Resin casting

[Petebitt]

Hi, my first post.

I am starting out to learn resin casting. I think I have everything I need to start, just waiting for a toaster oven so I can ensure my timber pieces are dry.

i found a reference on this site to Brendan Stemps video, but when I try to view it it tells me it is private. I have sent Brendan a message to ask about this but thought I might ask on this forum as well.

one other question I have is the depth of pour per pour. The resin I have states a max depth of 20mm. So if I was to pour resin in to a mold it should be no deeper than 20mm. But if I have pieces of timber in the mold which effectively reduces the volume of resin, and depending on the shape of the timber, the depth in some areas. In this case can your pour a mix deeper than 20mm while still maintaining a stable project?

[dai sensei]

Welcome to casting. The resin you have sounds like a coating resin rather than a casting resin, hence the limit on casting thickness, and I wouldn't go beyond it (actually normally coating systems usually have a max of 15mm).

There a lot of information in this forum under the Casting and Stabilisation subforum in the Pen Turning Forum. I have a FB Page here Dai Sensei Woodworking - Home | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DaiSenseiWoodworking) that has a lot of information on what I use and where I get it in the first pinned post.

[brainstrust]

As said above you need a casting resin. YouTube will have a lot of useful and not so useful tips. Read up a tad just on resins themselves and shop around if only through online stores. They all are rather expensive and the best you can do is find a comparatively reasonable priced one that works for you and gets you the quality of finish you need. You'll also learn to use other things, cheap things, as fillers so you don't waste too much resin when you turn your piece.

Don't buy a pressure pot straight away. See if what casting you do has a need for it.

Then you need your colours or pigments. They can be expensive too. For starting out with basic colours go to a supermarket and spend a couple of bucks on some food dye. Despite what anyone is about to say it works excellently in a variety of resins as long as you're not talking really small amounts of resin but then again you could put a really small amount of dye in. See how you go :) oh and show us pictures as you create.