Alumilite and Red Tints

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holmqer

Local Chapter Leader
Joined
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So far I have had a lot of trouble with using any red tint other then the liquid stuff from Alumilite. Nothing ever cures, I've tried Pearl-Ex, Coastal Scents Mica, Cadmium Red Powder, Trans-tint.

I don't seem to have this problem with any other color

Anyone else have problems with red?
 
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Why not just use the Alumilite dye that you have already had success with? It basically uses part A as the carrier and does not interfere with the curing at all, at least in my limited:) use.
 
MesquiteMan said:
Why not just use the Alumilite dye that you have already had success with? It basically uses part A as the carrier and does not interfere with the curing at all, at least in my limited:) use.
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It seems I may have to go with the Alumilite tint. I had tried them and semi abandoned them as they are very messy to use. The powders from Coastal Scents, Pearl-Ex or Art Stuff are much easier to use, and come in a zillion shades, so not as much experimentation needs to be done to get a desired effect.
 
I have recently been having problems with the red from coastalscents. I use Silmar 41 from uscomposites. The red doesn't blend in all the way... I never noticed until recently when i started mixing my own purple color (Think crown royal bag) Of all the mica in the mix, the red is the only one that doesnt totally dissolve. It leaves tiny little red dots all through the purple blank. Doesn't look too terrible but it is annoying.
 
RAdams said:
I have recently been having problems with the red from coastalscents. I use Silmar 41 from uscomposites. The red doesn't blend in all the way... I never noticed until recently when i started mixing my own purple color (Think crown royal bag) Of all the mica in the mix, the red is the only one that doesnt totally dissolve. It leaves tiny little red dots all through the purple blank. Doesn't look too terrible but it is annoying.
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Which red are you using? Currently I'm using metallic red raisin and it mixes all the way for me. Although I had that same problem with the ultramarine violet and it annoyed the heck outta me.
 
It is the cillini(sp) red. I have some of the metallic red raisin too so maybe i will try that... I wonder what the shade difference will be...
 
Eric, If you want, I can bring some of my red to the meeting and you can try that, I've had very good results with it.
 
wolftat said:
Eric, If you want, I can bring some of my red to the meeting and you can try that, I've had very good results with it.
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I'll check which of the Coastal Scents powders I just tried and see whats different between it and yours.
 
holmqer said:
It seems I may have to go with the Alumilite tint. I had tried them and semi abandoned them as they are very messy to use. The powders from Coastal Scents, Pearl-Ex or Art Stuff are much easier to use, and come in a zillion shades, so not as much experimentation needs to be done to get a desired effect.
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Messy to use??? I don't understand. I have all the Alumilite liquid dyes and use them with great results, including the red. I pour the dye from the larger bottles into small squeeze bottles and just count out the drops I need when using them. I don't think I have ever spilled a drop! :)
 
Russianwolf said:
I think it best that you avoid the shop for a couple days.... I hear some lawman named Murphy is looking for you around those parts.
:tongue:
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Let me rephrase that.... I've never spilled a drop when adding dye to the resin BUT... I've been known to spill a few when going from the large bottle to the small!:)
 
Texatdurango said:
Messy to use??? I don't understand. I have all the Alumilite liquid dyes and use them with great results, including the red. I pour the dye from the larger bottles into small squeeze bottles and just count out the drops I need when using them. I don't think I have ever spilled a drop! :)
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We talking about the same alumilite dyes?

Mine came in small bottles, and those were nowhere near full-
so much so that an eyedropper barely reached the dye.

Not that an eyedropper was very useful since even if I got a decent drop into it, it was so sticky it'd never leave.

Not that you need more than 1 drop- they're definitely super concentrated.
But when you're working in small batches, that's not always a good thing.

I tried them a bit and set them aside while I looked for a better way to measure / integrate them. The wire loop reference I've seen recently looks promising, but I've not had a chance to check into it.
 
Get some empty CA bottles and transfer your Alumilite dyes into them. The use the tip that comes with it and cut it so that the hole is as small as you can. This will allow you to very easily and conviently use the bottle as a dropper and not have to mess with the eye dropper. It also allows you to have small drops for smaller batches.

