Smoke or Fog Effects in Resin?

>>1074500
maybe it is just another colored resin, in this case white, ''brushed'' through with something thin, perhaps a needle maybe

>>1074500
I thought about getting into doing this resin stuff. Looks pretty cool, and your pic makes me want to do it even more now because I love wood working. Combo of the two would be pretty cool I think.

Anyways, I did some quick research on your behalf OP, and as usual it took a matter of two minutes to find relevant information.

You want to mix alcohol ink into your initial resin batch, and like >>1074504 said, you're going to use a tooth pick or needle to achieve your swirl effect.

http://www.resinobsession.com/resin-tutorials/ink-swirl-resin-bracelet-tutorial

Info on the above posted site will be more thorough than what I figured from 30 seconds of reading.

A thread has been made on this topic before.
https://warosu.org/diy/thread/S1037011
Maybe you'll find an answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poNzkmOAL4k

>>1074500
OP, you don't need a pressure cooker for anything like this. I use castin' craft resin and it works great. I've made tons of necklaces, including one like the cracked wood you see here. That other thread has their mind set on using a pressure cooker when they are really missing the point.

Castin' craft makes a bunch of dyes for their resin including an opaque white dye which is what you are looking for. Don't use anything liquid except for dyes specifically made for resin.

Get a disposable clear or white cup and put in a little resin. Add the opaque white dye, you don't need much as it's concentrated. Finally add the resin hardener, again a few drops.

To create the snowfall effect, grab your cracked wood plank, wrap it up in some painter's tape so you create a channel as high as the splinters. Next grab an eye dropper or something to dispense the white resin without hitting the tall splinters. We want those clean. Once you have a solid layer, let it dry for about an hour. Next mix up your blue resin and cast in a soap mold or something.

To create the "blizzard" effect as you see in the right ring, fill your mold with the base layer be it blue or clear or whatever. Then put a small drop of white dye on the tip of a small Popsicle stick. Insert that stick into the resin

As for the the polishing, buy something like 200 grit to 100000 grit sand paper. Make sure to sand every surface or you will obviously end up with cloudy spots.

>>1075623

oops didn't have room.

Insert that stick with the white dye into the base resin and swirl. Don't over swirl or it will just blend.

As for the bubbles, the other post that you linked was going crazy about getting bubbles out. Honestly I like the tiny bubbles, as they refract the light. If you want to get rid of them, grab a paint stripping heat gun and heat the resin. Don't get too close as we don't want to burn anything. Just enough time and heat to get those pesky bubbles out.

Hope this helps, I can post my stuff if you want to see it. And again, you really don't need a pressure cooker.

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>>1075624

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>>1075741

unpolished nuggets, I get a lot of waste as you can see from picture one. But it's cheap and it gives me freedom to cut out shapes that I like once I get to the band saw. Sorry about the poor lighting.

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>>1075742

Polished... egg? Still working on the shapes lol. I would love to take suggestions.

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>>1075743

I think this one came out nice. Still learning here. I don't have much an interest in making a ring. What I really want to make is a resin and wood table.

>>1075745
>resin and wood table
Is it stable enough for that?

I like the egg, the blue one looks to dark to see the wood through the resin, but that could just be the photo. I think o generally would prefer a combination of darker wood and lightly colored resin

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>>1075821
>Is it stable enough for that?
Not op, but pic related gave me a similar idea

>>1075832
that looks really nice, i wonder how hard it would be to do something that big without faults

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>>1075841
Any hints you can glean from the pic?

>>1075880
Looks easy, I bet its not. Any reason why they do it in ~1 inch or so steps?

>>1075882

If I remember rightly, most resins give off heat as they cure. The thin layers ensure that everything cures evenly and gives a uniform transparency and finish.

>>1075882
Probably to avoid the bubbles in the resin or adjusting the colours, it is not an easy media to work with

>>1075883
>>1075884
Reminds me of one time when I tried to make a block from ordinary cheap polyester resin (for boat repairs etc.). The block was around an inch thick. It got pretty hot and when it cooled down, it cracked from several places.
Using less hardener (I used the recommended amount) might have helped, but I didn't try that. Instead, I poured the second attempt in three parts which did the job.

