Want to start casting

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Kennelmaster

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Joined
May 18, 2014
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14
Location
Douglas County, Ouisconsin
I would like to start casting my own PR blanks. I think I would like to use Silmar. If you are a vendor of this product, or, if you have/make molds for casting, please contact me.

Thanks,

Paul

(This hobby is getting too damn addicting!):laugh:
 
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Hi Paul,

I agree, very addicting....wife is cutting my money supply off :).

I starting casting some time ago. I am really not good with chemicals and such. My wife researched and watched the youtube videos Woods n Whimsies did. We ended up buying the materials from them for a couple of reasons, #1, they explained the whole process., #2, they had everything that you need on their website so we did not have to buy one here and another somewhere else, and #3, pricing was reasonable.

Although it sounds like I am doing a commercial, I am really not. I did not understand anything about it at first and they taught me through the process. If it is your first time, I might suggest that.

I hope that I helped.

JD
 
Here are the items I use. More readily available for me than Silmar or Alumilite.

From top left.
Bathroom cup and popsicle stick to mix the resin.
Blue painters tape seal the bottom of the PVC mold. Easier to find than corks and no cutting off plastic gloves or saran wrap to seal the corked end. All around better.
Extra Dixie cup for excess resin. Used to make bottle stopper blanks. Next to that is PVC for larger blanks also made from excess.
Water and guerrilla glue for gluing tubes into acrylic
PVC pipe molds. Cut shorter than standard pen blank length to eliminate waste. Sized for slimline. No issues yet of it not making a long enough blank for other pens.
Castin craft from either Michael's or that other place.but not hobby lobby because they're too expensive comparatively. The hardener should come with the can but depends on the store. Hobby lobby cans here do not have the hardener with the can. A local place here in Charleston that caters to artists and craftsman, aptly named Artist and Craftsman also sells Castin Craft for a ridiculous price. But they do have 1gallon cans but its $100 for it.
Powder pigment to color the resin. PearlEx is my choice. The artist place here carries their full line and a little goes a very long way. Check around for a shop that caters specifically to the artists in your area. The one I have here is the best I've ever seen. Amazing place.
Hammer,6" extension and 12mm socket. This fits the pvc mold perfectly for knocking out the blanks when they've cured. Mold release is not needed for pvc. A few taps on the bottom and the blanks pop out. Easy.

Not shown is spray paint for tubes and back painted the resin. I get Valspar from Lowes that closest matches the base color of whatever color pen I'm making. That's used on the tube. I use Apple Barrel acrylic paint and a q-tip to back paint the blank. Again, getting a color that closest matches the base color or dominate color of the blank.




 
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Agree with those above. You can use the basic PCV pipe for vertical molds and as you advance and want to do tube in castings you can purchase those molds from PT Town Subbie or at Woodnwhimsies. As far as the price of the resin you can't beat Woodnwhimsies. Happy pouring.
________________________________________________
Everyday I'm vertical is a great day
 
Casting poly resin is very fun. I use wood n whimsies for my supplies also. I found their price and service to be great and they have all the things you need to purchase in one place. That eliminates paying multiple shipping cost. I do not have the supplies I use locally so I must order online.

I do use pvc pipe molds for most of my casting. However, if you want to do tube on casting I would suggest molds from ptownsubbie. They are the best ones I have seen/used. I have had a little issue with using others tube in molds allowing resin inside the tubes while curing in the pressure pot.

Concerning color mediums for your resin. Get those things that are designed for resin. I have recently tried to color with some other mediums that was a total waste of resin and time. Get resin dyes, mica powder, or pearlex and use those things. Other things can be used and some have used them with success. I did not have consistent and repeatable results with things like nail polish.

I will suggest getting a pressure pot for casting. Many will say that it is not necessary fro casting poly resin and that is true. However, I have had better and more consistent results since adding a pressure pot to my casting process. If you take your time stirring and add some sort of vibration to resin to extract bubbles you can cast poly resin bubble free. For me the result were not consistent enough. If you ever want to cast alumilite pressure is absolutely necessary.

One other thing when you cast take notes! This is valuable when you want to repeat a blank color. It is also valuable when your pour does not turn out to a usable pen blank, you can use your notes to not repeat that failure. Keep record of everything. How much color you used, resin, time factor, even temp and humidity come into play when getting a good mix/ separation of color. Keep track and refer to it before you begin a pour.

Have fun!!
 
For the resin only: $15.25 + $6.10 surcharge + shipping for a quart from woodnwhimsies. Hmmmm. I get a gallon for $35 + shipping for a total of about $51 to my door for Silmar 41. Not sure what brand Wood-n-Whimsies sells. I have not used the kit from them but it looks a lot like the PSI kit which I have used and it works well. But, resin only is cheaper elsewhere. I have no complaints about woodnwhimsies, their products or services.
Do a good turn daily!
Don


turncrazy43 said:
As far as the price of the resin you can't beat Woodnwhimsies. Happy pouring.
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