The Resin Trials...

[Aimee A. Domash]

 

 

I don't know why I keep tinkering with the resin idea.  I LOVE the look of glass...but I can't tell you how many times I get asked if my plique-a-jour pieces are resin.  So I purchased a buttload ( that's a metalsmithing term) of different kinds of resins...and I am going to experiment with them until I make something that I like.  The plan is to make a very detailed chart on what you can and can not use in resin (and pro's and con's)...so when I am finished...I will share..:-)  My question to you all is...what is your favorite resins to use and why?  I already have my resins picked out...I was just curious..perhaps I forgot a good one.  I am going to use:

1. Ice resin

2. Envirotex lite...(I think they have a new jewelry resin out as well)

3. Easy Cast

4. Lisa Pavelka Magic-Glos...UV resin

5. Rio's clear doming resin

 6.  ??? Should I try Rio's Colores...???...I don't have that one.

 

That's it for now...will keep you posted.

 

 

[Aimee A. Domash]

 

You all have put some great information on the table...tons for me to think about and explore.  I will have to expand my research...  I decided to start with a resin I am familiar with... Envirotex Lite.  Attached is a pix of some samples hardening.  More info. to come!  Thanks for all of your input...truly invaluable!!

[Catherine Witherell]

With the "Colores" resins, "thick" used with the hardener NEVER cures clear so I've used that to mix with their metallic colors and they turn out well if you want an opaque-ish metallic, car paint effect, for instance like jewel details.  Their "thin" when used with the hardener will still make a dome, even though they also have another kind called "doming".  If you want to add little balls of metal into a pool of clear resin, you can glue little fine silver balls to the bottom of your piece and then add the resin after the glue has dried.  The silver is very reflective and shows well inside the pool.  If you want to use gold, for example 22K gold balls, they should only be added to "Colores" resins after curing for about 12 to 14 hours and should be embedded in the surface with small tweezers so that the little balls remain on top.  Their reflectivity is different and if 22k is under the surface of the resin, it looks brown.

With regard to liver of sulphur patina and resin, if you've got gold, brown, grey or black patina on your silver, the patina stays those colors under resin.  Reds or purples will show brown under resin and green and blue will remain greenish and blueish but not always.

Something to note about Lisa Pavelka's "Magic Gloss" is that people have said it has a short shelf life and that it's expensive, approx. $50 for 6 ounces. This one is interesting if you know the properties/qualities of it.  It's UV so under a lamp or in sunlight it cures top down so there's no embedding anything after the top hardens.  BUT that can be a good thing too if you've been working and need to transport pieces that aren't fully hardened, you can come back to it later and it doesn't slosh around.  As for it's shelf life, it isn't really true.  If you use a heat gun, the small scrapbooking tool - not the hardware store heavy duty encaustic heating tool, it's too hot - you can get thick, older resin to get very liquid and remove air bubbles too.  Just put a sticky dollop on your piece and start heating and it will melt like butter.

[jpenamelist]

From my experiences and notes....

The Envirotex does a nice job for layering, however it has a pretty soft surface so working with it afterwards is tricky and returning it to the high gloss is difficult. It debubbles well during curing so it's great for thicker castings.

I would try out some polyurethane plastics as well. I have had great luck getting jewel-tone transparent colors with them and they set up very quickly. Polytek makes some great ones that cure in 5 min (polytek.com) and work well with the polycolor pigments they sell. A little pigment goes a long way. The plastics are harder when cured and you can use ZAM to get a really high polish. I found they are easier to work with after curing than  the resin.

Smooth-On also makes some nice products, however their clear plastics have caused allergic reactions in some people while the mix is active and the polytek has not.

The Devcon 2Ton epoxies work well and can be colored with a variety of things. Hope this adds some useful info for you!

[Jackie Truty]

Art Clay World uSA has its own UV resin. It cures in 30 seconds-1 minute. It's great for layering and bubbles can be eliminated immediately by touching with a lighter or torch flame. The final surface coat I would use Lisa Pavelka's MagicGlos. It's non-sticky and takes 5-10 minutes to set under UV light. I've used resins extensively in creating rings and other jewelry items.

[Aimee A. Domash]

I have heard of Ceramit...I thought it was an older product..???  My reasoning was...there must be something newer and better out there....but I was just assuming it was old...

wow...I just looked into it a little more.  It has an extremely long pot life!!!  6 hours and you can speed up curing time via oven for 1 hour...you know what that means...no waste and lots of time to add layers.  Thanks I will definitely try it.  (watch out...hazmat shipping $25.00 or so...ouch!)

[Brigitte Martin]

Aimee, I have had very good results with this product:

Devcon" 2-ton Epoxy 9 Oz - Clear

It mixes easily and produces very good results. As far as colors are concerned, as M. said I am not a fan of the colores product. I typically mix painter's pigments in my resins but ground eye-shadow works as well, seriously less expensive too.