Casting Watch Parts and Decals

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Brian in Burlington

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
114
Location
Burlington, Ontario Canada
Hi all ..... I'm about to venture into casting Watch Parts and Decals .... what would be the best to cast with PR or Alumilite ???? ..... my concern is the Heat and Shrinkage of PR .... any and all input is appreciated.

And Happy New Year to All :)

Brian
 
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John,
Silmar 40 is also an excellent resin for clear casting although I continue to use silmar 41. I was told by another caster that silmar 40 could handle more pigment than silmar 41 before the pigments start floating and not mixing.

Marble Casting Resins | Silmar | Clear Resin | Interplastic for a little info on both.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

JohnU said:
I'll second polyresin but for me, I use Silmar 41. I don't know anything about 40.
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its_virgil said:
John,
Silmar 40 is also an excellent resin for clear casting although I continue to use silmar 41. I was told by another caster that silmar 40 could handle more pigment than silmar 41 before the pigments start floating and not mixing.

Marble Casting Resins | Silmar | Clear Resin | Interplastic for a little info on both.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

JohnU said:
I'll second polyresin but for me, I use Silmar 41. I don't know anything about 40.
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Thanks Don, I'm always up for new possibilities with resin.
 
I started with polyester resin and have had pretty good luck with it. I'd start with the cast'n'craft from Michaels as I think it might be tough to find Silmar in our neck of of the woods. I'm sure you can order it from the states as your skills progress but being that your just starting out local might be a good place to start.
 
Brian in Burlington said:
Hi all .... Thank you for your insight .... would love to get my hands on Silmar41 but I don't I can even bring it across the border :( .... will have to look into it further to see.

Thanx again

Brian
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Just a thought... Check with a boat or marine shop in your area. They might be able to order it for you since they use resin and fiber to repair boats and US Composites sells all types of resin.
 
Just another thought. I use both Castin Craft and Silmar 41. The difference I'm told is that the resin has a shelf life. I'm told by the Silmar people that it is about 3 months. When you order Silmar they poor it straight from the barrel into the can then ship it to you so your getting the freshest resin possible. You don't know how long the C.C. has been sitting on the shelf. Although I've used resin older than 3 months I think the failures I've had were due to other things and maybe old resin as well. The point I trying to make is sometimes you can get by with a few things so to keep you odds in your favor don't get sloppy with your procedure. Measure your resin, count your drops of meepk, check your temp. when warming and whatever else your going to do. The main reason I use both brands of resin is the C.C. is local so I can have it at the house in 30 min. when I need it and with a coupon C.C. is about the same cost as Silmar. Silmar comes with mepk so that is the cost difference when I purchase their resin. Silmars mepk is in a bigger bottle and it is also easier to pour and count the drops than the flat bottle Michaels sells. One other thing you might want to know is that casting is another ball game. It's addicting like pen turning and it has its ups and downs as well but don't let that discourage you. The ups are higher because when your done you have more work involved with the project so theres more satisfaction as well. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
Great thoughts ! :) .... may I ask what would be the ideal situation for Casting ... Temp. ... Amount of Drops of MEKP Etc.

I bought a product called AM-3 that is suppose to be comparable to Silmar41 .... time will tell.

Thank You all for your Valued Input ! :)

Brian
 
I heat my resin and molds between 100-120 deg f. I preheat both for 15-30 min. Then I mix the mepk and pour the resin and put back in the oven for 1 hour. I always use 3 drops per ounce of mepk for whatever I'm doing.
 
Brian in Burlington said:
Great thoughts ! :) .... may I ask what would be the ideal situation for Casting ... Temp. ... Amount of Drops of MEKP Etc.

I bought a product called AM-3 that is suppose to be comparable to Silmar41 .... time will tell.

Thank You all for your Valued Input ! :)

Brian
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Brian no one here can answer that question without it being a guess. First off the product you bought may not be used by many here. The second thing is too many variables come into play when casting and only you can experiment in your conditions such as temp, amount of the pour, did you heat the resin before adding the additive and so on. There are a ton of threads on this just in the casting forum alone. maybe you want to check some of those out.

I will tell you what I do and that is I use Silmar and I preheat the resin at 125 degrees for about 5 minutes or so. i use 4 to 5 drops of additive per ounce and use a pressure pot some times. Sometimes i will go to 6 drops depending on the item being cast. No exact science to any of this stuff. Ask 100 people and get 100 different answers.
 
John is correct there isn't an exact way to cast. Everyone does something a little different because there are too many variables. That is the way that works best for me. It doesn't work all the time but I am getting better results as time goes on. Without going into great detail I have my own reasons for casting the way I do but it doesn't make it the right or only way. I use 3 drops of mepk per oz. because the more you use the hotter it gets which give you less work time and may make the cast more brittle when turning. I like a little slower set time because I only pour 3-4 molds at a time and I look for bubbles and work some of the larger ones out with a wire if I can. They also seem to turn easier on the lathe. I also cast snake skins and if they get to hot they will shrink and ruin the set up on the brass tube so I like a lower and slower heat time and temp in the oven. I will be the first to say my way is by far the best but that's what I've come up with that works best for me at this time. All I can say is the way I do it is from reading everything I can here on the IAP and trial and error at home. Good Luck
 
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