update
First: The blanks came out just as nice as any others I've done...no bubbles and crystal clear. I only make clear blanks with things embedded in clear poloyester resin such as snake skins, labels, feathers and various other things glued to the tubes. And, I only use polyester resin. The resin I am now using is the current brand that is being sold by Composites One in Ft. Worth Texas. The resin is what they have replaced the swing resin I was using which was made by Cook Composites and polymers. This new one is made by Reichhold and is 32030-10. It's working time is 14 to 18 minutes. That's all I know about it.
When I first started casting snake skins I was having excellent results then things started going south. I was getting all kinds of terrible results which have all been discussed in other threads by several members. This was back several years when very few of us were casting. I researched several casting forums and discovered vacuum and pressure and started using both and reporting the results. Success followed along with the bad castings I had been getting originally; just not as often. That made me think that maybe the pressure and vacuum were not really necessary. But, I kept using them. Then the ultrasonic cleaner was intorduced to us and I started using one and stored the vacuumpump. Then heated resin was shared and I started doing that also. I like the thinner resin. Now the currrent report.
Earlier this week Glenn McCullough posted a pen made with a stamp blank I cast for him. It can be seen here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48775 That blank was cast without pressure and was cast in one of Newlondon88's resin saver molds. Later this week I made some snake skin blanks without pressure or vacuum using the resin saver molds and also using the molds made by gadget. All 8 sets came out flawless.
At the AAW symposium two weekends ago Barry Gross (
http://www.bgartforms.com) did a demo on casting. I attended the demo and spent a lot of time with Barry over the weekend. I was thrilled to learn that he uses no vacuum or pressure and not even ultrasonics in his casting. Look at his website at some of his excellent work with casting. (I did get to see the watch parts pen in person...incredible) So I came home and did what Barry shared in the demo. Although, I still used the ultrasonic cleaner with hot water and the heater function turned on since I do like the thinner resin when pouring. Barry casts in two pours for each cast. I did not. I placed the prepped blanks in the mold and slowly poured the catalyzed resin over the blanks. After getting the molds close to being full, I used a small diameter aluminum wire and 'played" in the resin. I moved the resin around and made sure the skins were well saturated. If I saw a bubble I moved it to the surface. Several moved there on their own. I had another wire with a short piece bent so I could move it under the blank to dislodge any bubbles from underneath. I continued to gently manipulate the resin until it started to get thick. I then filled the molds to the top. I left them to cure and they came out great. Sure is easier than using the pressure pot. I wll continue to cast this way until things goes south again. I'm excited.
I use 3 drops of MEKP per ounce.
Ask questions and I will answer them.
Pictures tomorrow after it is too hot to work in the yard....the heat has been in the 110 range here in N tex and will be throughout the weekend. I know, Anthony says, 'Come on out to Pheonix".
Do a good turn daily!
Don
