Several Questions.

[oxx44]

Ok so I have alot of questions at the moment.
I thought I would post it here cause I will be asking questions from different topics.

Here it goes.....
Casting.
1 will cold affect the cast? I live in canada and is starting to get colder. (winter is almost here)
2 If Yes. Can I use space heaters?
3 I will more than likely be casting in my garage, Can I use a fan to blow the fumes outside? I can cast outside but like I said winter is just around the corner.
3a I was thinking of mostly clear casting or should I start with color and mixing?

Molds
4 If I make my own mold following the tutorial found here using silicone. Does the Mdf mold have to be treated?
5 Should I just make my own or suck it up and buy the great Resin Saver molds everyone loves.

Finishing
6 I am getting a lil bit of white build up on my MM pads. Is this normal? (pushing to hard? I dont think I am but sometimes I dont know my own strength) I rinse them before and after and see to keep getting the build up. I have only been turning Acrylic as of late.
7 When people say they sand 400-1000 then wet MM, are they dry sanding the acrylic blank 400-1000?

I think that is about it right now. I lost my list I was adding to to create this post. My dog may have taken it :biggrin:

Thanks for any wisdom you can share with me.

 

[mbroberg]

Unfortunately I cannot help you with your questions except, perhaps, your last one.

Rule of thumb: Never dry sand acrylic.

 

[rjwolfe3]

I will try to answer some of your questions to the best of my knowledge. I will put my answers in blue. You might also want to ask the mods to move this to the casting forum to get more answers.

Ok so I have alot of questions at the moment.
I thought I would post it here cause I will be asking questions from different topics.

Here it goes.....
Casting.
1 will cold affect the cast? I live in canada and is starting to get colder. (winter is almost here)

It can - cold will thicken up the resin

2 If Yes. Can I use space heaters?

Might be iffy, I hear the resin is flammable

3 I will more than likely be casting in my garage, Can I use a fan to blow the fumes outside? I can cast outside but like I said winter is just around the corner.

Yes you can but it might make you cold with the door open!

3a I was thinking of mostly clear casting or should I start with color and mixing?

With clear make sure you get all of the bubbles out.

Molds
4 If I make my own mold following the tutorial found here using silicone. Does the Mdf mold have to be treated?

So people put plastic wrap on to prevent sticking

5 Should I just make my own or suck it up and buy the great Resin Saver molds everyone loves.

I bought mine because at the time I did not want to mess with mold but now I may consider making mine own block style.

Finishing
6 I am getting a lil bit of white build up on my MM pads. Is this normal? (pushing to hard? I dont think I am but sometimes I dont know my own strength) I rinse them before and after and see to keep getting the build up. I have only been turning Acrylic as of late.

The white is probably sanding dust and should rinse off.

7 When people say they sand 400-1000 then wet MM, are they dry sanding the acrylic blank 400-1000?

I wet sand no matter what grit.

I think that is about it right now. I lost my list I was adding to to create this post. My dog may have taken it :biggrin:

Thanks for any wisdom you can share with me.

Hope this helps!

 

[BRobbins629]

Some more attempts at answers

Ok so I have alot of questions at the moment.
I thought I would post it here cause I will be asking questions from different topics.

Here it goes.....
Casting.
1 will cold affect the cast? I live in canada and is starting to get colder. (winter is almost here) It take longer to cure in the cold. A toaster oven at 150 F will help and may even be required depending on temperature
2 If Yes. Can I use space heaters? I use a space heater in my shop - have never had a problem with smaller quantities of PR casting
3 I will more than likely be casting in my garage, Can I use a fan to blow the fumes outside? I can cast outside but like I said winter is just around the corner. Depends on your tolerance. I don't mind it too much, but the reason my shop is outside now is my wife's tolerance to the fumes which is little to none.
3a I was thinking of mostly clear casting or should I start with color and mixing? Why not do both?

Molds
4 If I make my own mold following the tutorial found here using silicone. Does the Mdf mold have to be treated? For just round, PVC pipe with a cork works great as is. So does polypropylene containers
5 Should I just make my own or suck it up and buy the great Resin Saver molds everyone loves. Most people who buy them like them

Finishing
6 I am getting a lil bit of white build up on my MM pads. Is this normal? (pushing to hard? I dont think I am but sometimes I dont know my own strength) I rinse them before and after and see to keep getting the build up. I have only been turning Acrylic as of late. You don't need to push hard and they will last for a long time. White build up is normal and washes off. Less buildup if you wet sand.
7 When people say they sand 400-1000 then wet MM, are they dry sanding the acrylic blank 400-1000? I dry to 400, then wet MM or stright to buffing wheel.
I think that is about it right now. I lost my list I was adding to to create this post. My dog may have taken it :biggrin:

Thanks for any wisdom you can share with me.

 

[soligen]

Answers to some select questions where I think I have a worthwhile opinion.

[/quote]

3 I will more than likely be casting in my garage, Can I use a fan to blow the fumes outside? I can cast outside but like I said winter is just around the corner.

I highly recomend a respirtor with an organic filter. I wear mine even when casting outside. Even outside you can get a good amount inhaled while standing over the resin stiring, so I doubt a fan would cut it.

4 If I make my own mold following the tutorial found here using silicone. Does the Mdf mold have to be treated?

I put on several good heavy coats of minwax - worked well. The plasic wrap did not work so well for me, but the mold still turned out fuctional.

5 Should I just make my own or suck it up and buy the great Resin Saver molds everyone loves.

That will depend on you. If you know what kit you will be using before casting, they look very nice. If you want to cast and build a stock up to use later on an unknown kit, then make molds that create generic blanks. For 2 of my 3 molds I rounded the bottoms to save a bit of resin (like resin saver sans tube). There is also a tutorial on making a horizontal round mold with would be even more efficient.

If you make them, one caulk tube of silicone can make a mold with 2 cavities for individual blanks.

Lastly, if you want to make many of the same color blanks, create block molds sized to be sawn into blanks. It is a lot faster to do one pour and cut into several blanks than to pour several individual blanks

 

[mrcook4570]

Rule of thumb: Never dry sand acrylic.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. I never wet sand anything. Time is $$ :wink:

 

[oxx44]

Wow thank you everyone. Very helpful indeed cleared up most of my thoughts. Ummmm now to decide which way to go at the moment.

 

[DurocShark]

OXX44: "Aquarist"- I've had a PR cast shark in a reef tank for over a year. The sea horses and inverts are fine. I made it for a friend's kid who promptly dropped it in their tank. Make sure it's post cured!

In case you want to explore beyond pens...