casting colorant

[hughbie]

ok guys, i have taken the first very small step in doing some casting. i've enve casted two times already. all my stuff comes from micheals but.....i have been using translucent color dye and my casts seem to be more 'see-through' than i want.
my question is...
has anyone used 'RIT' DYE FOR RESIN COLORANT?

 

[johnnycnc]

I haven't used rit dye,but I will
suggest pearl-ex powders.I think you
can find them at michaels where you're shopping.
they will help you get away from "see-thru",
and look very nice imho.

 

[dalemcginnis]

I tried it once. Been over a week and I'm still waiting for it to harden. I poured it into one of the popsicle trays from walmart.

 

[jttheclockman]

These pearlX powders is that the name of them?? Where abouts will you find them??? All I see is the liquid ones that were mentioned and they do leave the color see thru. Looking for colors that have pearescents to it. But like colors like white green blue and pink.

 

[johnnycnc]

John,they are "pearl ex" powder,I found a few colors
at my local Hobby Lobby store,and really liked them.
They have a great pearlescence and shimmer.
I wanted more colors than hobby lobby carried,so wound
up ordering online from here:
http://www.misterart.com/g776/Jacquard-Pearl-Ex-Powdered-Pigments.htm
They have a great selection and service has always been first rate.
Their color samples shown don't do justice,but give an idea.
I have several pens cast with pearl ex in my album
category "my pr" if you wish to look.

Originally posted by jttheclockman

These pearlX powders is that the name of them?? Where abouts will you find them??? All I see is the liquid ones that were mentioned and they do leave the color see thru. Looking for colors that have pearescents to it. But like colors like white green blue and pink.

 

[dalemcginnis]

Originally posted by johnnycnc

John,they are "pearl ex" powder,I found a few colors
at my local Hobby Lobby store,and really liked them.
They have a great pearlescence and shimmer.
I wanted more colors than hobby lobby carried,so wound
up ordering online from here:
http://www.misterart.com/g776/Jacquard-Pearl-Ex-Powdered-Pigments.htm
They have a great selection and service has always been first rate.
Their color samples shown don't do justice,but give an idea.
I have several pens cast with pearl ex in my album
category "my pr" if you wish to look.

Originally posted by jttheclockman

These pearlX powders is that the name of them?? Where abouts will you find them??? All I see is the liquid ones that were mentioned and they do leave the color see thru. Looking for colors that have pearescents to it. But like colors like white green blue and pink.

Would their 32 piece set give enough of each pigment for a test to find out which colors I am most interested in? The jars in that set are 1/8 ounce.

 

[bitshird]

Originally posted by jttheclockman

These pearlX powders is that the name of them?? Where abouts will you find them??? All I see is the liquid ones that were mentioned and they do leave the color see thru. Looking for colors that have pearescents to it. But like colors like white green blue and pink.

For great base colors use powder coating powder, and add Jacuqard Pearl Ex to the mix, The powder is very fine and mixes quite well with Silmar 41 PR which is the same thing that (Hobby Lobby sells for $20.00 a pint) Mr Fiberglass and others get about 40.00 a gallon for it. You can find powdercoating powder on feeBay, at Harbor Freight or Eastwoods, a half pound of any color will last you many years unless you are doing a couple hundred blanks a week, try jaquard Macro Pearl with a black base color, it's awesome

 

[johnnycnc]

Dale,I'm sure it would be plenty.
For reference only,I measure the pearl ex with dry
kitchen type measuring spoon,typically
(2) 1/8 teaspoon level</u> per ounce of pr.
This is a real small spoon.Some colors more,some less
I always jot down recipes,in a notebook,too;
makes it nice to repeat later.

Originally posted by dalemcginnis

Would their 32 piece set give enough of each pigment for a test to find out which colors I am most interested in? The jars in that set are 1/8 ounce.

 

[hughbie]

well, it looks like i'm gonna have to go to harbor freight and get some colors
i went to michaels yesterday and i did find the pearl-ex. they were located in the 'embossing' section
yes, there were some very small amounts but there were two different packages with different colors
thanks guys....ya'll been a big help.....gawd i love this site!

 

[its_virgil]

MrFiberglass has a very limited stock of colors. Try Douglas and Sturgess at http://wwww.artstuf.com They have a great selection.

Harbor Freight has a limited selection of powder coat powders. Others like Columbia Coatings or Caswell has a much better selection. You can google powder coating and find several places that sell the powders.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by hughbie

well, it looks like i'm gonna have to go to harbor freight and get some colors
i went to michaels yesterday and i did find the pearl-ex. they were located in the 'embossing' section
yes, there were some very small amounts but there were two different packages with different colors
thanks guys....ya'll been a big help.....gawd i love this site!

 

[Glass Scratcher]

Hobby Lobby carries a small rack of 8 or 10 of the Pearl Ex in the 3/4oz (21g). They are in the casting section. The Series 1,2,3 kits with 12, 3g bottles are in the stamping section.

 

[jttheclockman]

Now I was never accused of being the sharpest knife in the drawer so let me get this right. Powder peralescent is better than liquid. Someone suggested use auto body colors because of the metallic in it. www.artstuff.com is the best place to get such powders. What are they called at this place. Don't want to look too stupid When mixing with requires 2/1/8teaspoons per ounce and I should get a rich color. Please correct me if I am wrong on anything.

