Camo Laminates

I've gotten a couple requests for a Tutorial on how I make this, so here goes! I did a verbal tutorial in one of the threads, but I got some pics as I worked on my latest batch. It's a Pink Camo Laminate; I had a couple people want pink camo handles, so this is the first batch to see how it looks!

First, Fabric Selection. I use only 100% cotton or 100% Jute materials. I try to avoid synthetics; I know a guy in Australia that tried some synthetic materials and the epoxy would not soak in to them. I avoid spandex and blends of cotton/poly as well but I haven't tried them to see if they worked. It may depend on the type of resin/hardener used. A couple things to remember. Fabrics will darken and some will turn translucent when they are wetted out. Put some small pieces in some water until they are fully saturated and that will be the color it will be when it's made. I find that thicker material, like Denims, will tend to darken more than say a bottomweight material, which will darken more than a thinner material like broadcloth. I had some Blaze Orange denim turn to more of a rust color while the thin Blaze Orange Broadcloth only turned slightly darker! 100% cotton yard I have found to hold it's color very well and barely noticed any color change in the dry/wet product. Also, the texture of the fabric will make a difference, too. Yarn and fuzzy fabrics will look creamier/smoother and with less texture. Coarse fabrics like Denim will show the coarseness, especially when viewed from the side. If you want to do an integral spacer/liner, use the broadcloth/linen/bottomweight stuff with a tighter weave. The denim has a funny wavy look to it from the side, as does Burlap.

Burlap is full of gaps in the material, so I started to un thread the pieces and use the strands to make streaking through a piece. I am testing out some stuff today, but it seems that if I use more pressure, I get a more solid piece without a void in the fabric that is filled in with epoxy, but I get more air bubbles, especially in burlap. I may be forcing too much epoxy out? When I used less pressure on a piece, I got almost no air bubbles in the block, but there were areas that the epoxy filled in for gaps in the material. It gives it a 3-D look to it where you can see into the material, but I feel that is better than tiny air holes everywhere. I try to mash down the material as much as possible into the mold to avoid the pockets, but it's not perfected yet! I have filled the air holes with Devcon 2-ton epoxy either plain or mixed with dust from sanding the handles. It seems to work OK, but make sure to use a waterproof epoxy! I would like to use the MAS epoxy, but I want something where I don't have to wait a few days to use the material after I coat it. I also have to try Tru Oil Wood Sealer to see how that works on the air bubbles.

Ok, so the fabric is selected. Time to chop! I use a Rotary Cutter from a Fabric Store, it's SOOOOO much easier than scissors!! I tried bigger chunks, but there was too much of the same colors, so I went down to smaller chunks. The bigger pieces also tended not to smoosh as well and make epoxy blobby pockets in them when they rolled over. The chunks run around 1/8"-1/2" wide and around 3/4"-1.5" long or so, give or take. Burlap I do in chunks or I cut into 4x4" squares and then pull the threads apart.

Pink camo material chopped up:


I am using a Pale Pink, a Darker Pink (hot pink almost), Pink Burlap strands and a white denim and a very light cream/off white thinner fabric:



The sides of the formed pieces will show the piece size as well as how translucent the colors get, look at the white denim!


More fabric chopped up:

Same as above, but molded:


I did this one with a smaller piece size, like 1/8-1/4"x1/2"-3/4". The pattern wasn't as nice as the pattern with the slightly larger sizes in it.


Section 2: Epoxy. I go all out and use MAS Epoxies Low Viscosity Resin and Fast or Slow Hardener, depending on the temps outside. It's it's under 75 degrees and it's not a large slab (6x11), I try to use the Fast Hardener. Warmer or bigger pieces, I use the slow hardener so I have enough working time. Stuff isn't cheap, around $145-$150 per 1 gallon Resin/Half Gallon Hardener and it's a 2:1 mix. I got the small pumps for it, but went to the bigger pumps. For a block the size I am working on now, I used 10 pumps or resin and hardener; the pumps are made for a 2:1 ratio. Before, I had to do around 20-25 pumps for the smaller pieces and up to 50 pumps for the larger pieces. The West System 105/205, 206, 207 also has good results from the Tutorials I have seen. Both of these epoxies are made for boat building and laminating and seem to hold up well in water and I believe both are epoxies, not polyester resins. The MAS has no vapors, no VOC's, 100% solids and is food safe when fully cured. I mix it outside or in my shed and don't notice any nasty smells. It is very thin and watery and very clear as well. When I go to unmold the pieces, I often see that the run off epoxy has been colored by the fabrics slightly.

Ok, so we have our fabric chopped up, and our epoxy selected. Now it's more prep time! We have to line the mold and top press plate so the material doesn't stick into the mold or plate. I tried wax paper, but the MAS Epoxy can get up to 350 degrees when curing, especially in thicker batches. The Wax Paper melted Tried some plastic baggies, same thing; they stuck to the material. Parchment paper seems to work best with the MAS Epoxies and can withstand heat to 400 degrees. Only problem is that NOTHING sticks to it!! I tried taping the Parchment Paper to the wood press block and duct tape wouldn't hold on it. I just fold the paper over a few times and put in my wood vise to hold it on until I am ready. I press a layer of parchment paper into the mold to line that.

Mold on top, wood press plate on the bottom.


The mold is shaped like \__/ so the material is easier to release and won't lock into the mold. The ends are closed with duct tape to keep the material from oozing out when it gets pressed. That way once it's molded, I cut the tape and knock out the block.

Lined Mold:

Covered top press plate:


Make sure the lined press plate will fit into the mold when the mold is lined!!! I cut the press plate slightly smaller so it's an easy fit. I get my clamps ready at this point, too.

