Mr. Anonymous Game #61 @ 1/03/2019

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robutacion

robutacion

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G'day folks,

This game is more for all the "casters" we have here on IAP...!

Attached you will see pics of various blanks that were sliced into knife scales, the question is;


001.jpg003.-2jpg.jpg

006.-3jpg.jpg002.j-4pg.jpg


1- Which blank/block did produce the most transparent effect...?

And now more importantly,

2- Why...? (what made it become more transparent...?)

I would like to remind you all of the new conditions I introduced in game #32 and that is what actually the gift voucher amount will be spent on, and allow the actual winners to make their own choices. The only RULE that I ask you all to respect is that I allow each 1/3 of the value amount (AU$100.00) to be used for the selection of blanks/packs between the 3 main blanks types I make/sell, there is, raw/natural wood blanks, stabilized blanks/packs and Resifills (cast blanks), this means basically that you can select 1/3 of each type or all raw/natural blanks but never the voucher amount of all stabilized or Resifill blanks, I hope this has come clear if not, let me know...!

A voucher code will be sent by PM or email to the winner that will use it to put his/her's order, any freight/shipping is not included in the prize/voucher so, you will be requested at checkout to pay for posting.


Good luck...!

Cheers
George
 
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I have only cast two blanks so my first choice is blank 4. Because it appears to be several very thin sheets being held together. So when cast it would be clear and pink stripes.
 
KLJ said:
I have only cast two blanks so my first choice is blank 4. Because it appears to be several very thin sheets being held together. So when cast it would be clear and pink stripes.
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In fact, all slices on the pics are 7mm thick, the only difference is that on pieces 1, 2 and 3 I used a single slice while on pic 4 I had the 4 slices x 7mm thick on top of each other, which is what each cast block gave me, 2 pairs of scales/slices.

Cheers
George
 
Ok I might as well use up my third try since I don't know anyways. Blank 3 because it has no white in it and adding white allumilite dye creates opaque blanks.
Thanks George for doing these I always look forward to them and have learned something every time. Looking forward to the answer.
 
KLJ said:
Ok I might as well use up my third try since I don't know anyways. Blank 3 because it has no white in it and adding white allumilite dye creates opaque blanks.
Thanks George for doing these I always look forward to them and have learned something every time. Looking forward to the answer.
Click to expand...

That's alright Keith, you may learn something you probably use in your future castings so, keep tuned for the correct answers.

Cheers
George
 
Blank 2 looks to be transparent on the edges. Whatever material you added the resin to turned transparent. Fiberglass is the only thing I know that does this but I imagine that's not what you used.

Edit: I'm only assuming there was a material used because of a pattern in the lower left corner. That could just be surface texture
 
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I'm not real clear on the questions so, this is my answer based on how I interpret them.

Blank #2 would be the most translucent.
This is caused by the colorant used. There are several pigments, when used independently, will create a very translucent cast. This is due to the light transference, the light passes through the pigment particles, rather than being reflected. This is most common with synthetics. Most of them are referred to as highlight pigments, although they go by other names.
Using a base colorant, or a dispersion, will create an opaque cast, that will also enhance any additional pigments.
Using a white dispersion in blank#2, would create a white blank with highlight color swirls. Using a black dispersion, would create a black blank, with more intense highlight color swirls.
On both of the swirl blanks I mention, they would be swirled only if cast as a swirl. Otherwise, if they are thoroughly mixed, The highlight color would be prominent.

I apologize if I misinterpreted your questions.
 
George, I believe that it's going to be blank #4. The reason behind my thinking this, is because (a) it has very little white in it and as we all learned in art class or science class in school is that white reflects all of the colors of light making it one of the two most opaque colors. (b) magenta or in art, Permanent Rose, is the most transparent color of all while it does reflect light, it's the pinkish hue that's in the long wave spectrum of visible light, thus it's not as reflective to our eye. (c)I'm pretty sure I'm pulling this all out of my rear end and actually have no idea if this is true or not...:biggrin:
 
Don`t really understand why anyone would want a transparent knife handle . The handle appearance and the blade should be the focus of attention , not the haft . I keep my castings closer to # 1 . It may allow glimpses of what is underneath as lighting shifts , which is fine . I vote as I think my customer would , for # 1 .
 