 

[gketell]

www.artstuf.com not stuff with two 'f's.

GK

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Originally posted by jttheclockman

Now I was never accused of being the sharpest knife in the drawer so let me get this right. Powder peralescent is better than liquid. Someone suggested use auto body colors because of the metallic in it. www.artstuff.com is the best place to get such powders. What are they called at this place. Don't want to look too stupid When mixing with requires 2/1/8teaspoons per ounce and I should get a rich color. Please correct me if I am wrong on anything.

1/8 teaspoon to an ounce seems a bit heavy to me. I use Pearl Ex for many of my castings. I use a wooden craft stir stick to dip the powder out with. Throughly mix the powder into the resin BEFORE adding the hardner. Pull the stir stick out and look at the resin on the stick. If you like the color add hardner (I use 3 drops of hardner to an ounce of resin)and mix throughly. If the color seems translucent/light add a dab more. This method does not make the color repeatable, but I am going for one-of-a-kind custom colors EVERY time I pour.

 

[johnnycnc]

Hey jttheclockman;Just for reference,I wanted to show a picture of the dry 1/8 tsp. measure I mentioned in an earlier post.
It's not very large!

 

[ahoiberg]

i use the pearl ex pigments too and i find the powders work best. i own some of the liquid ones too. i think the same company makes em. or maybe the liquid ones are castin' craft... i can't remember now. either way, the color in the powders are stellar.

johnny, those are some cool combos you've done. if i may inquire, do you let one of colors semi-harden before swirling in the other or do you just mix them at the same time?

i'm still lookin' for a good, solid black base if anyone has any ideas on how to achieve that (maybe the powder coat powder is the answer...) the castin' craft black liquid just hasn't cut it for me. i made a post a while back where i tried using india ink to make a black blank and it still hasn't cured! its been at least a month. i'm leaving it just to see if it ever hardens... i'll get back to you in a year or so.

john t, i'd recommend finding a michael's 50% off coupon, buying some resin (and catalyst) there, maybe some jacquard pearl ex jars from hobby lobby (or michael's but i could never find it there), some clear plastic cups, popsicle sticks and a cylindrical ice cube tray from walmart. then give it the old college try to make sure you like it (you will) and once that pint or whatever the size is is gone, you can order the gallon from artstuf or mrfiberglass or elsewhere online.

 

[johnnycnc]

Andrew,for the multi color swirls,I figure out the working time after catalyze
(let's use 15 minutes as an example).
Add catalyst to color "A".Wait maybe 8-10 minutes,
then add catalyst to color "B".Then do your pour and swirl.
Also,I can recommend for a good black base,pearl ex
carbon black.It is not a pearescent,just good solid black.

 

[TomKitten]

For solid opaque colors with reliable set-up, I've had the best experience using liquid pigments from
http://www.shopmaninc.com/pigments.html
No matter how much I stir, with the solid color powders, I always find chunks and clumps in the cups after pouring; sometimes a little "chunklet" is suspended in the resin, and results in a small void in the blank when turned. The pearlescent powdered colors seem to disperse in the resin much better than the solid ones do.

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks all for the replys. John I see the difference in your spoon. I will have to place an order and get started. You guys make it look so easy.

 

[follow3]

Hello,

I have casted several hundred pens, with Simlar 41 and have tried everything to color them (powder pigment from Artstuf.com, alcohol dies, latex painters pigments, tempera paint powder, rit dye...you name it)

The combination I use now, and have had great results with are:

solid color powder coat powder from eBay...2.49 per lb.
And for pearl I use white pearl powder from Artstuf.com...I buy it by the lb. You can mix in a little with any color powder you use.
I still cast in Simlar 41 from US composites because the price is great, but I plan to try Alumilite next.

With Simlar 41 I use about 1/2 tsp. per 2 oz. of resin, and 8 to 10 drops of catalyst.

Good Luck,
Steve

 

[its_virgil]

Steve,
Does the powder coat powder dissolve in the PR or is it just suspended? Could you provide a link to the eBay seller for the powder? Thanks.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by follow3

Hello,

solid color powder coat powder from eBay...2.49 per lb.
And for pearl I use white pearl powder from Artstuf.com...I buy it by the lb. You can mix in a little with any color powder you use.
I still cast in Simlar 41 from US composites because the price is great, but I plan to try Alumilite next.

With Simlar 41 I use about 1/2 tsp. per 2 oz. of resin, and 8 to 10 drops of catalyst.

Good Luck,
Steve

 

[bitshird]

Don,
The powdercoating powder doesn't actually disolve, but it is so fine, that it stays in suspension quite well, you do have to be careful not to use too much or it does ball up in the PR, it also doesnt affect the cureing time that I can tell, unless you over saturate with powder.

 

[follow3]

Hey Don,

Here is the link to his store home : http://stores.ebay.com/Surplus-Coatings_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

He has a decent selection and great prices.

I have used about 5 different colors and cast about 60 blanks with it so far and I can't tell a difference between this and the powder from Artstuf.com. (except the cost)

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Steve