Need alumilite help

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I can but won't be interested in stepping on Ed Davidson's game. Have you contacted him about them? I would think he would probably be happy to sell you some. He sells all sorts of do dads like that and what better place to get what you want than from the original source!
 
Alumilite generally is nicer to turn, but doesn't shine up quite as nice.
(although the new crystal clear has gotten real close).

PR can be a royal pain to turn - or no problem. It polishes up real nice.

If there's organic elements, PR can bleach their colors. (as I found out when I tried casting some flowers).
 
Alumilite can sometimes bleach or burn out colors too. The stuff gets hot, like 250 degrees or something crazy like that..it's the heat that will destroy some organic colors..you never know till you try. With PR, if you are patient, you can use less catalyst, which will produce a blank that is not so brittle hard because the block will produce less heat. It doesn't take much catalyst to set off a stopper block mold due to it's sheer volume. Whatever the directions say, cut that in half and then you'll have to wait 2-3 times longer for it to cure, but you will have some real nice PR blanks and reduce the chances of burning your flies.

The great thing with PR is you can pour twice, thus it is easy to suspend objects. With alumilite you can pour twice, but the adhesion between the two pours is sucky, especially sucky if you do a pour directly over top because of the first pour surface being so nice and smooth. When you go to spin your blank you are most likely to have your stopper fly in two pieces across the room. This means you are best to pour a full block and then drill down to the depth you want the fly, glue the fly inside the hole and pour the hole back up. that will work, but the drill and fill might be slightly visible..I'm not sure because I haven't done any suspensions as small as a fly. I have suspended pine cones, but I do that with a dowel and then I drill out the dowel which becomes the hole the stopper mounts to.
 
Jeff,

I have never had any adhesion problems with multiple pours of Alumilite. My cat crap pen was done this way with no issues and I have done a number of other things with no problems. I have not made bottle stopper blanks, though, so that may be the issue.

Also, I have an infrared surface thermometer and have measured numerous different Alumilite casts in the various formulations and have never seen a temp higher than 165 degrees F. Anyone have any idea how hot PR gets when it cures? I know it gets hot too.
 
165..well that's still pretty darn hot! I don't know how hot PR gets either, but I know you can reduce the heat it puts out by using less catalyst and the only negative is that you increase your cure time dramatically. I used to pour multiple layers..just an ounce here and ounce there of extra resin in a cup and pressurize it as I made regular blanks, rather than just tossing the little bit extra resin. The thought was to make stoppers, but every time I tried to spin one, they would blow apart right at the seams. The scrolled blanks are alumilite then poured alumilite, so a double pour and they stick ok, but still not as solid as I would like. They hold up well, because they are small images, they are rough around the edges before poured over so that has to help, but still if you drill and don't clean out the bit while drilling then the clogging in the hole can break the bond and push out an image. Long as you clear the bit it's fine, and then once glued on a tube it is should be totally secure with the glue behind it and all. It's like the alumilite sticks to itself but the bond isn't awesome..kinda like end glueing wood as opposed to edge gluing. Just try pouring two seperate layers in a cup...let the first one cure then pour the second. Spin off the cup. Then set the resin on the ground and give it a little tap with a hammer right at the seam and it will pop apart easy, I guarantee that. So it's good to be extra gentle with a two pour of alumilite. PR seams to totally bond itself together. Perhaps the whole issue is related to heat..If PR is way hotter, then perhaps it melts into itself a bit as well as sticks to itself creating a more solid bond.

I miss that cat crap pen. Ugly and disgusting as it is, it was a heck of pen. I particularly liked how no tubes were visible and it was totally clear on the end. Maybe the crap itself assisted in the bonding..making the blank more durable because it had more than just itself to adhere too. I can only theorize and relate my personal product experiences.
 
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