Epoxy time! I have my Hardener measured out into the cup on the left and the Resin has been measured out into a different container and has been poured into my mixing container. I have a 8x11 approx tin tray (it's a grill grease pan tray ) with around 1/2-2/3 of the fabric I will be using in the pan. I put on the gloves and pour the Hardener into the Resin and mix thoroughly. This way I can re use the measuring cups for the Resin and Hardener and reuse the mix cup once it's cured. Once the epoxy is fully mixed, I pour it over the fabric in the tray and let it soak in. I then mix the material by hand and keep adding more material and epoxy, mixing it and letting it soak fully into the fabric, which only takes a few minutes.


Now it's time to Mold!! I take small handfuls of the wetted out fabric with gloved hands and press it into the mold, working it into the corners and bottom of the mold. I take small handfuls and pack them down as I fill up the mold. You can easily feel spots where more fabric is needed this way by using your hands and this helps to fill it evenly. From the above picture, I added another 2 handfuls of fabric to almost completely fill the pan level before the epoxy went into the fabric.

All of that fabric was fitted into the mold, which filled it to the top:


I then folded the parchment paper over the top of the mold, took the top press plate and smooshed it into the mold by hand and kinda leaned on it to flatten the top a bit. Then I took a plastic baggie and put the whole mold/press plate into the bag. This helps keep your clamps cleaner and the epoxy ooze out in the bag and not all over the place. Once the mold was bagged, I used 3 F clamps to clamp down on the press plate. The plate is around 3/8" to 1/2" tall, and I compressed it until it was level with the top of the mold to see how that works. I brought the piece out of the shed and put it in the sun.

2 hours after I mixed the epoxy, it's nearly 80 degrees and it should be "thin film cured". It's mostly set, but still slightly soft, but easy to unmold at this point!

Aren't you glad you used the bag?? This is the ooze that seeps out:

It comes off the mold at this point fairly easily by hand. A chisel or screwdriver takes care of the rest.

Moment of truth?


Almost:




Take the tape off of the ends:


and it should pop out!




I was impatient today, but I usually let the block sit for a couple of days to fully cure before I cut it on the bandsaw and cleaned up the block a bit.

Ends and sides cut off, cleaned up on the 6x48:



Now we are getting somewhere!!



Went inside, washed the block off and left it wet to get some pics of the block:



After the block dried a bit and it was inside:



Finished block is just over 5" long, 1.75-2" wide (I can't cut straight on the bandsaw!) and around 1.25" tall. There will be some more waste once it gets trimmed out fully, but I can get a Wa handle and Bolster set out of this block, or 1 full Western handle with some pieces left over. I can cut this piece to have the wider top part shown for a more swirly look or cut on the 1.25" side to get more of the wavy look. The pics also show how the material darkens when it is wet and the different fabric looks. The burlap kinda turned a little orangey, but the pinks and white have a good contrast. I find there needs to be a light color in there and I try to use a light/pale shade and a darker shade of the color I want along with a white for contrast and sometimes a black or grey as well to further break it up. I am pretty happy with this piece! I think the black would make the piece too dark. With the green camo, Kelly Green, Dark Green(Evergreen), Khaki and dark brown work well for contrast; blaze orange can be added in as well to make it more visible. For the Water Camo, sky blue, medium blue/teal, white and black work well.

If you do cut/file/sand this stuff before it's fully cured, WEAR A RESPIRATOR!!! It can be kinda nasty and the vapors from curing won't be good for your lungs. Also, it will clog belts and file and saw teeth quickly, so clean your tools often. It is harder to work before it's fully cured since it's kinda soft, so I don't recommend it, but I did it for the Tutorial and the customer coming over tonight.

When you first unmold the block, you are seeing all of the pieces pressed flat together and the pattern doesn't looks very camo like; it's blocky and angular looking. Once you sand down into the layers, the swirls will appear more! The top looks pretty good, but it will look even better once I get down into more layers. There are usually bubbles present on the top/bottom and sides of the block; many of these will come out once it gets shaped, but they can be filled with epoxy and dust from the block, but I would use a waterproof epoxy for that. Superglue may not hold up well with water and the filler could pop out.

Taz
Thank you for doing the WIP. It's great to see folks like yourself showing and telling!!!

I've not heard of the MAS resin before. I went to their site and it seems to be well respected.

How does it work in a wet environment? You mentioned kitchen cutlrey handles which is what i would be using it for, so the food safe is a definate plus!

Is this resin a pure clear? Can it be colored? Would it be suitable for making solid block construction such as blocks with objects in them?

Again Thank You for the tutorial!

God Bless
Mike

It is used in the boat building industry for laminating boats and it is also used to line water tanks, so it should be fine in a wet environment! It is pretty clean, but I'm not sure how it would work as a casting resin, like if you wanted to cast something in a clear resin block. If you email them, they should be able to give you the information that you need. They have great customer service and are really friendly. I haven't tried colors the epoxy yet, but I know it does get slightly dyed by the fabrics, I'm just not sure what to use for a pigment. I have some powdered pigments from rod building stuff from Bullard, but I haven't tried them yet.

Nice Tutorial

Thanks!

Thanks for posting! Its pretty cool

Thanks! I hope to have a batch of black/red/grey done up tomorrow. I tried the red and black linen as an alternating color stack, but the red was really dark. The red burlap stays a more red color, so I mixed that and black linen, but I got a lot of bubbles and the contrast wasn't really what I was looking for. I found a medium grey that would turn a dark gunmetal and I think it will give some contrast to the red and black. I will find out tomorrow!

Didn't get to mold the block today; it was raining in the morning and got really humid after it cleared up a bit. Supposed to be hot and humid the rest of the week, so I may have to wait till I have some days off this weekend where I can do it early in the morning.