So has anyone tried this since they've read this thread? Not OP, but I'm wanting to do this and am hunting around for some cheap resins I can experiment with. Any suggestions?

Peter Brown meke video on it http://youtu.be/poNzkmOAL4k

Peter Brown make video on it http://youtu.be/poNzkmOAL4k

https://www.mysecretwood.com
For anyone interested this is the website that sells them

>>1075623

I guess you'd want pressure to stabilize a really large chunk of wood. To stabilize that itty bitty ring pulling it vacuum with a thermoset resin and then popping it in the oven would do fine.

Stabilizing the wood part of the ring has got fuck all to do with putting the blue resin on top of course.

Bumping until I get around to posting a photo; I tried making a ring out of some probably-expired Envirotex Lite Pour-On... stuff, and just a piece of shit wood I had laying around. Worked well enough but the resin isn't fully cured /or/ this is how it's supposed to be like (unsure which, the bottle's at least a few years old).

>>1075745 here

Its possible that kind of resin isn't meant for thicker layers. Did you color it with a liquid pigment? If you used a pigment not specifically made for resin, it can cause it to never cure properly.

What kind of pigment/coloring do I need to use? I'm finding specific "castin' craft" pigments for $8-9 for 1oz online, but nothing in Michael's and Joann's - I only get blank looks when I mention "alcohol ink" or "alcohol-based dye".

What "kinds" are good to use, or what are some other terms I can ask for?

>>1078671
They don't have it at Michaels or Joanns. Those places suck and I'm sorry if that's all you got in your town :( Try your local craft store or bite the bullet and buy online. Try Hobby Lobby if you have one.

Also, I really suggest you buy larger resin packs. It will take you a little bit to figure out what exactly it is that you want to make so get ready for some trial and error. Lots of resin helps with that. I really suggest buying the west systems CLEAR as that gives you the best bang for your buck.

Be sure to watch Peter Brown's tutorial on youtube even if you're not making a ring.

Also, to get the crystal look you NEED 300 grit - 15000 grit sand/mesh paper. PLUS something like the novus 3 part scratch removal system. Its a long and tiring procedure to sand every surface, every facet ~ 12 times.

>>1078879

Or if you're lazy go in three steps to 1000 grit wet sanding and then attack it with a buffing wheel on your dremel. You run the risk of rounding off the edges, but at least it's not a long and tiring process.

>>1078671

To be fair the alcohol ink seems to be mostly a brand name for solvent based ink for stamping. So you should ask for Adirondack Alcohol ink.

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>>1078879
>local craft store
I have some within biking distance, will try those this weekend I suppose
>buy online
At least Amazon delivery is fast these days.

>larger resin packs
I don't want to invest 50-60 dollars quite yet (waiting on a ROI on something else), so I've been experimenting with some old table laquer/resin I bought a few years ago and hadn't used. One of the components is yellowed, but it mixes fairly clear. The only thing is that it's not quite hard and is slightly flexible when it's body temperature (but not gummy).

>300-15000 grit sandpaper
Are you sure you didn't add an extra zero on the end there? I have 2000 (2k) grit paper and while not 100% clear it looks fairly decent. I bought some metal polishing sticks which say they should work on plastic, but since I'm going to the craft store might as well ask if they have polish there.

>>1078888
>buffing wheel/dremel
I have neither where I am, but I'll try it.

>>1078892
>brand name for stamping
What's a generic name, then? Or category of product? And by 'stamping' do you mean 'rubber stamps on paper'?

>>1077097

Not op, I decided to try this, I will be using EasyCast Clear Cast from CastinCraft. I will report back to see how well it works.

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>>1078245 here, finally got some pictures. The scratches and bubbles are a lot less visible in person - I think the flash is what caused all the 'defects' to show up.

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>>1079623
I wasn't trying super hard to get a good result since I knew I didn't have the proper materials (probably-expired >>1078943 and just "some wood" I had laying around) but I guess I'm fairly satisfied with what came out.

I sanded it with 2k grit sandpaper and it was still a little foggy (enough that the bubbles weren't clear) so I coated it with some "fast-drying" polyurethane spray. Dried slower than I thought, so I probably got some dust and fingerprints on the finish as well.

