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General Discussion / Re: Resin
« Last post by Blake on October 21, 2021, 03:21:11 PM »Hi Nial - I embarked on similar journey starting a couple of years ago after an impulse buy of a micro lathe at a car booty, sadly there are no Wood Turning Clubs in my neck of the woods (South Ayreshire) so I'm self taught from experimentation and hours of watching many many video's - I'm sure there would be gasps and shudders from many on these forums if they saw my techniques and it's on my ever growing 'to do' list to get myself on a course to improve or in some case relearn those techniques!
Like yourself I was tempted by resin early doors and can share the following tips that I've found having experimented over the last 18 months:
There are 2 types of resin commonly used Epoxy & Polyurethane - as noted above Polyurethane smells but allows for deeper pours apparently - I've only used Expoxy so far which also has 2 varients - quick set & deep pour (a bit missleading as deep pour is typically about an 1")
Using epoxy it's critical to get the following 3 elements correct, failing to do so can see the epoxy either boil (thermic reaction) or fail to set:
- Mixing ratio must be accurate - some do by weight, other by volume
- Ambient temperature - to hot and the resin will likely set or boil before your ready, to cold and it doesn't fully set at all
- Mixing - failure to mix the component parts thorougly will result in the resin not setting properly
I'd also note that all resin suppliers are not equal so you may need to shop around to find one that works for you - I've been using Depoxy Germany lately with good results.
Turning resin is also 'easier' with Carbide Tools, it can be done with traditional but you'll probably find your cursing a lot of the time as large chips of resin fracture off and ping around your workshop!!
A vacuum pot can be used for extracting the air out of the mixed resin prior to pouring (or as noted above used to stabilise wood) but your likely to get air bubbles again when you pour the resin, a pressure pot is the ideal as it reduces the bubbles to a size you can't see; also to note you'll likley see air emerge from the wood your bonding to so it's good to seal the wood first - I've found Sanding Sealer works a treat but you could use PVA or even brush on resin and allow to dry first. Don't be tempted to leave the bark on either as this will come away from the underlying wood over time.
Pressure pots don't come cheap over here in the UK, you can buy a paint spray pot & convert yourself (plenty of how to video's on YouTube - seems spray pots are cheap as chip in the US from all the video's of conversion) or buy ready converted as I did from sprayequipment.co.uk - there's a few other sellers if you search the Interwebs for resin casting pots - your also going to need a compressor if you don't have one already. I've found with the expoxy I use currently I need to keep under pressure for at least 12 hours (preferably 24) but if your using a deep pour your likley looking at 72 hours - and keep in mind upsetting the neighbours by having a compressor running through the night.
Finally - you'll learn Zen like Patience from all the sanding you need to do to get a glass like finish, Wet & Dry upto 3000 grit works although I've started using some polishing compounds and buffing wheels which are speeding up the process hugely.
Hopefully the above won't put you off - trial & error goes a long way in the learning & satisfaction process (and in my case a tolerant wife who puts up with my "I just need this one more piece of equipment, honest it's the very last bit I'll ever need...."); if your interested you can see some of my creation attempts by searching for "Ignopti Craftworks" on YouTube.
Feel free to ping me with any other questions.
Blake
Like yourself I was tempted by resin early doors and can share the following tips that I've found having experimented over the last 18 months:
There are 2 types of resin commonly used Epoxy & Polyurethane - as noted above Polyurethane smells but allows for deeper pours apparently - I've only used Expoxy so far which also has 2 varients - quick set & deep pour (a bit missleading as deep pour is typically about an 1")
Using epoxy it's critical to get the following 3 elements correct, failing to do so can see the epoxy either boil (thermic reaction) or fail to set:
- Mixing ratio must be accurate - some do by weight, other by volume
- Ambient temperature - to hot and the resin will likely set or boil before your ready, to cold and it doesn't fully set at all
- Mixing - failure to mix the component parts thorougly will result in the resin not setting properly
I'd also note that all resin suppliers are not equal so you may need to shop around to find one that works for you - I've been using Depoxy Germany lately with good results.
Turning resin is also 'easier' with Carbide Tools, it can be done with traditional but you'll probably find your cursing a lot of the time as large chips of resin fracture off and ping around your workshop!!
A vacuum pot can be used for extracting the air out of the mixed resin prior to pouring (or as noted above used to stabilise wood) but your likely to get air bubbles again when you pour the resin, a pressure pot is the ideal as it reduces the bubbles to a size you can't see; also to note you'll likley see air emerge from the wood your bonding to so it's good to seal the wood first - I've found Sanding Sealer works a treat but you could use PVA or even brush on resin and allow to dry first. Don't be tempted to leave the bark on either as this will come away from the underlying wood over time.
Pressure pots don't come cheap over here in the UK, you can buy a paint spray pot & convert yourself (plenty of how to video's on YouTube - seems spray pots are cheap as chip in the US from all the video's of conversion) or buy ready converted as I did from sprayequipment.co.uk - there's a few other sellers if you search the Interwebs for resin casting pots - your also going to need a compressor if you don't have one already. I've found with the expoxy I use currently I need to keep under pressure for at least 12 hours (preferably 24) but if your using a deep pour your likley looking at 72 hours - and keep in mind upsetting the neighbours by having a compressor running through the night.
Finally - you'll learn Zen like Patience from all the sanding you need to do to get a glass like finish, Wet & Dry upto 3000 grit works although I've started using some polishing compounds and buffing wheels which are speeding up the process hugely.
Hopefully the above won't put you off - trial & error goes a long way in the learning & satisfaction process (and in my case a tolerant wife who puts up with my "I just need this one more piece of equipment, honest it's the very last bit I'll ever need...."); if your interested you can see some of my creation attempts by searching for "Ignopti Craftworks" on YouTube.
Feel free to ping me with any other questions.
Blake
at a early age.