"Help on choosing a good resin for homecasting" Topic

Hi,

I am using liquid blu-stuff for mold making, and I need advice on choosing a suitable easy to use resin. I use plaster now but there are cases that resin would be better.

I would prefer something as easy to use as the liquid blu-stuff :)

thanks

My top tip would be to make sure that it's a 50:50 mix. That is, equal weights of resin and hardener – it makes it much simpler to get the ratio right, and small volumes are easier when you are measuring 15g of each rather than 30g of one and 3g of the other.

I use this, dead easy to use and as noted by Colin, it is a 1:1 ratio.

link

Thank you both!

I will try out the product AB pointed out :)

edit: I noticed this sentence when reading the product info:

"The SG2000 & SG2000's polyurethane system's are reccommended over polytek polyurethanes if you plan to paint your casted part."

so… Angel Barack's do the casts you make take paint well? And do you need release agents?

If someone has any other products in mind that have 1:1 mix ratio please let me know.

I'm looking at doing some home casting so would be interested to hear the result of this.

Why don't you have a look around here:

smooth-on.com

They can answer all of your questions and I think you will find what you are looking for.

Matthew

I wrestled with this for a bit before I ran out of time to work on it.

If I ever get some spare time, I've vowed to get some of this stuff:
link

One of the big factors you have to consider is working time.

If you have a vacuum chamber and a pressure chamber, using a resin with a 30 minute + working time would allow you to:
-Pour parts A and B of the resin into a mixing vessel
-Load it into the vac chamber and evacuate any bubbles that might have gotten mixed in.
-Pour the resin into your mold
-load the mold into a pressure chamber, and apply pressure to keep any other bubbles compressed.

If you have neither a vacuum chamber nor a pressure chamber, you may as well stick with the 5 minute fast cure stuff, since you can pour more resin in a shorter time without any way to mitigate bubbles short of careful mixing and pouring.

Smooth-on products don't work with liquid blu-stuff that I use

(Warning: Due to the extreme heat generated this product is incompatible with Smooth-Cast 300 Series resin products)

Most of you questions can be answered here:

tapplastics.com

I like their 2 part (1-1) resin and mold making stuff

so… Angel Barack's do the casts you make take paint well? And do you need release agents?

Yes, if you prime them as you would any miniature they are fine.
I use the RTV as available from that link and they pop out fine.

The resin does generate a bit of heat, not sure how much and if that is a concern?

link

I get Smooth-On from Dick Blick by mail or at one of their stores. It is very easy to work with.

Heat is only a problem if you are going to cast some big thing like a brick, most smaller items don't get that hot.

Mike "Bunkermeister" Creek
mediatealways.org
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

The items I would be casting are about few inches wide and long… so there shouldn't be issues with the heat?

I'm not sure why smooth-on isn't suitable with the blu-stuff but I will try to find out more details about that.

Contact the folks at smooth on. They are very helpful and know thier product well. They will have some ideas for you.

Matthew

seems that the MBFibreglass company don't want to get new customers. I've emailed them 3 times to get an quote for shipping to Finland… no answer. They don't ship to Finland without quoting.

Well it would have been cheaper than Smooth-On products… but now I think I need to get that, bummer..