>>1079623
>>1079625
Not bad for a 1st attempt with expire epoxy and "some wood"

I want to try making one as well in the next few days. I'll post pictures if I manage to.

Thanks for starting this thread OP, it gave me some great inspiration

>>1080239
Thanks. I'll be trying again soon, but I want to see how good I can get the epoxy itself first before ruining more wood. I've got actual plastic polish and alcohol dye now, so I'm hopeful it'll turn out better (and I won't have to use polyurethane, it's still not cured and has a stale smell to it).

>>1074860
Fuck off Peter. Plan your shit better. You're not welcome here.

>>1078671
in regards to liquids, alcohol-based marker refills would be what you'd need to look for when you mention "alcohol ink". copic & spectrum noir are two brands that come to mind for me. you could possibly attempt to use a very very minuscule amount of acrylic paint or nail polish, but not too much. resin will not set right if there's too much of those two items in it.

actual powdered pigments can always be used too. i think if you need to get one of those specialty pigment colorants, perhaps an opaque white would be most helpful (mostly for mixing). but honestly just mentioning that option since i've never gotten a good chance to use any type of white powder pigment in resin. guess i should test myself eventually.

>>1080453
oh to add on, maybe coloured mica powders could be an option too. you'd have to look on mineral makeup websites to get good deals. some non-makeup places that carry it have ridiculous prices on it though, so you have to shop around. i think there are some auto paint places that will sell such stuff online too, but it has been a long time since i went to look through those types of places for that.

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>>1080453
>>1080455
Cool, thanks. I've actually got another cast setting up currently out of the same resin - since this is much deeper I don't know when it'll cure, but probably within the next day or two. I added I think 2 drops of Sapphire Blue ink to it, but the color seems much deeper than I would like - it's pretty much impossible to tell what color it actually is but I'll post it when it cures.

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>>1080457
And here it is. Still slightly tacky on the bottom, and I'm honestly thinking that the age of the compound is why. I really need to buy some purpose-made casting compound.

There are tons of bubbles in the sides, I'm really hoping they'll go away if I sand it properly and seal it with polyurethane - I'm not 100% sure, though. The top doesn't seem as bad but I think that's because the bubbles floated up and away (the bottom is the pour surface).

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>>1081197
Next time I'll try heating both halves before I pour, I've heard that helps. I really like how the colour turned out, even though it's not exactly what I wanted.

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>>1081198
Closeup of the point.

>>1081197
>>1081198
>>1081199
there are premade (& clear) silicone crystal molds around if you are considering getting fresh casting compound.

yes, both resin & hardener need to be warmed up in the bottles a bit prior to mixing. however, it's good to also wait a few minutes after the resin & hardener have been mixed up together (without the white streaks). let the bubbles settle to the top, then heat it up. you could use a grill lighter (or regular lighter if you feel bold), a heat gun, or blow into a straw with heated breath. for the first two methods, try to not overheat them or else you will risk burning both the resin & mold. dunno if it'd be easier to either pop bubbles while in a mixing cup or in that type of mold, since it is so narrow. microbubbles are hard to get rid of for most resin, but the ones in that crystal are definitely not micro. i don't know that, with the size of the bubbles embedded, it will be completely fixed with treatment to the outside. looking forward to see how that will turn out though.

overall seems like it was a 50/50 result. the mold from the pics & bubble size absolutely wrecked your resin crystal, but the colour & transparency that ink provides turned out great.

>>1081286
>premade and clear molds
Yeah, I know, but I don't want to invest in this too much yet - I have a different project I'm trying to get a ROI on before I sink money into this one so I don't end up going negative. Fresh casting compound would be the first thing I'd get, though, then molds. It's pretty fun (and easy) making my own, and a hell of a lot cheaper as well. With practice, I think they'd turn out better.

>bottles need to be warmed
Tried a lukewarm bath for this next cast, will see how that goes.
>wait after mixing, then heat
Ditto.

>the mold from the pics and bubble size wrecked your resin crystal
Wording's a bit unclear here - do you mean the mold itself wrecked the casting? I would be inclined to disagree; the spots left in the mold are what I assume are dried pigment, and when it's clean it's completely smooth. I've put the current cast in a warm room (32C/90F) so hopefully that should help a little bit.

