Resin casting WIP

[Taryn]

So I have been exploring options on casting resin with various woods and thought I would document it on here in case anyone wants to give it a try or has any suggestions for doing it better. I mostly just love it when people post wips so I thought I would return the favor, and I am sure I can learn something from you guys in the process!

I used alumilite clear resin and pressure cast it using a modified pressure cooker. Pro tip: have your wife or mom or someone post on Facebook or something asking if anyone has one they don't use that you could have. The exact one I got costs 250 to buy in the store, but you can get them off amazon for around 100 bucks
Here is the one I got with about 15 bucks worth of compressor fittings from harbor freight.

I first had to drill out and tap the existing holes so that I could connect the fittings. Something I didn't know before was that you need a plumber tap rather than just a regular one because those air fittings are slightly tapered.

Here it is all modified up, held pressure at 100 psi, which is plenty considering alumilite recommends at least 40

I next made a mold out of those white plastic cutting boards you can get at Wally World for around 10 bucks

All ready to roll, the working time is about 7 minutes so you want to be all set with your pigments and mixing stuff or else you will be totally hosed. Alumilite recommends you warm your mold up to around 140 to decrease cure time. I just threw it in the ol oven when the wife wasn't looking and got it a bit warmer.

I didn't get pictures of the mixing process because it was rather stressful. That's why I use 24 hour epoxy. Also, it turns out that the B mixture can get kind of gelatinous when it is cooled down so it was hard to measure weight and mix with big globs coming out. I mixed up one cup and colored it white, then I mixed up a smaller one and colored it black, and sort of swirled the two together. I used jacquard powdered pigments I got off amazon that seem to work great.

Once it is mixed pour it in the mold from one side carefully so as to minimize air bubbles. Then place it in the pressure pot, pressurize and let cure for two hours. Thicker pieces actually cure quicker, and warmth is your friend here as well. I brought mine in the house to speed up the process. Once that was done, i removed one side of the mold, cleaned up the sides on the table saw and cut it in half.

It still needs some clean up, but I am pretty happy with it so far. There are two small fissures on one end, but I think I can fill them fine with more resin or epoxy. I fiddled around with it for a bit and I am impressed with how solid it is. I may still stabilize the pine cone, but I think it will make a great set of scales. I am going to make some ctek tomorrow and I will post that as well. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions or questions!


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[Ed of all trades]

Thanks for the idea. I wondered what you were going to do with a pine cone. Never thought it would look like that. Ed

 

[Self Made Knives]

Good post! Very interesting, but I have a question. The pine cone is encased, but the exposed wood will be soft won't it? I would think the resin is too thick to penetrate, even under pressure. Will you now stabilize the whole blank to seal the pine cone? Or, should you stabilize the cone first, before the resin?

 

[Justin Presson]

Pretty cool stuff, can't wait to see more. I'm like Anthony though seems like you will have to stabilize the cone.

 

[Taryn]

Good post! Very interesting, but I have a question. The pine cone is encased, but the exposed wood will be soft won't it? I would think the resin is too thick to penetrate, even under pressure. Will you now stabilize the whole blank to seal the pine cone? Or, should you stabilize the cone first, before the resin?

Good question, yes the cone will be stabilized. The core of it is actually fairly soft. I will post pics of stabilizing and let you know how it goes. Once that's done it should be pretty solid!


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[JayDee70]

Good question, yes the cone will be stabilized. The core of it is actually fairly soft. I will post pics of stabilizing and let you know how it goes. Once that's done it should be pretty solid!
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I am more of a pen-maker-turner than a knife maker and I do quite a bit of casting as well as stabilization. Form what I can see in your pics you are using clear Alumilite which is what a lot of pen makers as well as my self use, it's great stuff. For stabilization most of us(pen makers) use "Cactus Juice" from TurnTex Woodworks(no affiliation). It is applied via a vacuum process and some follow with a pressurization but pressure is not absolutely necessary. It is then heated to 200*F for an hour, it is clear and "plasticizes" the wood after the heat curing. Works great for me.

Edit:
Went back and reviewed you pics again and this time saw your Alumilite texts. Just a comment on the gelling of the one bottle. You can warm(not hot) it up a little in something like a bath of warm water and it will liquefy again, I hit mine with a blast from an old hair drier for a minute or two, warming will not hurt it but may decrease your open time a little.

 

[Taryn]

I am more of a pen-maker-turner than a knife maker and I do quite a bit of casting as well as stabilization. Form what I can see in your pics you are using clear Alumilite which is what a lot of pen makers as well as my self use, it's great stuff. For stabilization most of us(pen makers) use "Cactus Juice" from TurnTex Woodworks(no affiliation). It is applied via a vacuum process and some follow with a pressurization but pressure is not absolutely necessary. It is then heated to 200*F for an hour, it is clear and "plasticizes" the wood after the heat curing. Works great for me.

Edit:
Went back and reviewed you pics again and this time saw your Alumilite texts. Just a comment on the gelling of the one bottle. You can warm(not hot) it up a little in something like a bath of warm water and it will liquefy again, I hit mine with a blast from an old hair drier for a minute or two, warming will not hurt it but may decrease your open time a little.

Yeah I actually use cactus juice to stabilize a lot of the wood I use. It works great! I have some on hand I plan to stabilize this pinecone with. From my experiments so far, the heat of stabilizing the wood doesn't seem to affect the resin. It softens up a tiny bit while hot but hardens right back up after it cools.


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