Pressure Casting Question

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lorbay

lorbay

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If any one can help me please I have a couple of question.
1. When pressure casting tubes wraped in snake skin or whatever what to you cap the tubes with to stop the resin from going in.
I filled them with BB's plugged them with dowls and used stand offs, but that was not enough to stop the resin under pressure. So I had to drill them out after casting and that was a disaster.
2. How long should you leave the blanks before turning.
I left them for 24 hrs, but they seemed a little soft and were heard to polish and get a shine on. Thanks in advance people.

Lin.
 
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read my tutorial at http://www.RedRiverPens.com/articles
Omit the bb's and use clay....play dough. You will see how it's done.

I no longer use pressure or vacuum. Check out the "no bubbles casting" article in the library.
Do a good turn daily!
Don


lorbay said:
If any one can help me please I have a couple of question.
1. When pressure casting tubes wraped in snake skin or whatever what to you cap the tubes with to stop the resin from going in.
I filled them with BB's plugged them with dowls and used stand offs, but that was not enough to stop the resin under pressure. So I had to drill them out after casting and that was a disaster.
2. How long should you leave the blanks before turning.
I left them for 24 hrs, but they seemed a little soft and were heard to polish and get a shine on. Thanks in advance people.

Lin.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Don. I have done your no Bub Cast and it worked fine but now I am into this pressure cast thing so I can't stop.Lol
But what about question 2 how long should one leave Alumilite after casting and or should it be baked after casting. I found it quite soft after 24 hrs and could not get it to polish or buff for that matter.

Lin.
 
There are several factors that come into play in the resin hardening. The type
of resin makes a difference, as does the mixing, additives, ambient temp,
measuring, casting thickness and so on.

I know many people say they can turn Alumilite an hour after pouring. I have
not found that to be the case, but I'm not sure what they're doing. I know that
there is a difference between being firm enough to de-mold and fully cured.

Often uncured Alumilite is the result of mixing Part A and Part A.
(or Part B and Part B) A good way to know if this is what happened
is to weigh your bottles.

Some additives can inhibit curing. Not all dyes are compatible with Alumilite
so you need to check before using them.

(I know that nobody but me has made these mistakes..)
 
Thanks Charlie. I think I have found all of my questions in this artical.
http://content.penturners.org/articl...Revolution.pdf
I was really concerned with the finish I was getting from the Alumilite as I was thinking it would finish just like the PR but it seems after reading this article I will not get it without surface enhancements. So that is why I can't get it to really shine.

Lin.
 
"surface enhancements" I don't think I have seen that term before. I think I like it.
All I know about Alumilite is enough to know that it and PR are not the same animals. In fact there was a recent post addressing jsut that issue. Make sure that what instructions etc you read are specific to Alumilite. comments on PR are for PR and those for Alumilite are for Alumilite. in at least some cases if not all this is important.
 
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I think that depends on which version of the Alumilite you are using.
The water clear can benefit from a coating of CA, but the Crystal
Clear polishes up to a pretty high gloss of it's own. It may not be quite
the same as PR, but I think you'd need to compare them side by side
to see any difference. It's pretty close.
 
NewLondon88 said:
I think that depends on which version of the Alumilite you are using.
The water clear can benefit from a coating of CA, but the Crystal
Clear polishes up to a pretty high gloss of it's own. It may not be quite
the same as PR, but I think you'd need to compare them side by side
to see any difference. It's pretty close.
Click to expand...
Yes mine is the water clear and I am sure your right it needs some CA. I did wet sand it to 2500g as we don't get MM up here, and after looking at sanding charts 2500 wet & dry is close to 6000 mm.
It comes out like a satin finish even after buffing and Plastic polish.
 
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No MM up there? Then why haven't you moved yet??? :tongue:

After sanding, you may be able to get an equivalent shine
with things like tripoli, Brasso, plastic polishes etc. they are
all abrasives and will work. But .. the same would hold for a
CA finish, too.
 
Sorry, but I don't use alumilite.
Don

lorbay said:
Thanks Don. I have done your no Bub Cast and it worked fine but now I am into this pressure cast thing so I can't stop.Lol
But what about question 2 how long should one leave Alumilite after casting and or should it be baked after casting. I found it quite soft after 24 hrs and could not get it to polish or buff for that matter.

Lin.
Click to expand...
 
I had that same problem with the first alumilite casting I did. I found my problem to be under mixed resin. No extra time ever cured it. The next batch I made sure to stired until the two mixed properly and looked clear, then poured.
 
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