Casting poly resin over wood?

[Paul Downes]

I do use alumilte for casting over wood or cactus etc. Has anyone cast PR with "worthless wood" or other stuff? I like the idea of PR's open time and was thinking about doing some casts with it over pinecones or the like. I will be setting up a vacuum tank and think this might work but am not sure if the PR will bond with the wood.

 

[JohnU]

Thats all I use (PR) with no problems. I was never quick enough with alumilite. lol Just make sure your wood is good and dry. Some oily woods will give you a problem but Ive used it with oak, boxelder, amboyna, elm, boxwood, and catalpa with no problems. Had a problem with osage once but never tried it afterwards. A disadvantage with the long PR curing time is, depending on what you use for coloring, it will settle with time and not be as swirled or mixed. I now used dyes with better results. Good Luck!

 

[workinforwood]

I find that PR does not adhere as tight to the wood and can shrink away from wood as it cures. It's a tricky pen to turn. yes it can be done, but I much prefer the Alumilite for this job. The open time shouldn't be a problem, especially this time of year. You have all your wood prepped before you get the resin ready, so all you do is pour it in and pressurize. My shop is running in the mid 50's right now when I'm not in there running the furnace. These temps are gelling the alumilite a little bit, which really affects the timing. I can mix a cup and sit it on the counter for 5 minutes before it even starts to become warm..I actually find this a bit of a pain waiting for the resin to start to flash before I pour it. It changes the way you work, because timing is everything when it comes to resins..PR or alumilite, it's all in the timing which effects the resulting colors and swirls you can obtain. And..best reason ever ...Alumilite is a Michigan company Paul !

 

[Dai Sensei]

I use PR, but under pressure, and leave it in the pot until completely set

 

[wilbpenturner]

what do you need for equipment to cast wood and polyresins into pen blanks? Is it combustible and or dangerous if one has not done this at all. I would like to create something different and or unique. Who sells the raw materials to do something like this and where do you find instructions on making something like this? Any help/direction would be appreciated. Thanks wilbpenturner@aol.com

 

[robutacion]

what do you need for equipment to cast wood and polyresins into pen blanks? Is it combustible and or dangerous if one has not done this at all. I would like to create something different and or unique. Who sells the raw materials to do something like this and where do you find instructions on making something like this? Any help/direction would be appreciated. Thanks wilbpenturner@aol.com

I can not speak on many others behalf that do resin blanks here but, this is some of my information available here;

-http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57971

You will find also many post where I have discussed various aspects of casting, those and many more will be found if you do a search on our library...!:biggrin:

Hope this helps...!

Cheers
George