G'day,

No apologies are required and after reading all the comments/posts it has become clear that my questions are not as straight forward as one may think, the reason being is that I have a specific though created by me being requested to create a translucent blank with red as the colour shade to be slice into 7mm scales, this though is basically the result of my findings that should have been obvious but somehow, I didn't think of it until my first attempts failed to create what the customers had in mind that I didn't capture correctly when he used the words highlighted above.

My intention with this game questions is to demonstrate a phenomenon that is part of the casting world and that many people aren't aware of or may not have experienced yet particularly the new casters that are venturing into the world of resin casting.

The resin I used was the epoxy but the same results would have been achieved with any resins that are "clear" so, bypassing any resins that do not produce clear resin results such one of the Alumilite resins and some others.

By while we focus on the resin required to be clear, we may get enticed to use the most common colour Pigments available to us in our days and those as the powders that are sold under various names and sizes mostly with Pearl effects, no doubt providing some of the most beautiful effects I've seen.

So, how do I phrase what I had in mind for this game...? How do I ask the correct questions for the correct answers I'm after which are basically what I'm trying to say and or explain mainly to new casters.

Still confused...? don't worry so am I...!:biggrin:

OK, let's try this, let me ask you if someone had asked you to "create a translucent blank with red as the colour shade" how/what would you use to make it...?:smile:

PS: All the scales showing in the 4 pics have been run on a drum sander with 40 grit and then given a couple of coats of clear fast dry varnish (spray can).

Cheers
George
 
I suppose I might try a red interference colour , but would have to buy some first . When I look closely at # 2 , there is a hint of pink , at least on my screen .


I understood your question , George . I just don`t understand your customer .
 
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1080Wayne said:
I suppose I might try a red interference colour , but would have to buy some first . When I look closely at # 2 , there is a hint of pink , at least on my screen .


I understood your question , George . I just don`t understand your customer .
Click to expand...

Well, Wayne, you and someone else before have mentioned the Interference powders colours and those are the most "translucent" so, that is exactly what I used but it didn't work, the less amount of powder the better but even with the smallest of amounts, the clear resin as you mix up still become "milky" and if the amounts of powders used are very small, you hardly can see any red and while producing interesting effects, that isn't what the customer wanted.

So, there is one lesson to learn/take from using Interference powders, semi-translucent is possible to achieve with these powders but not full translucent that some people also call transparency, and I hope you understood why...!

PS: People commented on the learning side of these games, this is one of those where I may have to make lots of explanations /examples as hints/clues as to what I would like to hear as the answers to the questions, again, I may have asked it the wrong way but I'm trying to correct that by stepping back on the issue and breaking it apart that way you folks may understand/work out what I'm trying to get at...!

Cheers
George
 
As you've stated, using interference pigments and other pigments you might think will be translucent, will come out that "milky", white base color.
Also, in using pigments that use the name red, in almost all cases, will come out a pink to purple shade. There are very few that come out looking actual red. I have some of them but, they are not translucent.

I also have several pigments, that when cast in a blank, the blank is completely clear with only the highlight color showing. Simply, on a pen, the tube would be seen very clearly, with whatever color that was used, showing throughout the blank, it can be a single color, or many colors. Very similar to a soap bubble. Again, there isn't an actual red. Those blanks were never of interest to me, so I didn't make them.

Now, to get actual red, dispersion's, or dyes would need to be used. That will create a red blank, and can be made translucent but, it would be a solid color without iridescence. To get the iridescence, the pigment would have to be added, and that will alter the color.
 
It sounds to me like the customer just wanted a translucent red blank. I don't see swirls or highlights mentioned. If that were the case then I'd mix the resin with a red dye and maybe just a touch of pearl.

That's what I'm getting from the customer request but that seems like a pretty boring blank. Especially on a knife.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
It looks like Castin Craft makes some popular transparent dyes, not sure if they are available Down Under though.
 
Let's end this game and....!!!

I like both answers of Terredax and Wagner11 but particularly the explanations Terredax has provided which are pretty much parallel with what I had in mind and experience only one detail is missing as I will demonstrate later.

