Casting a clear coating which is better?

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mredburn

mredburn

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When casting a clear coat over a sublayer or skin or feather is there a difference between Silmar41 or Alumilite? Is there a better Product. Or does it make no difference at all?

Mike
 
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Just my opinion a clear over snake,carbon fiber,feathers etc. Simlar 41 is my pick as again in my opinion a much better shine and no CA finish..
 
There is a big difference between silmar 41 (a polyester resin) and Alumilite (a polyurathane resin). Alumilite is an excellent product but it does not perform well when clear casting over skins and other stuff glued to the tubes. Polyester resin is an excellent product but does not perform well when casting the worthless wood type blanks. Both perform well for colored blanks. Each has a place in casting pen blanks.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
Opinion 3..well I pretty much always cast alumilite, but it's not good for casting skins and labels on tubes..it can expand and separate from the tubes when you press in parts or just squeeze the pen too hard. Couldn't figure out how to make it not get silver between the labels or skins and resin either. Stick with the PR on this one.
 
I agree with all above. Also, silmar 41 has a much longer working time where Alumilite sets way to quick for me. If your making worthless wood casts I would suggest Alumilite. Silmar doesnt always stick well to wood.
 
dgelnett said:
Where do you get alumilite? I have and use silmar 41 but never tried the alumilite. Does it cost more or about the same as silmar 41?
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Alumilite costs more than PR, but quantity dictates the price, so if you buy enough of it, you can get the cost down to be not a whole lot more than PR, and if you pick it up yourself you save a bundle on shipping which can make the price almost even.
 
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