What resin works best

[bitshird]

I’ve been looking toward casting some snakeskin blanks, a friend just killed a 5 foot Copperhead and gave me a nice hide, I have a 6.5 CFM vacuum pump and a pretty good size bell jar, I understand that the casting resin from Michaels doesn’t do well with vacuum only pressure,
I also have found by doing some epoxy inlay on CNC work that powder coating powders work well with epoxy using Up to 10% by weight with no noticeable difference in curing time.
Back to the topic at hand which casting resin seems to work better under vacuum, Not too concerned about volumetric expansion.
Ken Ferrell

 

[ahoiberg]

ken, i think a bunch of the people here use the simlar 41. i believe it can be had from many different sources, mrfiberglass.com seems to be a popular one. i've had good luck with the michaels stuff, but i'm not using any pressure or vacuum. and i can't speak for the snakeskin casting but i have had some success casting labels, probably a totally different animal (no pun intended).

 

[its_virgil]

The casting resin (Castin' Craft) at Michaels is polyester resin. Silmar 41 (http://www.mrfiberglass.com) is polyester resin. I've used them both and they work the same. Douglas and Sturgess (http://www.artstuf.com) sell some brand of polyester resin and it works the same. I wouldn't be surprised if most polyester resin is Silmar 41 just repackaged. Anyway, there are several excellent articles on casting polyester resin including how to cast snake skins by some guy named Don Ward. PR works with vacuum, pressure, both, or none. Vacuum and/or pressure is not a requirement to make the resin cure, just to help eliminate air bubbles.

Another popular resin is Alumilite, which is an urathane resin, I think. There is also lots of info on using Alumilite. It is not the same kind of resin as polyester resin, cures much faster, and those that use it cast it under pressure, again, to help eliminate air bubbles, but pressure is not a requirement for curing. When Curtis Seebeck sees this he <s>may</s> will give more info on using alumilite, or tell you where to find the info. Listen to him, he is the Alumilite guru here.

Info on Alumilite and polyester resin can be found in the casting forum and in the library.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by bitshird

I’ve been looking toward casting some snakeskin blanks, a friend just killed a 5 foot Copperhead and gave me a nice hide, I have a 6.5 CFM vacuum pump and a pretty good size bell jar, I understand that the casting resin from Michaels doesn’t do well with vacuum only pressure,
I also have found by doing some epoxy inlay on CNC work that powder coating powders work well with epoxy using Up to 10% by weight with no noticeable difference in curing time.
Back to the topic at hand which casting resin seems to work better under vacuum, Not too concerned about volumetric expansion.
Ken Ferrell

 

[bitshird]

Thanks Don, I saw your tutorial, I had also seen that someone had said not to use vacuum on the castin resin, my guess would be they tried to keep it under vacuum too long and since there is always a volumetric expansion it started to cure and left a mess, Since there is a Michaels about 45 miles from me I'll try theirs first.
All I was going to do was to degas the mix for 5 to 10 minutes , depending on what they say the working time is and then let them sit for a day or so (whilst I pray to the god of polyester resin)[:I], I also found some crystal clear casting resin on eBoob/feeBay and emailed the seller, his is polyurethane and had a 20 minute work time and a 16 hour cure, I do remember in the old days stabilizing Turquoise we used a polyester resin from Eastman Kodak, but it had a lot longer work time, [B)] I wish I could find some of that to try and stabilize some wood, I think it would be great stuff for it.
Grateful for the information
Thanks very much
Ken Ferrell

 

[its_virgil]

go to the Michael's website or check the Sunday paper for a coupon. They routinely have a 50% off coupon for a single item. That will bring the cost down consiserably. Purchasing from other sources will get you a gallon for just a little more than a quart will cost from Michaels.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by bitshird

Thanks Don, I saw your tutorial, I had also seen that someone had said not to use vacuum on the castin resin, my guess would be they tried to keep it under vacuum too long and since there is always a volumetric expansion it started to cure and left a mess, Since there is a Michaels about 45 miles from me I'll try theirs first.
All I was going to do was to degas the mix for 5 to 10 minutes , depending on what they say the working time is and then let them sit for a day or so (whilst I pray to the god of polyester resin)[:I], I also found some crystal clear casting resin on eBoob/feeBay and emailed the seller, his is polyurethane and had a 20 minute work time and a 16 hour cure, I do remember in the old days stabilizing Turquoise we used a polyester resin from Eastman Kodak, but it had a lot longer work time, [B)] I wish I could find some of that to try and stabilize some wood, I think it would be great stuff for it.
Grateful for the information
Thanks very much
Ken Ferrell

 

[stevers]

I use Mr. Fiberglass. On my second gallon and happy so far. Price is hard to beat, at least by more than a dollar or two. I don't feel a dollar or two is worth it. David is great to work with and he ships pretty quick. Of course it takes a week and a half because of the MEKP being a hazardous material.