Remember that my objective with this game is to provide some important information on the art of casting that many new members here are venturing into or considering to do so in a very near future, learning some of this information will be of great help for them to achieve the desired results.

Following Terredax comments, I would like to say that, blank #1 was created using Interference red from Pearlex, the amount of powder used was pretty much what I would use if it was other type of pearl powders or solid colour (powder form), the Marble effects remind me of the quality Italian Marble and I'm sure a pen or a knife will look good with it.

Blank #2 used about 1/10 of the Interference powder amount, not a lot of anything on it, quite neutral.

Blank #3 was a mix of the same 1/10 amount of Interference red with a small amount of Irresdecent red, the intent was to bring a little more red into the blank but the colour became pinkish and still not translucent enough.

Now, what I used on blank #4 was the result of what the client said when I sent him the pics of the first 3 attempts, his comment was, "well, I was thinking more like some drops of blood in a glass of water or even red cordial type look...!":eek::mad: I wish he said that the first time (I actually told him just that) and he agreed, his original request wording was not correct resulting me to assume a different look.

Someone already commented about the transparent red type blank/scales wouldn't be the sort of blank most of us would go for but this guy thinks out of the box and he has a very clear idea of what he wants, it seems that he has created some knives where some "artwork" was carved into the handle part of the metal blade so he wants the scales to be transparent enough to see through his artwork, smart idea if you can carve, this guy makes some very "unusual" knives.:biggrin::wink:

I had a small bit leftover from the 4th blank I've made and decided to demonstrate how transparent it is, now, that into account that this round piece is about 12mm diameter and the scales were sent at 7mm but will be taken down to 4mm or less in some areas.

003.JPG004.JPG

Also, Terredax, when you mentioned the use of dye to create the transparent/translucent blanks, you were referring to dyes in liquid form, right...?

I hope that what I intended to say with this game questions/issues has now become clear to most of you, I was surprised that not many of our "older/experience" casters didn't post for whatever the reason as I believe many of you already knew that to make fully transparent blanks you require LIQUID dyes and not powders of any kind for reasons already explained and remember, if you fail to produce the correct blank(s) in situations like the one of mine, don't feel too bad about particularly if the customer pays for all the blanks made...!:wink::biggrin:

And now, is time to announce the name of the person that gave me the best answers and that person/member is Terredax congratulations mate, you did indeed hit the nail right on the head, thank you.

To all the other participants, thank you for playing the game...!

Until one next time, take care.

PS: Winner will get a PM with the voucher code to be claimed at my web-store within 90 days.

Cheers
George
 
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Is it because you didn't use any type of pearlescent powders or metallic powders? I'm for sure I'm missing what you're asking. I'm still going with number 4, I doubt that I'm right, but for some reason it seems to make sense.

Edit: I see I was late coming in on this..... Thanks George, as always, I've learned something from you.
 
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Scissortail Pens said:
Is it because you didn't use any type of pearlescent powders or metallic powders? I'm for sure I'm missing what you're asking. I'm still going with number 4, I doubt that I'm right, but for some reason it seems to make sense.

Edit: I see I was late coming in on this....hehe. Thanks George, as always, I've learned something from you.
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You didn't miss what I wanted, you had the blank # correct but you didn't answer the reason why, if you have given me this last answer before I announced the winner and added that I had to use liquid dyes to achieve transparency, the price could have been yours, next time, huh...?:smile:

Cheers
George
 
Well , I have learned (again) that you have some interesting customers , George . Not a bad idea to have an image carved or etched on the tang , and easily visible through the blank . I suppose he will have an image of his knife being used to slit a kangaroo`s throat , or something similar . However , I don`t think it will look as good as he anticipates . # 1 , with an added bit of red sparkle and a clear oval or other appropriate shape to view the image , cast into the blank as a second operation , would make a much nicer handle in my minds eye , and allow you to charge him more .



Thank you for reminding me why the few liquid dyes that I have don`t get used . Congratulations to Terradax .
 
Thanks George!

I've been away for a few days due to personal issues.
When I signed in, I was surprised to have a PM stating I won.

I hope you are able to satisfy your customers needs.
 
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