Casting help needed..

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
USAFVET98

USAFVET98

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
1,282
Location
Hawley, Pennsylvania
I have a gallon of the silmar 41, a sierra size rubber mold, a regular blank rubber old, mica powders, alumilite liquid pigments and a big oven I used for the duracoat.

I want to start casting my own blanks so they look nice not just poured and thrown together. I don't want to use a pressure pot because it is too dangerous with my son around plus I can't spend the extra money right now. Anyway, I was tOld by a few people I can just heat it and pour.

My question is, can I get a play by Play on how to properly do this? From proper mix ratio to how to add color, when to mix second and or third color, cure times, heating advice and basics and anything in between that may help. I just want to make nice blanks. Not going to sell them (maybe give away and trade).

Oh, also clear casting such as over a paint tube or with something attached.

Thanks in advance. I know it's alot, I just don't want to keep wasting time, energy, resin and money.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Not to be crude but you have been here long enough from the amount of posts you made, the best place to start is checking the library. There are many good articles and also Utube has many good videos. I think his name was Grub32 and he did a nice video and in fact a couple of them.

To answer your question directly is like asking how to apply CA. There are many ways and everyone has developed their own methods. Now after you do the research and have specific questions then it would be a whole lot easier to answer. Hope you don't take this the wrong way. :) This is the reason the library was set up here and is a great source of info. Good luck.
 
Doing some research yields tons of information. The plus side to research is, you actually learn something. For some...it's much easier to just purchase them.
 
DozerMite said:
Doing some research yields tons of information. The plus side to research is, you actually learn something. For some...it's much easier to just purchase them.
Click to expand...

Not trying to sandbag on ya Brian, but Dozer has a point. At the same time, I understand your questions and desire to start out with the right information but that is truly the wrong approach. The reason I say this is because I believe you will learn more in the long run by doing research and making a few practice castings. The other comments on here are dead on with their answers as well. Casting is relatively easy, but what works for me in my climate may not work for you in yours. Jump into it head on and when you run into an issue that you would like some clarity on, then, take pics, post and ask the questions and I bet you will get more help. GOOD LUCK!!!! And dont give up when you have failures, they are gonna happen at times. But that is how we learn, and that is ultimately what we are trying to explain. (in my opinion)
 
That's where I started...get all the info an hit it...gotta pull the trigger at some point:cool: Posted my first one today:biggrin:
 
seamus is spot on.

try this to get your feet wet and jump right in!

5 steps to get started with some notes ;)

note - store you resin in a cool place when you are not using it. work with it in a well ventilated space. cover your working space with news paper and get ready to get a little sticky.

step 1. measure the total amount of resin you will need by 1st pouring water into the mold and measuring it. then dry it out and you are ready to pour the same amount of resin into a large #1 or #5 recycle cup to heat it. keep in mind water and resin do not mix so dry out the mold well.

note - bring the cup up to the spout of the resin can and tilt the can to fill the cup.

step 2. heat the resin in a large #1 or #5 recycle code cup using a water bath. you might need to keep the cup from floating in the water by placing something flat on top of it. you want the resin to get similar in consistency to water. you can skip this step if you want to get right into the thick of things if you want to cast a solid color, stir slowly not creating to many bubbles and pour slowly.

note - the larger harbor freight jewelry cleaner (here is the link) which has a heating element is perfect for heating resin which is a good thing to do regardless of what you are casting. i would invest into one of these before a pressure pot.

step 4. pour the heated resin into another recylce #1 or #5 cup which you will use to mix your peal ex mica or testors model paint with the resin. add a little bit of mica or paint (just the tip of a Popsicle stick) and stir slowly trying not to create bubbles. use a seperate cup for each color you plan on using. you pour the raw resin which you heated into each of these cups to do your mixing.

note - testors model paint is sold in any hobby store. pearl ex mica powder can be purchased from a craft store or amazon (here is a link). play here to find something you like but avoid water based paint.

step 5. add half the amount of hardner from the resin instructions into each cup that has the mixed colors, stir again slowly, pour and wait 24 hours.

note - after 24 hours if the blank is a little sticky you will turn off that stuff in a few minutes. some people bake the blanks in a toaster oven.

Enjoy!

PS - you will waste some resin playing but that is part of the investment. be creative and have some fun!

PSS - do visit the IAP library on casting to find complex casting steps like feathers and skins etc. here is the link

PSS: looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
 
Last edited:
If you're just mixing colors, no foreign objects, you don't need pressure if you use care to keep the bubbles out.

Don't whip the stuff up to a froth when mixing colors or MEKP.

When pouring from the can to your mixing cup, pour along the side of the vessel. You can get a bubble-less pour that way.

Allow to stand for several minutes after adding colors to your PR. A vibrating surface is better. I used to use my bandsaw table. It excites the bubbles and gets them to rise to the surface faster.

Do the same thing after adding your MEKP. But be careful, once it kicks you end up with a mixing cup shaped blank.

You've heard enough from us. GET POURING!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom