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ohiococonut

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May 8, 2011
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After reading arw01's post and everything I could find in the library I decided to take the plunge and we went to hobby lobby today. The coupon sure came in handy too!

Here's what we picked up. (2) 32oz cans of castin'crafts casting resin. (3) bottles of catalyst, none came with the resin. A three color kit of transparent dye. Pearl Ex series 1 & 2 powdered pigments. Stir sticks, paper cups, etc. I don't have a mold yet so I'm going to use tupperware. It's got a #5 on the bottom so I assume it will be OK?

The tupperware will hold 10oz for what I want so here's my plan. I'll mix 6oz of resin and one color of transparent dye with some pearlx for flavor. 2 cups each of 2oz resin and separate pearlx colors. Once they're all mixed I'll add catalyst to the 6oz cup and pour it into the mold. Before it gels I'll add catalyst to the other 2 cups, mix and pour attempting to swirl it around in the mold hoping not to end up with a mess.

This will be my first attempt at casting. Now I don't mind learning from my mistakes but I would like to know if I'm on the right track. My question is..........will this work :confused: Should I be mixing colors separately and adding catalyst separately to each mix? Or should I just be adding the different pearlx to my main mix. What I'm concerned about is the different hardening rates of the different mixes. Nothing I read anywhere addressed this. Is this a secret?

It's almost 4AM so I won't be attempting this until I get some sleep so I'm looking forward to some words of wisdom. :biggrin:
 
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I just finished my first casts. Used a silicone mini-loaf pan for a mold, which worked well for me. Three colors might be an adventurous start -- consider two for your first attempt -- easier for you to pour unless you have three hands.

The advice we've read about "before it gels" is going to take some learning for me -- it seems like there must be a magic spot in time when this happens, and when it does, it turns into a jelly glob that doesn't like to stir well. Two of my batches hit that point, and to mix the colors, I "folded" the other color into the jelly glob as if I was adding something to bread dough -- stirring wasn't an option. BIG air pockets formed easily when folding the color in, and took some effort to make sure they were removed. The results came out much different than I anticipated, but still came out better than I thought after the jelly glob took over......

PearlEx -- a little does go a long way. Stir a little in slowly, and add more after you've done some mixing already.

Good luck, and have fun! I know I am already planning on buying a gallon of Simlar41 for my next effort!
 
John, where in Charlotte are you? Always looking for others in the area. I work in the University area and live up on the Lincoln county side of Lake Norman. I am planning to start my casting here shortly. Putting my shopping list together now.
 
1. Mix colors separately. Use waxed paper cups.
2. Tupperware? Never tried that, let me know how it works! I like PVC pipe personally...
3. Depending on temp and humidity, the "magic" point for pouring to keep the colors separate can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more. Here in CO 10 minutes is usually the sweet spot, but I usually don't care. WHen pipe casting, I *want* the resins to blend. They make an awesome flame effect. Slabs are different though.

4. The different hardening rates will only apply if you add different catalyst ratios. Fill the cups to the same level, add the same number of drops, and you'll be close enough.
 
Well, I made three cast last night. The first one was a disaster. I was watching the clock and 20min later it started to gel. Within 1 min. it was a glob and I hard a hard time mixing in the other two colors. I got it done but I'm not sure how it's going to look. Right now it looks like a red & silver lumpy pile of poop.
The second one I waited 15min and it started to do the same thing but I was able to get a fairly good mix. The colors look like the milky way and I like the initial appearance.
The third one I only waited 10min and added the second color. I like the way it mixed together but I may have used too much gold......we'll see.

I did learn a few things along the way and now realize no matter how many times you read the directions you won't know until you try it. The main thing was time and temp which is now burned into my brain.

The tupperware (Sterilite) worked just fine. The casting popped right out and I'll be reusing them until I make some of my own molds.

I can see right now that this is just going to get more expensive too. I need to buy this stuff in much larger containers! The possibilites are endless. I'll be cutting them apart soon so I'll see if I've got gems or junk.
 
Casting is not as hard as some might want to believe, just keep practicing and write down what works, what don't work. Making a great blank only gets better if you can repeat the process.

As with most things, practice with a learning curve and time brings better results

I still buy some cast blanks if the price is right. Easier on me for someone else to do the work/mess than it is for me on just a few blanks.

Keep going and have fun.
 
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