>colour and transparency turned out great
Thanks. I was a bit more cautious with the ink this time and made sure I only put one drop, anxious to see how it looks this time.

>>1075882
The different layers have different amounts of dye in them

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Man, I really need to buy/build my own vacuum degasser.

Left one is a new cast with only one drop (vs. 2-3) of ink. Sanded down with 180/300/1000/2000 sandpaper, then covered with a polyurethane spray. Although not very visible on the photo, it's a lot clearer than the first cast and you can actually see through it. The bubbles, again, are way more visible in the photo for some reason.

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>>1081899
A lot more visible here how clear it is compared to the other one - but still, frustratingly, bubbles.

>>1081899
>>1081900

They don't look bad at all. I understand you don't want bubbles, but I like them given the color, reminds me of the ocean.

Have you tried blowing the bubbles out with a straw, or a hairdryer? I've also heard letting the epoxy sit for a few minutes before pouring is supposed to help.

Also, have you found that your fingerprints easily transfer to the casting after it dries and is out of the mold, or the surface easily being scraped with a fingernail?

Does sanding the outer surface layer help with that, if you are having that problem? My casts have those problems, even after sitting still for days undisturbed. It is possible I simply messed something up however.

Anyways, they look good. It's cool seeing the difference in color that only 1-2 drops of dye make.

>>1082104
>don't look bad at all
Thanks. I'm okay with the bubbles, but will try a few more things to get them out. I'll try heating the compound more (and vibrate the shit out of it, maybe) next time.

>fingerprints transfer easily
Not if it's "fully" cured. Full cure time for me looks to be 24-36 hours. You shouldn't be able to scrape it off with a fingernail, but you can make indents (which disappear over a few minutes).

>sanding the outer surface
I wouldn't 100% recommend it because mine get matte even after using 2k grit. The one on the right is just demolded, no coverings, while the one on the left is sanded as stated above and then lightly sprayed with polyurethane.

>my casts have those problems
I am in no way an authority or even a help here I'd say - all of the stuff I'm doing is based off of random internet guides and my own gut feeling. I'd like to get some fresh casting compound, but that'll probably be in a month or so - in the meantime I have 32oz of this stuff to get rid of so we'll see how good I get with it.

>they look good/ 1-2 drops of dye
Thanks. The dye bottles are fairly cheap - I got mine for ~$3 at a local shop, so I'm probably going to buy more. If one drop has this result, I think this bottle could last me the whole 32oz.

>>1081298
thank you for clarifying. i can only go by the pictures, so the spots inside of the mold seemed a bit suspect. it is a weird side effect from the colourant used. i'm gonna keep this in mind too if i ever choose to use that item over powdered pigment/mica.


the updates in >>1081899 & >>1081900 have really fantastic effects going on with the colourant. the "lava lamp" effect from the one drop in the 1st piece & the gradation going on in the 2nd makes both resin crystals look good.
with the amount of bubbles in it in this current update, i'm really curious about this too. how does the resin look like normally when it is cured with no additives? would it be possible to get a small test piece set up & upload a picture of it?

>>1082269
The mold itself is quite frankly a bit suspect - it's made from shower silicone and corn starch, which may possibly not get ideal results.

I am 100% serious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fwytA5r2Mw

I haven't tried a "normal" pour aside from >>1079623 ; that was a lot thinner, so the bubbles were a lot smaller and probably more rose to the top. Also, it was poured in a warmer, (possibly) drier climate.

I could get a test piece set up within the next few days, sure; I'm experimenting with mold shapes anyway. No ETA on when, but by the end of the week for sure.

>>1082120
>I wouldn't 100% recommend it because mine get matte even after using 2k grit.

2000 is outright rough when talking about optical surfaces. Final polishing compounds for things that need a mirror finish generally start at about a 10,000-grit equivalent.

But, if the resin is so soft that you can scratch it with a fingernail, it's likely not fully cured, or it cured improperly due to poor mixing, resin/hardener ratio being a little off, got too hot, etc.

>>1083263
I haven't yet bought anything that high simply because A) I can't find it at the local Home Depot and B) see above about funds; I've found that a water-based polyurethane spray looks nice, though, and seals the resin nicely (no stickiness, hard to the touch, fills in small sanding marks).

