Alumilite Dyes

[scjohnson243]

SOOOo... I went to Hobby Lobby (Thanks again for the tip BSea) and got a few dyes to use with the alumilite we just got in... My wife was interested in the process and wanted to give it a try... we decied to try a mostly black blank with dark blue metallic swirls in it.... Since it was so hot outside and my electricity is not hooked up in my shop I have been keeping all my dyes in the house.. I had the bright idea,

"How about we just do it right here on the island in the kitchen."

She was a little nervous about making a mess, I assured her it was not a problem at all... Just a few drops of dye and some clear alumilite we could just sponge it up if any drips happen... she agreed and we started on our adventure! I had watched Curtis do this a few times and he usually just mixes all A/B together then seperates them to add colors... I read on the bottle that its better to just do the "A" side, color it then mix in the B... I had tried a few Curtis's way and it worked great, but I had decided to try the "Official" way to compare my results....

I got out my scale, measured out 3oz of A for the base color and 2Oz for the blue...

I watched my wife do the blue side and it was beautiful... I grabbed the black bottle and squeezed and I couldn't get a drop out! I got a toothpick and tried to hollow out the hole a bit, still couldn't get anything out... Finally being the guy I am, I figured I would just squeeze the crap out of it until I got my 4 drops I was looking for! While my happy wife looked on I Squeezed the bottle with all my might! after a few seconds I heard "POP" and the top of the alumilite dye shot off the tip, into the dixie cup full of alumilite and on to the floor...

I had it on my shorts, my shirt, all over the island, all over the tile floor, I think I may have even gotten the cat...

Was a fun night!

So, for a positive tip for the evening...

1) Mix colors out of the house(or at least when the wife is gone..
2) Find new squirt bottles for the dye... The ones that it comes in will get you killed.

I'll post a picture of the blank that lead to the divorce tonight!

 

[rvanbeek]

Well that was fun... but seriously I've had the same experience with these dye bottles from alumilite. Is that the way they are designed? Is there an easier way to get the drops out that you need?

Rich

 

[MesquiteMan]

Or, add a little odorless mineral spirits to the black dye and shake it up. This will make it a little thinner and easier to squirt!

 

[MesquiteMan]

Well that was fun... but seriously I've had the same experience with these dye bottles from alumilite. Is that the way they are designed? Is there an easier way to get the drops out that you need?

Rich

Yes, cut the tip. If it is still too thick, thin as mentioned above.

 

[scjohnson243]

I did cut the tip off! (After "The Incident")

I'll try the mineral spirits for the other colors before I explode them.

 

[nativewooder]

:biggrin:Quite a story! How long will you be sleeping in your shop while the wife's kitchen is repaired?!! Make sure your life insurance is up to date!

Forgive my sense of humor, but I think your adventure is hilarious!!!:wink:

 

[OOPS]

My brother and I had a similar "explosive" accident with Alumilite Blue. My hand was dark blue for five days, and his worn out jeans were as blue as new ones afterwards! We clip the top off the dye bottles and that solved the problem. Also, as a precaution, we put a piece of cardboard over the top of the table.

 

[scjohnson243]

It was kind of funny in a "oh my God shes going to kill me sort of way"...

I am glad I used black and not yellow, would have looked like I had a serious vitiman C problem... I may have clipped the top of the black a little too much because now it comes out as a little stream, intead of drops.. But, it could have been the bloodpressure after the painting.

Wouldn't have been so bad except its a new house we just bought a few months ago =)

In case anyone is wondering, This Cleaned it up GREAT! (as well as could be expected)

I'm just glad I didn't do the mixing of the A/B then coloring... would have been harder to pry off Rock hard alumilite.

Curtis, you may have to talk to them about the bottle design! I know you talk to them!

 

[greasythumb]

I would have loved to be there with my camara:biggrin:

 

[BSea]

When you said "I grabbed the black bottle and squeezed", I just started laughing because I knew what was coming.:biggrin: Been there done that . . . . . just not in my wife's kitchen.:tongue:

I usually just drill a small hole though the top. But if you're having the problem with it coming out too fast, just remove the "POP OFF TOP", and use toothpicks to get a drop at a time.

 

[scjohnson243]

When you said "I grabbed the black bottle and squeezed", I just started laughing because I knew what was coming.:biggrin: Been there done that . . . . . just not in my wife's kitchen.:tongue:

I usually just drill a small hole though the top. But if you're having the problem with it coming out too fast, just remove the "POP OFF TOP", and use toothpicks to get a drop at a time.

Jokes on you, I will be at your shop squeezing colors in a few days. get out the wet naps.

 

[TimS124]

Been there, worn that! :big grin:

The new bottles come with a blocked tip and I've taken to drilling them out with a cheap pilot hole bit (designed for pre-drilling before installing screws in wood that would otherwise love to split). Sets of those bits are dirt cheap these days so I keep one spare bit handy just for new dye bottles.

Hopefully, the rest of your experiment went better. Thanks for sharing the smile...I started laughing the minute I read you were squeezing really hard...fortunately, all of my messes have been in the garage.

If you drop by the paint dept of your local big-box store, you should be able to find an inexpensive multi-pack of very thin, very inexpensive plastic drop-cloths.

Two bucks will get a single 9'x12' 0.7mil plastic drop cloth...cut off what you need, tape it over your work area with blue painter's tape. When you're done casting, roll up your mess and toss it.

A single one of those should cover your work bench multiple times. I found a pack of probably ten of that kind of cover. I should be set for quite a while and it definitely makes clean up MUCH easier.

 

[BSea]

When you said "I grabbed the black bottle and squeezed", I just started laughing because I knew what was coming.:biggrin: Been there done that . . . . . just not in my wife's kitchen.:tongue:

I usually just drill a small hole though the top. But if you're having the problem with it coming out too fast, just remove the "POP OFF TOP", and use toothpicks to get a drop at a time.

Jokes on you, I will be at your shop squeezing colors in a few days. get out the wet naps.

I believe I'll use Tim's suggestion & get some plastic drop cloths for you.

BTW, I did mention that Purple & gold colors are banned, right.:wink:

 

[scjohnson243]

I have high hopes for the actual blank... I will try to cut it and drill it tonight and see what I have... used a bit of BSeas advice and I think it did "better"... Will know tonight...

If it came out good I'll post a pic, if it came out bad I'll just say how good it was and not post a pic.

 

[scjohnson243]

Well, it was "Bust" in all facets.. the blank has too many baby bubbles in it (need to use pressure), the best one that came out was one I cast in PVC (Getting Alumilite out of PVC was awesome)....

I'll post pictures of the failures and success in a new thread.....

 

[frank123]

There's a product called "Awesome Orange" I buy at a local dollar store that cleans this stuff up from anything washable and skin as well almost perfectly, does a reasonably good job on resin drips as well.

Cleans dirty oil stains off my hands well too, much better than Goop or any other waterless hand cleaners I've used.

 

[scjohnson243]

There's a product called "Awesome Orange" I buy at a local dollar store that cleans this stuff up from anything washable and skin as well almost perfectly, does a reasonably good job on resin drips as well.

Cleans dirty oil stains off my hands well too, much better than Goop or any other waterless hand cleaners I've used.

Thanks Frank, I'm sure my wife will have a few cases at the house by this weekend.

 

[Cmiles1985]

I popped the caps off of each dye bottle and drilled a small hole (1/16" or 3/32" I don't remember). I had read that somewhere, and it's worked really well...unfortunately I'm out of Alumilite now.