No Bubbles casting

[Jim15]

Thank you guys for all the great info.

[its_virgil]

Kaspar,
I have used S41 but I;m now using the PR currently 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. I would suspect S41 would perform equally as well. I can't tell the differences, if any. between the 4 PRs I've used.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally Posted by Kaspar

You use Silmar 41, correct?

[Kaspar]

Sorry to make you say that again. It was late when I read your post and I didn't see where you explained that. I guess I was tired and in a hurry to read the part about the big secret.

Originally, I had no plans for doing any casting, but I found something I think would make an incredibly cool pen if I could bring it off. So, I started to explore the subject here at the board.

I had suspected that the way to avoid bubbles was to not put them in there in the first place, and that the main culprits would be cavitation during mixing and casting "organics" with many seams where air could hide. As to the former, the pressure pot thing seemed unnecessary to me, if one merely avoided cavitation during mixing. But since I haven't done any casting, I deferred to the near unanimous judgement of those who had, and there was still the problem of air pockets in an "organic" casting like snakeskin. It looked like casting was going to take more room, money, and time than I have.

So thanks for a confirmed way of doing without all that. I'll try to make it work.

[its_virgil]

Sorry for the delay but I was sidetraced over the weekend. Here are some pictures I promised. I'll try to get a snakeskin turned and post a picture in a day or two. Thanks for looking and commenting.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

[S.A.Mappin]

First of all Virgil, I'd like to say I personally appreciate all your testing and posting that you've done. It makes a tremendous difference to those of us who are just starting the casting process, like myself.

My question is: what do you do to prep your snakeskin blanks before you cast them?
I don't get the privilege of catching and skinning my own snakes, so I am at the mercy of who I'm buying them off of.
I get skinned and dried.... skinned dried and tanned...etc...

Gluing them to the tube and sealing the cork ends I've got. What do you do to the skin? 2 nights ago I took 2 pairs of snakeskin that were already tubed, I "painted" one pair with poly resin, no catalyst, and the other pair I painted the poly resin with the catalyst. They then sat for 24 hours until they were dry. Right now I have them sitting in a mold, waiting to harden.

I'm patiently waiting the results........

By the way... nice pics.

[S.A.Mappin]

I gotta make me some of those resin saving molds!!!!!

[its_virgil]

I don't catch my own snakes either. I purchase skins already soft tanned. I bought several skins over a year ago when my source was going out of the snake tanning business. I'm using those skins lbut I must start looking for a new source. So, I don't prep raw skins. Some tanning processes uses chemicals that cause the skins to turn very dark when the PR is introduced. All I know about the tanning process used to tan the skins I use is that the mix is half rubbing alcholo and half glycerin. I do clean the skins after I glue them to the tubes. The scales are removed from the skin with a stiff brush.

What do I do to the skins? I paint them with raw polyresin as I place them in the mold...a good soaking. The theory beign the PR soaks into the skin and displaces any air that is in the skin. I leave the skins to soak for about 10-15 minutes before I pour the catalyzed resin into the mold.

If you read my snake blank article and remove the parts about pressure and vacuum and add what I've mentioned here and in this thread, then you know how I've cast the last few batches. Reply back if you need more questions answered.

Good luck with your casting.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally Posted by S.A.Mappin

My question is: what do you do to prep your snakeskin blanks before you cast them?I don't get the privilege of catching and skinning my own snakes, so I am at the mercy of who I'm buying them off of.
I get skinned and dried.... skinned dried and tanned...etc...

Gluing them to the tube and sealing the cork ends I've got. What do you do to the skin? 2 nights ago I took 2 pairs of snakeskin that were already tubed, I "painted" one pair with poly resin, no catalyst, and the other pair I painted the poly resin with the catalyst. They then sat for 24 hours until they were dry. Right now I have them sitting in a mold, waiting to harden.

I'm patiently waiting the results........

By the way... nice pics.

[S.A.Mappin]

Thanks Virgil.

I don't tend to remove the scales, but I will for now on. So far I pulled the mold, and the skins are looking clear. I think it makes a big difference to soak the skins after you tube them with some of the pr before you actually pour the pr into the mold with the snakeskin in the mold. I imagine it helps the pr to get in between all the nooks and crevices and eliminating spaces where air may get trapped.

If you wouldn't mind, would you please post your findings after you've turned a couple pens from your recent batch of snakeskin? I may take that route once I know it works well.
I agree with you on at least one thing..... it seems once you think you have a great thing working, a variable changes and there you are!!!!

Thanks again!!!

[DurocShark]

I've done similar things when I cast stuff in resin. I add whatever it is (ie: coffee beans) to the uncured resin, mix well, then put in the us cleaner. After that I add a bit more resin and catalyst.

I've done that with pr and alumilite with good results.

[Glenn McCullough]

Don,
I can foresee an angry call to you from HF on your new process. I also see a number of pressure pots for sale, keep an eye out for a good deal on them in the classifieds.