UltraSonic Question

[joefyffe]

Bought a HF digital Ultra Sonic Cleaner today. I assume several are using this one as I have seen it mentioned here on line. My question, in the operators manual it states that operating without water or cleaning material in the tank will severely damage unit and void the warranty. It doesn't seem to me to be a good idea to put any kind of liquid in there if you are also going to be having a mold with pr in there . Any advice appreciated. Thanks! Joe

 

[NewLondon88]

Joe, you don't want to put your mold in there.
Put a jar of resin in there (with water to warm the resin) and let it
vibrate any air bubbles out of the resin.
Then pour into your mold.

 

[ctubbs]

Thanks Charlie for the info. sometimes we fail to give complete instructions because a thing is so obvious to us that everyone should automatically know that. Great catch and thanks.
Charles

 

[NewLondon88]

Thanks Charlie for the info. sometimes we fail to give complete instructions because a thing is so obvious to us that everyone should automatically know that. Great catch and thanks.
Charles

Catch? huh? I was just about to tell him how difficult it is to
clean resin out of the Ultrasonic.. :tongue:

Yeah, we do tend to get into our own shorthand. Every once in a while
someone will come back with "Excuse me .. what does BLO mean?" and
we get reminded that we might be leaving some people behind..

 

[joefyffe]

Ultra Sonic Question

I assume,if using heat, you should add the catalyst AFTER you use the Ultra Sonic? I guess I'm not sure on the sequence of events, like color mix, catalyst, etc.
Thanks again!
Joe

Joe, you don't want to put your mold in there.
Put a jar of resin in there (with water to warm the resin) and let it
vibrate any air bubbles out of the resin.
Then pour into your mold.

 

[NewLondon88]

You're using the heat to make the resin thinner.. but heat also makes
the resin cure. So .. if you were to heat resin with the catalyst already in it,
it would probably harden before you got it out of the jar.

I'll put the resin in a glass jar or a plastic tub (deli container works for me)
and set it in hot water while I go other prep work. It's just resin, nothing
added yet. When it gets warm I'll take it out and start my mixing, putting
in the catalyst last.

 

[joefyffe]

Thanks Charlie! That's pretty much what I expected but wanted to make sure. You guys are soooooooooo helpful. Thanks!!!:biggrin:

 

[PenMan1]

I do it a lot like Charlie, except I color the resin before I heat it in the ultra sonic cleaner. IMHO, the ultra sonic cleaner helps with mixing the colors.

MEPK is stirred in very slowly after the thinned resin is removed from the cleaner. Then the catalysed PR is immediately put into the mold as heated PR starts to set quickly after the catalyst is added.

 

[snyiper]

With multiple colors can you mix while in the Ultrasonic and still get good seperation or is that just single colors?

 

[joefyffe]

Thanks Andy: I'll try to get around to "show off", here in a little while, of my second cast with Silmar and Mica. This is the most fun I've had since the hogs ate my little brother.!!!

I do it a lot like Charlie, except I color the resin before I heat it in the ultra sonic cleaner. IMHO, the ultra sonic cleaner helps with mixing the colors.

MEPK is stirred in very slowly after the thinned resin is removed from the cleaner. Then the catalysed PR is immediately put into the mold as heated PR starts to set quickly after the catalyst is added.

 

[jason_r]

With multiple colors can you mix while in the Ultrasonic and still get good seperation or is that just single colors?

With multiple colors you prep each color in its own cup.

What I do:

Weigh out each cup of resin. (currently I'm using either washed yogurt cups or clear cups I bought- make sure you have the type that won't melt).

Add appropriate pigments/dyes. Stir.
Put into ultrasonic cleaner. Turn it on. Stir occasionally. The ultrasonic helps break down clumps of pigments, it also causes pigment to settle. Make sure you reach the bottom corners of the cup. In addition to improving the dispersion of pigment, it also is working out air bubbles.

Do something else while the ultrasonic is running.

Come back, add appropriate catalyst. (or part B if using alumilite )
Stir.
Put back into ultrasonic.
If alumilite, only about 60 seconds or so.
If PR, depends on the weather and if I used the heater. If heated, 3 minutes is enough for it to start gelling.

Even unheated, I believe that the ultrasonic speeds up the reaction - probably because of improved mixing of the catalyst. So watch the gel times.

Take cups of resin out to the mold and pour. (being in AZ I can cast outside in January )

Another thing to consider when pouring is the relative density of the pigments. Pour the denser pigment last so it naturally wants to work through the lighter one. If you pour the less dense one last it'll want to float on top and not mix. (although mix isn't really the right word since you typically want distinct colors)

 

[sekach]

I couldn't emphasize enough what Charlie said about putting your resin in a glass jar or hard plastic container before putting it in the water in your ultrasonic cleaner. I made the newbie mistake of putting the resin in a thin plastic cup when I did it and the combination of the vibrations, heat and thin plastic made the cup literally "melt apart" and the resin came pouring out into the cleaner....WHAT A MESS!!!

 

[PenMan1]

The Dollar General and Family Dollar stores here have 9 oz. Recycle code 5 cups in a 64 pack for $2.

The nine ounce work well for multiple color casts. I can get 6 of those cups into thr cleaner at one time.

These cups easily handle 3 - 480 cycles WITH heat. I also use yogurt and sour cream cups, but those make nice shaving brush molds.

 

[MartinPens]

I'm still researching the process, but I'm a visual learner. Is this process compiled yet with photos? I guess that's quite a hand-holding request.
Martin

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

 

[jason_r]

I couldn't emphasize enough what Charlie said about putting your resin in a glass jar or hard plastic container before putting it in the water in your ultrasonic cleaner. I made the newbie mistake of putting the resin in a thin plastic cup when I did it and the combination of the vibrations, heat and thin plastic made the cup literally "melt apart" and the resin came pouring out into the cleaner....WHAT A MESS!!!

That's indicative of using a container made of the wrong kind of plastic.
Check the recycle code. (I believe 5 is what you want, but search on here to be sure).

For yogurt cups, Yoplait ones will melt in PR but Kroger ones work fine.

Done it more than once actually- made me very glad the inside of the ultrasonic cleaner is metal instead of plastic.