Confusion with Epoxy Resin buying

[Paul-H]

Hi all

I have been thinking about trying to make my own pen blanks using epoxy resins as many of you already do, although I am ok with what equipment I will need to get, one thing is baffling me, and that's how to work out how much resin I am buying.

My education has liquids measured in either fluid ounces or gallons etc for imperial measurements or millilitres or litres for metric measurements, but for some reason all the Resin sellers I have found all sell their resin by weight so I don't have a clue how much I am buying or even be able to work out basic costing to see if its even worth trying to make my own.

Anyone know why resin makers sell their liquid products by weight or clue me in to how much a litre of resin weighs so I can figure out how much I am buying.

Thanks for any help understanding this.

Paul

 

[JohnU]

I don't buy epoxy resin very often but I do buy the 80 lbs set of urethane resin ( Alumilite Clear). It is equivalent to 10 gallons (5 of each part A &B). One gallon is close to 8 lbs in weight.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I thought I'd chime in on a smaller scale. In case you didn't pick up on John U. response he uses a lot of it. I make blank in small batches if it 2-3 at a time. I figure there's 28 grams per ounce and with the molds use I figure .8 ounces per blank. Most of the blanks I make are bolt actions and the Sierra style. Unless it's very small or very large tube I use .8 oz per blank.

 

[duncsuss]

@JohnU is most likely giving you the weight of a US gallon, which you probably know is not the same as the Imperial gallon because it's based on the 16 fluid ounce US pint instead of the real (20 fluid ounce) pint

But - at approximately 8lb weight per US gallon, it's fundamentally the same as water: that is, 1 litre = 1 kilogram (approximately).

 

[jttheclockman]

My opinion, forget trying to calculate it if it is worth it or not. If you want to do it or just try then just buy some. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many factors go into casting. Size of blanks being made, type of blanks being made if using colors, and so forth. If clear casting you always mix more than needed and after a few trys you get a feel what is needed. Have fun. Most resins are sold by weight because it is a combined weight. Each part has a different consistency and a different weight. I am sure all aluminite types have different weight classes too. But most epoxy resins are mixed according to volume/weight. That is 2 parts resin to one part hardener. Now if you took this and measured by volume alone. you pour for example sake, 1/2 cup resin and then 1/4 cup hardener but being the weight difference you may have used too much hardener and can cause problems. When you buy epoxy resins you see they are not the same amount of liquids in both containers because again the weight difference. I am not speaking alumiite because I know 0 about the product and do not want to know because I will never use it. I am speaking of Liquid Diamonds and a bar top resin that I use. Again speaking of epoxy resins because that is what you asked. Casting resins is a whole other topic. and you could get a more accurate idea of usage because you are using one part and hardener is a catalyst measured in drops. I want to emphasize this is my opinion, there are more qualified casters here than me.

 

[calabrese55]

You are over thinking this. Buy your resin on the weight of what your wallet can comfortably handle.
As far as your question here Anyone know why resin makers sell their liquid products by weight or clue me in to how much a liter of resin weighs so I can figure out how much I am buying.
you can use the weight and specific gravity of water to convert any other liquid if you know the specific gravity.
EXAMPLE water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon and the specific gravity is 1.0
A typical Aluminite resin shows a specific gravity of 1.08 ...so a gallon of that resin would weigh 1.08 x 8.34 or 9 pounds / gallon
One liter = 0.264172 gallons and so on.
BUT don't over think it simply go to any resin brand web page and use their volume calculator like this one https://www.alumilite.com/volume-calculator/
calabrese55

 

[KenB259]

My only suggestion is to buy a smaller amount. Resin has a shelf life and the small discount you get by buying larger amounts isn't worth much if it goes bad and you lose it.