Heya Ian! I think the bubbles at the join are usually some sort of reaction
between the
PR and the adhesive in the paper/vinyl. And you may get lifting
of the label depending on what material you use.
.. so many combinations, so many possibilities for failure!
I haven't been coating with resin anymore and it seems to be working out for
me, but that's on paper labels. I do have to use more overlap than that, though..
more like 4-5mm to be safe. I almost always do black labels, so a Sharpie marker
hides the seam pretty well.. BUT you have to let that dry well, or the resin will bleach it out.
If you do a CA coating over everything, give that a good day or two to really cure
before casting. But the CA coat seems to solve lots of problems for me. Since I also
cast mostly Sierras, I started using Sierra Click tubes and molds. You can use a Click
tube in the regular Sierra, or you can sand it down to Sierra size after it cures. So I can
make the label longer and cast.. decide later what I want it to be! Choices are good..
If enough people haven't mentioned it .. WARM RESIN!
Cold resin has the
consistency of honey. Warm resin is more like water. Shake up a bottle of each,
and see what happens to any bubbles
I usually warm the mold while I'm prepping tubes. Then I'll pour some resin in a
plastic container and pop that in the toaster oven (I shut off the oven) and let it
warm from the leftover heat. It doesn't have to be hot. Think back to the way people
used to test a baby bottle and you get the idea. It gets very thin and watery. I add
a few drops of catalyst and mix.. then let the resin run down a popsicle stick and
into the mold. I haven't used a pressure pot in just over two years (don't even have
one anymore!) and no bubble problems unless I try to cast something that has
CA or glue on it .. and I haven't let it fully cure before casting. Mybad..
