Blank Problem

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Russknan

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Mar 13, 2012
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Nanuet, NY
OK, here is my third and last thread - for awhile, anyway. I don't want to be clogging up the forum. I have been looking around for other things to imbed in Alumalite. In this regard, I suggested that my wife not hang around my bench for any length of time! She's very well preserved, in my opinion, but may not want to see how she looks in resin . . . !

Anyway, I wanted to cast some pine cones in a blank. I gathered some, put them in my dehydrator for a couple of days . . . and discovered that the heat caused the pine cones to open up to a size where they wouldn't fit into the mold. So I got some somewhat smaller ones, just stuck them in the mold, and had at it. When I took it out of the pressure pot, there was liquid bubbling out of some spots, and the top of the blank was gummy. I left it overnight, blotted up some of the gummy stuff, and cut the top off the blank. I really like the way it looks, even though there are some voids. And most of the blank seems solid.

So I left it for another day or two. Today, when I got back into the shop, there was some more liquid, as you can see in the pictures. I'm hoping the more experienced folks here can help. Do you think this blank is toast, or is there a possible treatment? If I can't fix it, it's not the end of the world. We have plenty more pine cones in the neighborhood, but I DO like the preliminary look at this blank.

I'm thinking that, in the future, I might jam a couple of pine cones into the mold, make some turns with twine around the whole business to keep the cone from expanding, and putting the mold upside down in the dehydrator for a couple of days before casting. Am I on the right track? Russ
 

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I ran into this in my early workings with Alumilite. No matter how long you wait, that is just not going to cure. I found that it is a mixing problem. If your A and B are not thoroughly mixed, you will have spots like this. I moved up to using a wider stick (craft stick) to mix my Alumilite. It cured the problem for future blanks, and one that looked like this ended up in the circular file.

Also, looking at your pineone where the Alumilite cured, you will find a better result if you pop the pinecone in a toaster oven to really dry it out before casting. It eliminates the whiter spots you are seeing right at the cone.
 
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Looks to me like the alumilite got hot and forced the sap out of the cone. Does the goo smell pine fresh?


I want to edit a bit after looking again. See the right hand cone how the purple looks almost cloudy/bubbly/foamy? The cone was not dry yet. Also where the oozing is mostly is at the butt of that cone. I am 99% sure that is sap from the green cone.
 
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Thanks, folks, for the help. I am out of town at the moment, so I can't check the smell. I'm still puzzling over how to dry the pine cones without having them open. Don't you think the toaster oven would cause that too? Too bad about my blank! Still, I love the discovery part of this process. Russ
 
Thanks, folks, for the help. I am out of town at the moment, so I can't check the smell. I'm still puzzling over how to dry the pine cones without having them open. Don't you think the toaster oven would cause that too? Too bad about my blank! Still, I love the discovery part of this process. Russ
 
Keep the cones away from heat, that will only give you problems and won't solidify any resin that may be trapped inside. Instead, gather up a bag full and put them in a cardboard box in the back of your garage for 4 months. If the cones are green, then the drying process may take up to 6 or 7 months. The wait is worth it and you'll get a much more manageable piece of wood.
 
If you were using Alumilite, I would almost guarantee that is due to moisture in your material. Having it under pressure will keep it from foaming up usually but will allow it to ooze if the material was not completely dry. I have seen that many times with cactus and bluebonnets. I have been able to solve it every time by putting the blanks in a 150°F oven for 45 minutes or so. The times I have seen that, it was NOT due to mixing issues but rather moisture. Drying the cones in the oven will certainly reduce or eliminate that.

You can indeed set pine sap with heat if done at the right temperature. It is done all the time in the framing lumber industry. Pine lumber that is kiln dried is then subjected to 160° F to set the pitch. Wood that has not had the pitch set will ooze and wood that has will not.
 
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