I believe, in talking with Mike (VP at Alumilite), that they are re-doing their packaging on the dyes to be more like what I am saying. This is based on feedback that I have been giving Mike for a couple of years. They have to go through all their old bottles first, though.

Also, if you need to, you can thin the dye with part A or if you want it even thinner, use some odorless mineral spirits. This will make it more liquid and allow it to come out of the bottle better. BTW, the bottles are not meant to be full. You are buying 1 oz of dye. The bottles they use are much bigger than 1 oz.

As for messy, if you do what I say above, you will have no mess at all. I do agree, however, that if you try to use it as they ship it, it is very messy and a PITA.
 
jason_r said:
We talking about the same alumilite dyes?

Mine came in small bottles, and those were nowhere near full-
so much so that an eyedropper barely reached the dye.

Not that an eyedropper was very useful since even if I got a decent drop into it, it was so sticky it'd never leave.

Not that you need more than 1 drop- they're definitely super concentrated.
But when you're working in small batches, that's not always a good thing.

I tried them a bit and set them aside while I looked for a better way to measure / integrate them. The wire loop reference I've seen recently looks promising, but I've not had a chance to check into it.
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My apology, I didn't know Alumilite dyes came in small bottles and ASSumed others were using the large bottles as well. I just watched their video and saw where the fellow was dipping into the jar with a stick and can see where that would be touchy!

I bought the large bottles and poured the dyes into smaller bottles for everyday use. With the long nozzles you can get really nice little drops of dye.

Here are the bottles I use and believe they are similar to what Curtis mentions above. This was an idea passed on to me from a good friend so I wanted to pass it along again.
 

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Looking back at their site, I think they use the same bottle for 6oz and 1oz.
And since I ordered the 1oz, it created challenges.

They are great colors, rich and concentrated. I just haven't taken
the time to get all my issues worked out.
 
Texatdurango said:
Messy to use??? I don't understand. I have all the Alumilite liquid dyes and use them with great results, including the red. I pour the dye from the larger bottles into small squeeze bottles and just count out the drops I need when using them. I don't think I have ever spilled a drop! :)
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I found screw on spouts that turn the bottles into squeeze bottles, but after dispensing a few drops, no matter how careful I am, one drop seeps out of the nozzle, past the snap cap, and wicks all over the place making a gooey super tint mess.

The tint is so viscous that it takes a gorilla grip to get any drops out of the nozzle, sometimes the tint will wick out of the nozzle cap threads making a gooey super tint mess.
 
holmqer said:
I found screw on spouts that turn the bottles into squeeze bottles, but after dispensing a few drops, no matter how careful I am, one drop seeps out of the nozzle, past the snap cap, and wicks all over the place making a gooey super tint mess.

The tint is so viscous that it takes a gorilla grip to get any drops out of the nozzle, sometimes the tint will wick out of the nozzle cap threads making a gooey super tint mess.
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Eric,

You should not have such a problem. I use their dyes exclusively and do not have any issues at all. Like I said, though, I transfer the dye to new empty CA bottles and use the cap that comes with them. I think Monty sells the empty bottles by I am not sure. If you have to squeeze so hard, make your hole a little bigger or thin it as I mentioned above. Their black is the worst on viscosity so I always thin mine with odorless mineral spirits and have not had any issues.
 
MesquiteMan said:
... I think Monty sells the empty bottles by I am not sure....
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I do, check out the bottom of the glue page.


MesquiteMan said:
.....Their black is the worst on viscosity so I always thin mine with odorless mineral spirits and have not had any issues.
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Now you tell me. I thought my black had dried up when I looked at it this past weekend. Have to go see if I can find it in my shop trash.
 
Curtis,
Thanks for the thinning tip. Eric and I live close enough to each other that we share a lot of these things. (By the way, the poor guy works three rows away from me as well) The dyes are at my house at the moment. I did try opening up for the blue, but it was still a real good squeeze to get a drop to separate from the tip ot the bottle. Eric had purchased some screw on nozzles for the 1 oz bottles.

If Eric does not mind, I am going to thin out the blue dye this weekend.

As for the wicking, that happens with the dye that stays in the area of the nozzle hole due to the viscosity of the dye.

Once again, thanks for the mineral spirits tip

Jerry
 
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