Thread: Clear resin

I use Techniglue epoxy glue (or West Systems) and use wood dust and oxide mixed into it to match the timber colours.


Pete.

The cheapest is poly resins, but they shrink, so on table tops you may need to do multiple pours to fill the shrinkage. Clear casting resins are best but you can use fibregalss resins provided they are tinted due to them yellowing with age. They don't like moisture so the slab must be completely dry for it to stick. The epoxies stick better, but you can't pour too much at once, otherwise it cracks but again you can re-pour with more. Various epoxies are available, unless you are tinting I would use the clear casting epoxies, as the others will yellow with age.

All resins can be tinted with dry powder type pigments. There are dyes and other wet pigments available but you need to ensure they are compatible with the resin you are using. All resins should be over poured and then sanded back. The colours and/or transparency will come back when a finish is applied of any type (ie acrylic, oil or lacquer etc)

I use West System and as dai says pour it in layers if filling. Colouring i am using Feast Watson Proof tint stains that gives a translucent finish. i have used this method on slabs as well as thin wall turning items with success ....currently have two turning blanks recovered from the fire heap that have been filled and are ready to be turned....hopefully they will be a success.

+1 for West System if you want clear
+1 for Techniglue and pigment paste/powder if you want colour.

Further to my post above I have just discovered that 3 out of my 5 coloured resins fills have not fully set, can't work out why as its the first failure that I have had since using the West System and colouring.......my thoughts on possible reasons #1 resin/hardener gone off due to it being many years old. #2 two much/ too little hardener as I am using very small batches and measurement is not spot on. #3 as dai says not suitable for liquid dyes, although have not had the problem before.
Just have to keep trying ....any suggestions will be welcome.

Could be a few things;

1. Hardener gone off.
2. The feast Watson stain is not compatable with the epoxy. ( I'm pretty sure this is your problem). Try using oxide powders for colouring.
3. incorrect mixing ration.
4. Temperature- are you somewhere cold?

Regards
Pete.

When WEST system resin "goes off" it actually crystallizes in the container. Solution is simply to put it in a bucket of hot water until it liquefies, and is rejuvenated.

Inaccurate measurement may be the problem. WEST system book says that an error of up to 3% is permissible - a very fine tolerance with small quanties. For small measuring errors when the stuff stays tacky, I just very carefully measure the next batch and apply another coat. Seems to work OK.

When layering epoxy; epoxy forms chemical bonds if recoated within 24 hours and mechanical bonds after 48 hours - and a mixture between those times. Hence it's best to apply successive coats, layers at intervals of not more than 24 hours. I will relayer as soon as one layer is touch dry - 2 hours in warm weather.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Thanks Graeme, you confirm my suspicion on measurement as this is my first basic failure and I know that my measurement technique was very hit and miss on this project,
Regards
Kerry

I've just gone through this exercise with my Create from a Crate project. I used Diggers casting resin, as it's considerably less expensive than West system, and sets clear without yellowing. I didn't tint.
As mentioned, accuracy of measurement is essential. Because I was filling mainly small voids like nail holes and cracks, I mixed only 30ml at a time, using a measuring syringe for the resin and a graduated eyedropper for the catalyst. I used the syringe (no needle) to put it into the voids.
The mix is thin enough to wick into the voids, but in some cases they needed to be topped up several times. Larger voids can be topped up to overfill. You may need to build a dam of hot-melt glue around them.

Originally Posted by kcam

Further to my post above I have just discovered that 3 out of my 5 coloured resins fills have not fully set, can't work out why as its the first failure that I have had since using the West System and colouring.......my thoughts on possible reasons #1 resin/hardener gone off due to it being many years old. #2 two much/ too little hardener as I am using very small batches and measurement is not spot on. #3 as dai says not suitable for liquid dyes, although have not had the problem before.
Just have to keep trying ....any suggestions will be welcome.

Apart from your own reasons and those posed previously, all tints/dyes for resins are inhibitors, the more you use the longer the setting time and too much can stop it setting. It is a fine line when using the tint flooding techniques.