Alumilite failure!

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R

RAdams

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It is official, I do not care for Alumilite at all. A while back I got some Alumilite blanks from Jeff when he was nice enough to give me a box full for practicing kitless. When i turned the first one, I noticed a weird smell. After a while, the smell made me sick to my stomach. Well, a managed to snag a sample kit of alumilite to try out and see if i wanted to become a convert.

I didn't have anything to weigh such a small amount of weight, so i just eyeballed it when i poured. BIG BIG mistake. Some of the blanks are hard as a rock where the air surface is, but still liquid underneath (paper cup). Some of the silicone blanks were the exact opposite, and the ALL went from paradise pearl black to foamy grey.
 
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Sounds like a need for more mixing and less moisture. Alumlite does not like moisture one little bit. Found out the hard way just last week.

desertrat
 
I really didn't think there was any moisture on or in any of my equipment. I use this same equipment to cast PR all the time and never have any problems. The mixing might be a valid problem on my part. It is very hot in my shop and i read how the heat makes teh alumilite flash even faster, and it is already scary fast.

I think i will be sticking with PR. I know it's characteristics and how to properly handle it, and i already have all the gear for PR. It was fun trying the Alumilite though.
 
I know I've heard enough about Alumilite that I'll stick to Silmar 41 I'm sending a guy some that I won, PR is predictable, and I guess after enough practice Alumilite is too. But Ron, I've turned a bunch of Curtis's Alumilite and never smelled any thing same with Jeff's blanks. Perhaps something has hyper-sensitized your Septum.
Pr I can smell while I turn but not so with Alumilite, I do like the way it turns though, compared to PR.
 
Well, if you are near Lawton then you are having 100-degree, 50+% humidity weather. Tomorrow's forecast is "sweltering. Hottest day of the year?" and Monday's is predicted to be exactly like tomorrow's. Lucky you.

My point is that this is not a good time to be casting Alumilite unless you are doing it at your air-conditioned kitchen table. If your equipment is living outdoors then it is possible that they are getting "too wet" just sitting there. What are you using to achieve your "black pearl"? Some tints and even some pearls have water as part of their base and that will lead directly to foam in Alumilite. I've got some really light, airy "sea mist" blanks you can have that were caused by tints with water bases.

Heat will cook Alumilite off before you can get it all the way mixed. You could try chilling part-B in your fridge for a while before doing the mix. That is the recommended way of slowing Alumilite down.

Lastly, Alumilite is Very particular about mixture ratios and they do it by weight. Mix them right and it works great. Mix them wrong...

Oh, the last last thing, if you have "scraps" of alumilite around the Crystal Clear will not set when mixed with the Clear. Just doesn't quite work.
 
Yeah, I live an hour from Lawton. My equipment lives indoors though, so there was no moisture from condensation or anything.

I pour at night to help combat the heat as much as i can. All of my pigments are powder. 99% of them are mica powders from coastal scents. The rest are chalk for chalk line. In this case, it was paradise pearl black mica from coastal.


I hadn't read the part about chilling it. That might have helped, i dunno.

And i don't have an appropriate scale for this process, and i don't see me adding one.



Ken, I don't know what it is about the smell of Alumilite, but i don't like it at all. PR smells good to me, and doesn't make me near as sick as alumilite... weird stuff.
 
You can get an electronic scale at Wally World for $5 ! You can't just eyeball it, and you have to stir the stuff up like an angry beast. It was soft on the bottom or top due to not mixing it nearly enough. Bubbles can happen simply from not enough pressure..you need 50 lbs of pressure. More is ok, less is not so ok. I don't think humidity was much a problem for you. The hot weather is a little bit of an issue. I am pouring blanks fine, but I have to work much much faster than I do in the winter and because of that, on the rare occasion I get a batch I didn't get mixed enough before I rushed it into the pot.
 
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