Casting resin

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Hi All,
         I want to use some casting resin and want advice about which one to use. The criteria are:-
1. It needs to bond to wood.
2. I need to add a colour,acrylic colours would be nice.
3. It needs to be a "hard" set not a "soft" set.
4. It needs to be capable of being cut and polished.
5. I am intending to cast directly into the wood so do not want too high an exothermic(?) temperature.

Not a lot to ask and I am confident the woodturning google will be able to furnish the answers.
Many thanks
John BHT

[Les Symonds]

Hi John....I use CFS Fibreglass - http://www.cfsnet.co.uk/ - for all my grp supplies, and have done so for close on 20 years. They have a very informative catalogue, with loads of tips in it, and they've also always been very helpful when I have contacted them directly. I guess that what will suit your needs will be their water-clear, casting resin, plus whatever pigments you choose.....they have an extensive stock list, so I'm sure you'll find what you need.

Hope it goes well....Les

[Martin Lawrence]

  Hi John,

  Many resins are brittle and chip when turned these you usually have to scrape to a finish but a decent finish can be obtained, I think your main problem will be the bonding to wood if your casting it directly onto wood you will need to place it in a pressure of vacuume pot to extract all the air bubbles and get it to enthuse onto the wood. If your casting  then using ashesive onto wood then I dont see a problem.  I tried casting direct onto wood burrs and when turning it comes apart so now I place into a pressure pot.

  There are generally two types of resin Polyurethane or Polyester one is a fifty fifty mix with a catalyst the other requires precise percentage mixing of resin to catalyst so precise you need a syringe to apply the catalyst not suprisingly the fifty fifty mix is the most expensive.

I will check out the above link for pigments because when I purchased my stuff I could only get pigments in 1lt tins, by the way the pigments are made to suit either polyester or polyurethane and will not work with the other mix.

Good Luck

Cheers Martin

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Les Many thanks for that I will check them out.
Martin thanks for your comprehensive reply.  I want to cast directly into the wood but was thinking of coating the side walls with I dunno........sanding sealer or similar and then casting once dry. The reasoning behind it was to prevent colour bleed on the un- casted (?) bits which will be quite thin in places.
   
    The colours that I want are specific and have so far have not found them in any advertised pigments or stains. I really want to use the colours that I have which are acrylics.

I want to avoid casting and then gluing them in as it will make the job harder.
Once again ,
Many thanks
Regards
John BHT

[BrianH]

Try West System. Primarily intended for the boat building industry but it is the stuff Marilyn Somoneorother was demonstrating a couple of seminars ago.
Not cheap and mixing ratios are important but are easily sorted using their twin pumps that afix onto the containers and give exactly the right amount.
All the best with it
Brian

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Thanks Brian, tried the West system, too soft.
Regards
John BHT

[Haggy]

Hi John
Sorry I haven't kept up to date with this web site  - are you still interested in advice re: casting resin or  have you got things sussed by now?
  Regards Haggy
   

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Hi Haggy,
              I am always in the market for advice. I have since tried cold enamel and although I have had some success with this it does not polish so the final casted product,which is quite glossy, is what I have to end up with. I have had a problem with it separating from the wood too.
       So any advice will be most welcome.
thankyou,
Regards
John BHT

[Haggy]

Hi John,
I have been through a long period of trialling and testing too.
As Martin has advised you a pressure pot and PU water clear casting resin is the answer.
The best resin I have used is alumilite, it turns beautifully, I have made lots of fusion pen blanks with it. It is not brittle like the polyester resins and sticks like you know what!
Your problem will be to get the equipment- but it opens up a whole new world eg you can also pressure impregnate all your turned work rather than having to give it multiple coats of oil, the oil is forced into all the micro cracks/ grain.
        Good luck
             Haggy

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Haggy thanks for that, you may have misunderstood what I am after. I don't want to impregnate the wood, I want to lay it on top. The reason I want to be able to turn it is so that I can polish it to a high gloss.
I will send you a PM
regards
John BHT

[Martin Lawrence]

Hi John,

  The impregnation was an aside I think as an extra bonus with the equipment, another method if you have a vacuume chuck put the chosen piece of wood and the resin a mould within an air tight container that will stand the pressure and the vacuume with cause the resin to bond to the wood.

Cheers