remember Plasticraft......??!!
Click to expand...
I do. One of my brothers had a kit. He made a couple of paperweights. One was lovely with small shells and seaweed in it.

I thought it seemed exactly what was being asked for, but it seems it’s no longer available. Probably some “nasty” chemicals in the original kit
 
LabJohn

LabJohn


I've had a play in the past with water effects in miniature making. There are some great youtube channels with how to videos. I can't find the great idiots guide one that showed me what to do / not do, but the video above shows the basics
 
Technician Q

Technician Q

(she/her)
I think the project is on hold. It’s going to be relatively expensive in resin for an item that comes out a couple of times a year and it needs a holiday so I can be sure of being able to pour each layer at the right time. But thanks for all the pointers!
 
P

Puds

karen b said:
I do. One of my brothers had a kit. He made a couple of paperweights. One was lovely with small shells and seaweed in it.

I thought it seemed exactly what was being asked for, but it seems it’s no longer available. Probably some “nasty” chemicals in the original kit
Click to expand...
Stuff that you can buy now is pretty much the saem. Just not aimed at or ideal for, kids!

I bought all the stuff from Amazon recently to make some jewellery. Got to buy it again as I dropped the lot & containers exploded all over kitchen floor. It was the stickiest of sticky things to clean up.
 
M

MarkT

sciviv said:
I used to use resin for making jewellery from a company called resin8. They do a product called fill it epoxy resin for pouring deep transparent castings. There is a telephone number on their web site, maybe they could give you some advice over the phone.
www.resin8.co.uk

Please Log In

www.resin8.co.uk

They also do videos on youtube which might be helpful. It can be tricky and you may have to have a practice attempt first.
Click to expand...
Resin8 has gone to the wall.....
 
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