Need Help in Casting

[William Menard]

I am trying to cast my own blanks using PR. I print on photo quality label, let dry 24hrs, place on tube and put 3 coats of CA, let gas off 24 hrs, cast in PR and within a few hours Im seeing the tube, like the label shrinks. Once I did just the PR and let it sit, another time I used a vacuum system to remove the air bubbles, just a household vacuum packer that doenst pull much vacuum but it did pull air from the resin, Im wondering if I shouldn't go back to alumilite. Any help would be appreciated

 

[glenspens]

i use pr with 95 % to the good ...i don't seal with ca, i clear coat or use nothing at all . i let my decal dry over night then cast no pressure or vac. the only time i use ca is if i am putting the decal on the outside of the blank.

 

[William Menard]

should I be scuffing up the brass or should I paint the brass

 

[Ed McDonnell]

There are all sorts of ways that will work. This works for me:

Cast the tube in whitish opaque resin.

Turn to .02 less than finished size (tube will not be visible unless you made the white resin too transparent).

Apply label (I use clear waterslide labels with the white resin supplying "white" where needed, since printers don't print white).

Allow label to dry (for waterslide I let it sit overnight and then give it an hour in a warm toaster oven <150F)

Spray Krylon Crystal Clear Gloss coating from a can after the labelled blank has cooled.

Allow to dry overnight and then give it an hour in a warm toaster oven <150F). Allow it to cool.

Degass my resin with vacuum in it's mixing cup before pouring into the mold.

Pour the resin carefully to not introduce bubbles. DO NOT put the mold with the label / resin under vacuum. If you got bubbles in the resin while pouring, move them away from the blank with a toothpick or something.

That's it. You could probably drop some of my steps and have success, but this process always works for me. Short cutting the process would sometimes work, but sometimes not.

Here's an example of one of mine (using ivory background resin):


View in Gallery

Ed

 

[BJohn]

Ed that is great step by step help, I copied it down for myself.

Thanks

 

[Edward Cypher]

+1 on Ed's step by step. Plus the pen/decal is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jim Burr]

Still wondering...is your problem casting, casting labels, casting decals, casting photos? Have you sealed any of the media in use?

 

[JohnU]

Brass tubes will shine through many objects when clear casting. I have that problem with snakes, feathers and labels. I would recommend spray painting or powder coat the tubes first.

 

[William Menard]

Still wondering...is your problem casting, casting labels, casting decals, casting photos? Have you sealed any of the media in use?

i do seal the labels with CA, Im thinking I need more of an over lap

 

[William Menard]

Brass tubes will shine through many objects when clear casting. I have that problem with snakes, feathers and labels. I would recommend spray painting or powder coat the tubes first.

it not only shines through but the reason being is that the label is somehow shrinking if that makes any sense

 

[JohnU]

Very possible since the PR saturates the paper label and PR shrinks when it cures. A larger overlap may be the solution. Good luck!

 

[its_virgil]

I've not used photo quality labels but have excellent results using the standard Avery 2"x4" labels. I paint the tubes white so the brass does not show through the labels. Never had a problem with the label itself shrinking.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[navycop]

I cast the blank in a color similar to the decal (i.e. yellow for a VA Beach Police Officer badge). Print on clear decal paper. Spray w/Krylon clear. Let dry 24-48 hrs and apply to blank. I might clear cast over it or use CA.

 

[wyone]

when applying decals or labels, how do you deal with either the seam from overlap, or from not having it completely wrap around. I have not seen one first hand, but it seams that the seam itself might be distracting from the overall appearance.

 

[Pjohnson]

This is a great topic. I have read many posts on decals. My issue is you can tell it is a label after applied and coated with CA. The tip I received but have not tried is limiting my application of Krylon. I had done 2-3 and it was recommended to try one light coat.

On of the original posts or applying the krylon after applying the label is an interesting thought.

I will continue to watch the replies and learn.

Thank you!!!

 

[navycop]

These are a few decal pens that I did. They are printed on inkjet, sprayed with krylon and couple layers of CA over top.