Has anybody cast cotton?

[PenMan1]

I am working on a project and the "ideal" pen blank, or at least part of it would be historically significant if it could be cotton.

I've worked with various substraits, but never cotton!

Any Ideas?

Thanks

 

[PTsideshow]

Do not mix cotton or wool with CA it will have an exothermic reaction. Depending on the CA and the type and purity of the cotton, it will heat up, smoke or almost spontaneous combust!
Check the MSDS for warnings. Cotton balls and Q tips along with fabric and cotton or wool gloves or clothing shouldn't be worn when using CA.
There have been enough threads on why did the paper towel, cotton rag, ball start to smoke on this forum.
Paper towels have varying amounts of rag content for strength the more cotton the hotter they will get.
Even when using it as a finish any cotton in with the resin can react.
Be safe!
:clown:

 

[mrcook4570]

I have cast cotton, but not in its natural form. I have cast fabric which was 100% cotton.

 

[Tom D]

I have made blanks out of denium, yarn, (polyester and wool) Tee shirts(cotton) using excessive anounts of CA and no fires yet. Make sure you are out side or the fumes will knock you out and be carefull handling the blank because it does get hot, but it is definately doable.

 

[Akula]

I had a farmer want a cotton ball in the husk cast for a desk paper weight. It was funny because he asked me for a bottle stopper. He had some cotton balls just about to fully open. Talked for a while and I found out he was going to remove the casting, toss the metal stopper and use the cast for a desk weight LOL I told him why not just let me make a desk weight. Took a couple tests and finally had to heat up the resin so it would flow over the cotton without compressing it down.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Glen - great post. We don't want penwife1 to come home to a crispy critter penman1.

Andy keep us informed on how this turns out. I always like to see new creative things especially when it involves historical items.

 

[Jamie Fowler]

Andy,
I use to use cotton quite a bit in the taxidermy world making slush and ice. I used ultra clear fiberglass resin and gel promoter. I made plenty of walking stick heads, paper weights, and coasters with it. When you add a couple of drops of blue dye to it, it looked like it came right from a glacier. It turned and cast just fine. Mixing it up in a plastic disposable bowl and then laying it out in a mold or forming it up on just a piece of wax paper. Let it set up, and turn it down. It turns no different than acryluster. Just have to pay attention.
You can get it at Research Mannikans and its only $3.50 a bottle and it only takes a couple drops.

 

[GColeman]

I am working on a project and the "ideal" pen blank, or at least part of it would be historically significant if it could be cotton.

I've worked with various substraits, but never cotton!

Any Ideas?

Thanks

I attempted it last year. I got a handful from the gin to try. I packed it into a 3/4 PVC mold and dumped in some Casting Clear. It was a complete failure. However, my experience and knowledge of casting is extremely limited. I would love to have a raw cotton blank though

 

[PenMan1]

I am working on a project and the "ideal" pen blank, or at least part of it would be historically significant if it could be cotton.

I've worked with various substraits, but never cotton!

Any Ideas?

Thanks

I attempted it last year. I got a handful from the gin to try. I packed it into a 3/4 PVC mold and dumped in some Casting Clear. It was a complete failure. However, my experience and knowledge of casting is extremely limited. I would love to have a raw cotton blank though

Greg:
Part of the problem on the cotton you cast could be because the "fresh" cotton wasn't dehydrated. I sometimes cast flowers, plants, etc and I know that those must be allowed to dry for approximately 1 month before casting.

Even though cotton is a "dry" plant, fresh cotton does contain moisture.

 

[GColeman]

Andy,

That could very well be the problem. I pulled the cotton from the gin. It was "dry" to the touch from the ginning process. However, I am sure not dry according to moisture content. I want to try again though. We have cotton planted on our farm this year so I have an unlimited supply to experiment with. With my experience I may need it all.

I did learn one thing in the process. A farmer friend told me a cotton plant is actually a tree. If you can find one off by itself that had plenty of water and sun, the stalk (trunk) will get thick enough to turn. I haven't tried yet, and am sure a lot of CA will have to be used. I may try that if the casting cotton doesn't pan out.

Good luck on your project. I am sure it will be spectacular.

 

[aweiss44]

the first time I tried casting with PR i did a bunch of different items embedded in the pr. one thing I used was pink fiberglass insulation(don't ask me why. I was just looking around the basement looking for things to try casting, and I looked up).
anyway, all it ended up looking like was pink PR. I think that's what your cotton would look like, unless you didn't pack it and left in in loose, and then painted the tubes a contrasting color.

 

[joefyffe]

Andy: From other uses of ca which I am associated with, I'd have to say NO! NO! and NO! We use CA for fuming Latent Fingerprints. CA placed on cotton pipe cleaners, cotton balls, etc. generates enough heat to cause it to develop Latent Fingerprints. It does harden the cotton fiber, but it puts off lots of fumes. If you decide to experiment, I would suggest at least, to take it outside for this experiment.