Thread: Cast Blanks Brittle

Originally Posted by GCCC

... is this normal for Polyester resin ?

Basically yes. Sounds like you are on the right track. Less catalyst makes them less brittle, but by the sound of your times for setting, you are using the right amount.

Turning them is an art to a great extent. I tend to sand them roughly round first, using a disc sander, that helps. I DO NOT use CA to glue them in, I only use epoxy for all my pens. Although CA does work, it doesn't take too much of a catch or edge to chip out, especially if not glued all the way along the tube for support. CA also take a long time to go off at depth, the fast setting is only at the surface.

Sharp tools are a must.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Sharp tools are a must.

+1 on this,

And you can turn them faster as it has no grain.

+2 on this, also lathe speed should be high and tools sharp. I only use a sharp skew on my PR castings.

howdy doody Randal

i agree with Neil but there is another thing that may have got you

when i first started casting i purchased some "Quality Casting Resin" instead of "Clear Casting Resin", hey i thought well if its quality it must be better, BEEP, Wrong answer, it had all the characteristics of what you described to the letter, this could be the problem, the resin had a blackish tinge to it straight out of the can

other than that i use 2% MEKP, you may get away with a little less but i don't think that will make a great deal of difference

check out the type of resin though i am guessing thats the prob

i hope this helps

all the best

MIK

They are all on the Money with there comments when it comes to casting Neil has done plenty and has it down to a fine art also trevor (tdrumnut) has done a fair bit as well so it is all good information and it is just practice. As for the blanks being more brittle than the ones you have been buying the reason they are like that is they are a completely different product and type of resin. we are using a type of polyester resin and I am not sure what the other stuff is ? someone here may know more ?

Cheers Ian

Everyone

Many thanks. Yep I do have a can of the Clear Casting Resin (not good one ) and one from Fibre Glass International - not sure what this one is .... I suspect Clear Casting as that is what I asked for (nothing on the can)...

Funny about the CA V Epoxy ... I agree I have had alot of failures with CA/wood and Acrylics over the years and have moved to the two pack structural epoxy - really annoys me when pens let go at the machining stage.

OK will try and let you know.

Also, about a month ago when I started I tried casting with different coloring things to see what it looked like. I tried lots of different stuff to see what colours etc worked - I tried everything from watery acrylics to nail polish .. some really interesting results. At the end of the day I found the cost of proper pigments etc where just as good for price and effect eg polyester pigments, pearl Ex I want to try adding power coating powder which seems to be used a bit by some of the posts on UTUBE ... still trying to get some from the local powder coaters..

Thanks for the links .. prices are good .... might buy some ....

Randal

Don't forget the full eye protection. You'll be using a white cane if you get MEKP in your eyes.

Nasty stuff - will get the goggles

Randal

Also, a mate of mine has some clear epoxy which he uses for boats Kintrix 104 (I think) .. will see how that works. Apparently, Epoxy is alot cheaper these days - Alot has changed since the old Araldite ... shows my age...