>resin not fully cured/etc.
Yeah, it's old resin. Going to get something fresh by mid-december, I think; probably polyester since it apparently is very hard and polishes well, but I can't find anything that's in small quantities that's not stupid expensive.

>>1083231
>>1083265
ok, it explains a lot. not in-date/old as fuck resin & temperature problems = no wonder these issues are going on. at this point, maybe the test piece isn't such a good idea. the leftover resin you have though, maybe it could be good for just testing & practicing with project concepts? it still can cure, albeit a softer set, so at least used in that way it wouldn't be a total waste...

when you plan to get your new resin, try to see if there's any way to check up on the date. some places can have their stock sitting out for a long time, compromising the amount of time you have to work with it. it was annoying to get a resin set when i first tried using it years ago, then had it begin to yellow within a month of owning it.

honestly though, if it seems that you aren't going to be using so much, it is probably best to get smaller quantities of resin. those sets that are sold for crafters & artists to make small charms & shit like that can go rather small. aside from getting charged out the ass sometimes, it helps avoid letting a bunch of resin go unused. it isn't like these types of resin sets are completely shit though. for example: ice resin is a nice brand that can get pretty nice results, despite the price.

it is a long shot, but in regards to the mold, maybe check out some videos from resin crafters too. you'd have to sit through some possible obnoxious bullshit due to the audience they want to capture. there are some good bits of info every now & then though. one crafter tried out a vaccum former with some plastic sheeting to create their own custom resin molds. something like that might be excessive for your needs, but hey, it's an example.

>>1083273
oh yeah, a lot of those resin craft vids usually have sparkly feminine themes going on in the vid too. the stock music gets fucking irritating after a while, even as a part of "that audience"

continued luck with this though, you're on the right track. the refining always takes the longest time to get right, so hopefully you aren't getting so soured by this.

>>1083273
>>1083275
Noted.
>sparkly feminine themes
Yeah, that's often a fairly big issue; the language is very flowery and the instructions aren't very clear. "Resin Obsession" seems to be a good site, though, and has been fairly helpful so far. A lot of the others are just "Look what I did!!!" instead of actual instructions unfortunately.

I'm planning to make my own pressure pot out of an old jam jar and a bike pump, and am hoping that'll fix/reduce the bubbles. The resin isn't too bad, and if I made the bubbles smaller, along with all the other tips I've learned so far, I think I could get some interesting effects.

>>1083510
at the very least the visuals can help a lot more than the voiceover in those types of tutorial videos. on the flip side, a few within that group do try to provide users with basic information in their walkthroughs & have written instructions elsewhere, but are godawful with filming. craftklatch, for example, is the latter, with the bonus of having a bad sense of colour theory in some videos as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmaXNo578EQ


some of these secret rings manage to work around the micro bubbles embedded in the resin. unless paying an absurd amount of money for high end resin sets that claim to be "100% clear", micro bubbles are going to be present in typical transparent cured resin. if these last few examples in the thread had about... maybe half (?) of the bubbles embedded gone, with the rest being regular micro bubbles, you could possibly work off of those.

We use "hot mount resins" in our labs to embed specimens for creating micrograph. If the resin compound is moist or wet, it will create clouds of water in the mount. This is not wanted in our case, but you might want this effect

I dont know about 2 component materials, it might happen there too, but we use opaque materials.

>>1083510
Working in very thin layers during the curing process would also be helpful. Less surface area for air bubbles to handle. It is a tedious process, especially when dealing with just one small project.

>>1083263
There are some products that remain flexible even after curing, but these are typically for covering artwork. I assume the flexibility in those cases would help during transit. This is probably not the case for that person working on their resin piece, of course.

>>1083985
Looks like this product, akin to most resin from hardware & craft store being polyester-based or epoxy-based, has a few options as well. Any more information about the type that you're used to handling?

>>1084035
As I'm planning to sell these, waiting 3-4+ hours for pouring and casting is unsuitable if I want to have any sort of suitable profit margin, so casting in layers is right out.

I'm planning to get polyester resin, but while it's cheap, hard, and clear, the downside is it's toxic and requires an outdoor environment to cast - which is something I don't have at the moment.

Currently still trying to refine my pressure pot, have mixed success with it so far. Will post pics when I finish or give up.