So what's your record?

[BSea]

I did 68 PR pen blanks yesterday. That more than doubles my previous record (28). And interestingly enough, that was right at 1 gallon of resin. I can't be positive because I had some left in the old can, and now I just have a little left in the new can. I always thought I got about 60 blanks per gallon, but now I've at least got a better idea based on actual numbers, not just estimates. I pour in PVC vrs molds, so it takes a bit more, and my tubes are 5 1/2".

I'm sure people like Jonathon, PR Princess, and a few others can smile & think (Rookie), but for me that was a 1st. And hopefully last. I need to get some done because the weather has been warm, and my heater is broken. So that should last awhile.

So just out of curiosity, what's your record pours in a day, and how many blanks do you get (or think you get) from a gallon of resin?

 

[mredburn]

so far my best is 4 then the resin hardened in the can

 

[MesquiteMan]

My record was 315 blanks or 63 pours in one continuous 17 hour period before a woodturning show this past summer. I started pouring at 11 am and finished at 4 am the morning of the show set up day. That included cutting the blanks on the saw. I would not wish that on anyone! May hand was so sore from stirring resin and tightening pressure pot clamps!

 

[ElMostro]

Twenty-five 60 oz pours for a total of 600 blanks cast, cut and packed in 14 hours. If I am only casting and not cutting I can cast close to 1000 blanks in 12 hours, but it takes a good chunk of the next day to cut and pack.

I use alumilite, which cures faster than poly so it speeds up the process.

 

[its_virgil]

Plus the time on the motel parking lot:biggrin::biggrin:
Don

My record was 315 blanks or 63 pours in one continuous 17 hour period before a woodturning show this past summer. I started pouring at 11 am and finished at 4 am the morning of the show set up day. That included cutting the blanks on the saw. I would not wish that on anyone! May hand was so sore from stirring resin and tightening pressure pot clamps!

 

[MesquiteMan]

Plus the time on the motel parking lot:biggrin::biggrin:
Don

Yeah, but not many go to that extra step/effort!

 

[ericofpendom]

My record is 64 in the day, about 64oz's don't know what it is in gallons though.

Eric...

 

[Brooks803]

Don't remember the number of blanks, but it was around 7-8gal of PR. VERY long day!

 

[ElMostro]

Twenty-five 60 oz pours for a total of 600 blanks cast, cut and packed in 14 hours. If I am only casting and not cutting I can cast close to 1000 blanks in 12 hours, but it takes a good chunk of the next day to cut and pack.

I use alumilite, which cures faster than poly so it speeds up the process.

Found a Picture:

 

[robutacion]

Nice number in here, certainly a "painful" marathon but, I have seen no reference of what type of casting, is a big difference in between making full acrylic blanks and blanks with a mix of wood and resin.

Everything is pretty much the same, after the wood is set and ready for pouring in the mold's but, the prep. the wood require in so many cases, such as cut to size, remove bark, debris, and any dust etc., putting them in the mold's in a specific way, secure the blanks from floating and other steps necessary, is not something that one can do in a hurry and/or, the last minute jobs, these pieces can take days to prepare just for a few hours of pouring...!

Finishing the blanks, can be also time consuming as all mine are cut on the blandsaw so, they are all sanded and they sprayed with varnish to enhance colours and give a finished look to the blanks, otherwise would be very difficult to see what they look like, in the pics or in person...!

My record is the use of a full 20 litre drum of PR (polyester resin), to make a mix of blanks 90% of them, a mix of wood and resin that I had prepared and set in the mold's (9 x 7 blanks each) in the previous days.

Is nothing like fresh resin and fresh hardener, I got both that time and done it deliberately in a very hot day (about 40°C), using only 1% of hardener, I was pouring 3 mold's (21 blanks), which is the capacity of my pot, using the shelve rack, every our.

I was putting the pot in the sun, as soon as it would be pressurised that, was accelerating the cure process tremendously however, without any cracks or the resin be brittle the 1% hardener was just ideal for the circumstances.

In that hour I was waiting for the ones in the pot to cure, I would start to prepare the empty mold's with the wood and with the time left, I was slicing and sizing the cast blocks into pen blanks. Certainly a non stop process and a well oquestrated one, otherwise it would be chaos, for sure.
The problem was to keep the salty sweat out of my eyes, as I was soaked from the heat, damn I remember that well however I swear of not doing that ever again, no Sir...!

I believe, I endup with about 350 blanks in the end...!

That's my story and I stick with it...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[flyitfast]

Twenty-five 60 oz pours for a total of 600 blanks cast, cut and packed in 14 hours. If I am only casting and not cutting I can cast close to 1000 blanks in 12 hours, but it takes a good chunk of the next day to cut and pack.

I use alumilite, which cures faster than poly so it speeds up the process.

Found a Picture:

Eugene, don't you also run all the blanks over your jointer on all four sides? :good:
( smooth as a baby's ... )
gordon

 

[MesquiteMan]

Nice number in here, certainly a "painful" marathon but, I have seen no reference of what type of casting, is a big difference in between making full acrylic blanks and blanks with a mix of wood and resin.

Mine were 230 Texas Hybrid™ blanks and 85 "Original Cactus Blank"™ blanks. The cactus blanks take more time than worthless wood blanks. The Texas Hybrid™ blanks were already prepped and ready to place in the molds.