Hi Pen_Turner,
I can most certainly understand your enthusiasm and interest for the casting "madness" and self satisfaction or disappointment as a result but, there is ONE thing that I haven't notice you or anyone mention about the casting process there is, how you are going to react with the toxic fumes and smells of the resins...!
I certainly got caught by surprise when recently spend over $400 setting up myself for casting, particularly, "worthless wood" which I produce tons of it with my all blanks size cutting, selling and using, then my first cast happened and the "surprise" started when I open the tin of resin (PR) and start mixing things, then the problem (humongous headache) become a lot worse when I open the pressure pot to get the molds out the next day. It did affect me that much that I couldn't get within 15 meters from my shed, until I got the molds out of there and took them to the end of the back yard, for at least a week before I got the cast out of the molds.
I had 2 different types of PR resin to experiment, the first one was a quality casting resin (as they call it) and the second one was a crystal clear resin which and for reasons unknown, using the same 2% hardener as I did with the previous mix, the smell became unbearable as soon as I start mixing the hardener on it, I notice that the cups that I was supplied to mix the stuff with got melted through pretty fast, making a big mess while I was trying to pour what I could save into the molds.
Well, talking about strong fumes and smell...! that mix nearly knock my socks off, my shed is not enclosed but my eyes were burning too much to see what I was doing and my head felt that it was going to blow off my shoulders with pain. Breading...? what breading...? I was outside (open back yard) for a good 10 minutes before I could get a decent breath of air into my lungs.
That resin mix took about 2 weeks before it was hard enough to get off the molds and before I could trim them on the bandsaw. I used a chemical mask I had for spray painting to handle the second batch of blanks from the moment I got them off the pot, including the bandsaw trimming.
Since I manage to get Eugene (ElMonstro) to use some of my timbers in his Mutts, which he is doing a great job with them but I produce far more good timber for these type of worthless blanks than I would like so, I have plenty for sale and I have a mate that has offered to do all the resin mixing and handling at his place (same town). He worked for 20 years in a fiberglass factory so, he is very much "immune" to the smells but he has the right gear at home to work with fiberglass so I just tell him what I want done and he does it for me. The blanks stay in his place for 3 weeks after they come out of the molds, for drying, curing and losing most of the smell. This works alright as by the time I get them, there is almost no smell on them and I use the mask to quickly trim and sometimes cut the square corners on the bandsaw. After the resins are properly cured, I don't seem to have any reaction handling these blanks!:biggrin:
Anyway, the moral of the story is...think about the possibility that the resins can affect you and that you will require some safety equipment that can add a considerable cost to the exercise!
Apart from that, good luck with your plan, hope you don't have any problems with it and I will be looking forwards to see some of your work!:wink:
Cheers
George
