foaming

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elody21

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I just started doing some casting today and ran across some problems.
I used Alumilite for the first time. Some of the castings turned out very well but a couple I did had a very strange reaction. They were fine at first but then began to foam up like I had added baking soda!!!! It was really odd. 2 of the 3 that did this were colored all, or in part with casting craft resin dye. Could this have been the problem? Has anyone else had this problem with Alumilite or the combination of Alumilite and casting craft coloring?
They did dry but are like a sponge and rubbery.
Alice
 

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Something you put in the Alumilite had water in it. That is the only thing that causes this type of foaming. I have no idea about Castin Craft dyes since only use Alumilite dyes that are specifically made for Alumilite. Safer that way.
 
Thanks Curtis!
I was wondering if H2O was the problem. The other dye I used was from Douglas and Sturgess and it worked well.
The first time the reaction was huge! I think I grabbed the cup that I used to measure volume. It probably still had some drops in it.
I think that the Castin Craft dyes must have water in them.
I did not even realize that there was a special dye for Alumilite. I will have to look into that.
thanks again, Alice
 
Yea, stock boy at Ace accidently put can of waterbase rustoleum with the oil base products and I didn't double check can and used it. I poured block mold only 1/2 full thank god, cause I was just making a 1/2" thick sheet. When I opened pot I had a block 1.5 thick overflowing mold and looked like a brick of Lava! You can use paint no prob but must be oil base.
 
I use casting craft from Michaels and AC Moores with the pearlex powders with no problems. I have only done about 30 pens, but still no foaming. I use the molds from Fred.
 
im with Chris. if you let that dry completely and recast in clear. that might be one awesome blank. worst case you wast $0.75 worth of resin. well worth not wasting. remember:
if it happens by accident and everyone loves, you will never be able to duplicate it.
 
cwolfs69 said:
im with Chris. if you let that dry completely and recast in clear. that might be one awesome blank. worst case you wast $0.75 worth of resin. well worth not wasting. remember:
if it happens by accident and everyone loves, you will never be able to duplicate it.
Click to expand...

I think it'll cost more than 75 cents! my average cost per blank with bulk buys of alumilite, including colorings, molds, electricity, but mostly just the coloring and resin itself is going to put you around $2-2.50 a blank.
 
oh..if it's a bit rubbery then it probably hasn't cured yet from when you took it out of the pot. Let it sit over night it should be a nice crusty waste of money. :) Really, i thought about cutting up the one i had like that but it's like lava rock..it's a billion tiny holes, they don't go through and connect with each other, so if you re cast it, you will fill up just the outside and the inside will still be full of holes. Throw it on the shelf to remind yourself to read all labels for water or latex which usually means water, and no using wet materials, like wet wood or wet sponge or wet noodles, etc...
 
Just a quick "what if". I think it would look nice to hone it down to about the right size for a pen, then case it in clear. It might be too much work, but it might look cool.
 
navycop said:
I use casting craft from Michaels and AC Moores with the pearlex powders with no problems. I have only done about 30 pens, but still no foaming. I use the molds from Fred.
Click to expand...

Big difference. Alice is talking about Alumilite, not Casting Craft which is PR. Alumilite is urethane and urethane does not like water.
 
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