Reducing brittleness

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biednick

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
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333
Location
Hamilton, Ohio
Hello,
I am looking for a way to make blanks less brittle. I have cutmdown to 3 drops per ounce, is there anythingmelse I can do?
Thanks,
Nick
 
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What resin are you using? pigment type? Are you preheating your resin and/or post curing in a toaster oven or similar device? That'll help narrow down possibilities. Each can have effects on the resin.

Also, turning cold PR can tend to be more brittle than normal too.
 
I sopose I should have included that information earlyer, I'm casting pr, no pressure, heating it slightly to thin it, no post cure, just a little warm water and vibration. I'm not sure I can make my casts any less brittle, I just want totry to limit cracking from droping a pen after I sell it.
 
I think you're doing all you can to reduce brittleness. I haven't purposely dropped a pen to see what would happen (most likely break!) but I have a PR keychain and I drop my keys ALL THE TIME. Not even a scratch!
 
Brooks803 said:
I think you're doing all you can to reduce brittleness. I haven't purposely dropped a pen to see what would happen (most likely break!) but I have a PR keychain and I drop my keys ALL THE TIME. Not even a scratch!
Click to expand...

Brooks803, What is your method for casting blanks? Say, just a 1 or 2 color PR blank?
 
Thats what I figured, I have had a few crack from drops, they were all cast outside over the summer, so 90-100 degrees, does the tempature make a difference?
 
Brittle as in "when you turn them?" Brittle as in "when you drop them on a hard surface?" I use 3 drops per ounce and they turn like butter once the blank is round. But, if I drop a blank on the concrete floor chances are the blank will break. That is just the nature of polyester resin. Also, I only clear cast with stuff glued to the tubes...embedded casting...not much casting with dyes and pigments. I agree with Brooks that you have probably done what you can to address brittleness.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
Brittle as in the crackingnwhen theyre dropped. Theyturn fine, but some have somepretty bad spider web cracks after one drop.
 
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