Alumilite not curing

[rdunn12]

I have made 3 casts with alumilite and all went well.Yesterday I made 2 more casts and neither one of them cured properly.After 2 hours both casts were soft and wet looking.Did these 2 casts the same as the other three and cant figure out why.The temp here in the shop is about the same as it was for the first 3,give or take 5 degrees.I measured out the same amount of resin and hardener as I did in the first three.Any help would be appreciated.Dont want to waste the stuff.Ronald.

 

[DozerMite]

I don't have any experience with Alumilite, but with the PR I use, temp. (even five degrees) and humidity effect the cure time. I have a chart I've made that shows me how much catalyst to add depending on those two factors.

 

[ElMostro]

I do a lot of alumilite casts, in cold weather (here in Texas my garage goes down to about 50 when it is really cold) I have casts that stayed semi-soft after 3 hours. Problem was the alumilite was at about 55 degrees when I mixed it (this is an advantage if you want more open time when working with alumilite but not good if you want to speed cast)what I do now is keep the alimilite inside the house and heat the mold prior to mixing the alumilite. A warm (about 120 degrees) mold has helped my casts set pretty fast. This has worked for me but I am not saying this is the fix all.

Also, I now leave it overnight in the pot just in case.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Ronald,

I too work with Alumilite and have a ton of experience with it. Most of the time when I talk with folks who have problems with the resin curing it was because they did not get it mixed thoroughly or the measured properly.

Just a refresher: You need to measure by weight, not volume and you need to stir very thoroughly. People new to Alumilite tend to rush the stirring since they are worried about it setting up on them. DO NOT rush this part! You have plenty of time. When you first pour the parts together, they will look kinda cloudy when you look into the mixing container. Stir and keep stirring until the resin become completely clear again. While stirring, be sure you scrape the sides of your container.

If you have stirred and measured properly the only other thing that could be the issue is the temp of your shop. I have never had an issue but my shop never gets below 65 degrees. One thing Alumilite does recommend is that you heat your mold as ElMostro said. Just throw it in a toaster oven and get it nice and warm. This will solve the problem! BTW, humidity does not have any noticeable effect on Alumilite.

Good luck and let us know what you find out. If you need more help, feel free to contact me by PM and I will send you my telephone number so we can talk in "person".

 

[Jarheaded]

I work in the cold with Alumilite and the only time that I had a problem was when I didn't mix it enough. Now I wait until it starts to get pretty warm in the cup before I pour and then it goes right into the tank and I hit the pressure quick. Other that that I accidentally poured 2 cups of "B" together and that was just a disaster when I tried to use it, alot of waste and garbage. Overall, I really like the Alumilite and have been happy with the results. Any problems that I have had were my own mistakes.
Good Luck,
Johnnie