Cool weather casting questions

[gingerwood]

I just started casting this summer, I do mostly clear casting using pr and a resin saver mold. I pour outside on my patio, and let it set up in my unheated garage. I'm doing this without accessories, no pressure pot, no toaster oven.

Now that it's fall here in MN (went from a high of 90 to frost in under two days), I'm wondering how cold is too cold to cast? If I've got something setting up and the temp dips below freezing, will anything bad happen? Will the trick of setting it out sun to finish curing still work if the high is only in the 50s?

Thanks.

 

[NewLondon88]

that might be a bit cool :tongue:

The resin cures with heat, so less heat will slow everything down.
However, you can pour outside and cure inside. Pour the resin
into the mold, which you already have in a Tupperware container..
put the cover on tight and bring it inside where it is warm enough
to cure.

 

[elody21]

I just started casting this summer, I do mostly clear casting using pr and a resin saver mold. I pour outside on my patio, and let it set up in my unheated garage. I'm doing this without accessories, no pressure pot, no toaster oven.

Now that it's fall here in MN (went from a high of 90 to frost in under two days), I'm wondering how cold is too cold to cast? If I've got something setting up and the temp dips below freezing, will anything bad happen? Will the trick of setting it out sun to finish curing still work if the high is only in the 50s?

Thanks.

Hi Mickie,
Try getting a warming tray from Good will. Get one that you can turn down the heat to low. I have had a single granite tile to place on the tray to disfuse the heat.
I also use a box and an area heater blowing into the box.
This works really well to keep things warm.
I would not bring any uncured resin into your house. the VOC's can cause terrible damage to your body's system. At least with PR if you are smelling it you are absorbing it.
This is first hand knowledge.
You should also be wearing an OSHA approved VOC mask.
Alice

 

[gingerwood]

Charlie - Thanks for the suggestion, it never occurred to me to seal up something that I wanted to 'dry'. If it were in a sealed tupperware, then I could let it set up above our fireplace.

Alice - I think I would be worried about leaving anything with a heating element alone in a sawdust-rich environment (my garage is also where I turn) for a long time, even if it was low temp and enclosed. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

[elody21]

Charlie - Thanks for the suggestion, it never occurred to me to seal up something that I wanted to 'dry'. If it were in a sealed tupperware, then I could let it set up above our fireplace.

Alice - I think I would be worried about leaving anything with a heating element alone in a sawdust-rich environment (my garage is also where I turn) for a long time, even if it was low temp and enclosed. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

I cast on the back porch only. Never inside of a closed structure. It does not take very long for the cast to set. I then have a ventilation box it goes into for a day.

 

[gingerwood]

I like the idea of a ventilation box, the only reason I put it in my garage is to keep the bugs and leaves out of the casting. What does your box look like and what's it made out of? I only cast 1-2 tubes at a time, so mine wouldn't need to be very big.