Problems

[whteglve]

I also (as a hobby) build fishing rods and I wanted to combine the two hobbies on my lastest pen. I tried casting a section a section of thread art the other night and it really tanked on me. It had what looks like bubbles that have been smashed between two pieces of glass. Could the clear casting resin I used been effected by the rod finish or maybe the other way around? I figured that once the rod finish epoxy was cured (going on two months ago) I wouldn't have any problems. Has any one encountered problems with other types of epoxy and casting resins?

 

[maxwell_smart007]

You need to use vacuum or pressure (the casters here will know which) to get resin to work w/o bubbles....

 

[hilltopper46]

I cast thread wrapped around a pen tube once or twice without vaccum. I did use pressure. I soaked the thread with thin CA before casting in the PR. I ended up with no bubbles and no cloudiness.

 

[dalemcginnis]

Typically when casting with clear resin you vacuum first to remove as many bubbles as possible then pressurize to squeeze the remaining bubbles as small as possible.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Lately Instead of pulling a vacuum I've been using an ultra-sound jewelry cleaner to remove the bubbles before adding the activator and then into the pressure pot.

 

[Sylvanite]

Is the problem really bubbles, or is it light reflecting off the surface where the casting resin and the rod finish meet? I've sometimes had a similar problem casting over glued items. If I wasn't careful with the glue, I'd get reflections off it. It looks similar to a crack in the plastic.

 

[td]

Pressure is definitely needed for a cast of this sort but you were correct about a problem between Epoxy and Polyester Resin. This information comes from Hilary, the chem tech at ETI who makes Castin' Craft Polyester Resin. I've worked with both Epoxy Resin and the PR from this company. I've been casting small shapes into my blanks. You cannot put Epoxy into PR. Doesn't matter how long it has cured. Epoxy is a softer cure and the PR wil "eat" the outside layer giving the effect you experienced.:frown: Been there, done that - DNGT!

 

[whteglve]

Thanks for all the help folks. I'm hunting my camera's cable (gotta love kids) so I can download the pics of it. I think I'll try it a little different if I have time this weekend.