Casting with oily wood

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jaywood1207

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Joined
Jun 18, 2006
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Location
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.
I am trying to make a pen and am using an oily wood (lignum vitae). I did some work to the blank and then cast it and the resin didn't cure where it touched the wood. It was cast Monday night and tonight I was able to peel the resin right off. The surface was cured but the area next to the wood was as if no catalyst was applied. Is the oil in the wood reacting with the resin? I am using Michael's Castin Craft. Any ideas on how to get this to work besides switching resin. I don't cast enough to switch it up and need to use up what I have. My thoughts at this point are to put CA on the wood to seal it and then cast.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
 
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I think you are on the right track. I have never worked with Michael's Resin, but I would not expect it to bond very well with an oily wood. The CA idea is interesting. I see no reason why that won't work.
 
Im with Chris, try the CA over the wood before casting, but be sure you use some thin CA first to saturate it and hopefully soak into the blank and then use several coats of some medium CA. Another thing to keep in mind is to let it sit for at least 24-48 hours before casting so the CA has time to outgas.
 
Before applyinf the CA make sure you clean the blank with some Acetone real good. Also baking the wood before casting may help..
 
The CA coating is a good idea that should work. One thing, I would give the CA 48 hours to off gas before casting. If the CA is not fully degased it will leave "shiney spots" where the PR resin contacts the CA!

Good luck! I've done this successfully with Dogwood. It took me a couple of tries to figure out the "shiney spots".
 
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