Working on a new handmade moon and star pendant. This is Part 1 showing the raw wood shaping, carving, and oiling process to bring out the natural grains before the final resin polish. Let me know what you think of the progress so far.
Finished this resin Bulbasaur and wanted to share the process.
Started with priming in gray, then built up base coats, added layering for depth, used washes/shading to bring out the details, and finished with a gloss varnish to seal everything.
The bulb was the trickiest part — took a few glaze layers to get the green tones looking right without losing the shading underneath.
Might do the rest of the starter lineup next if there's interest. Happy to answer questions about the process.
I am using a mold release spray that had good reviews and says it's for silicone. I brushed it on and let it fully dry before pouring the second layer as the instructions indicate. They bonded together fully. There is no getting it apart without ripping/cutting it.
I've even tried pulling it apart with pliers along where the seam should be to see if the bond had a weak spot and would split where it needs to. It does not.
I tried again with a very thick layer of mold release spray that took several hours to dry under a fan to see if that helped. It did dry to a chalky white layer. But once I poured the second silicone layer, same result.
The mold release spray does however work well on the plastic container I poured it in and the objects I am casting, it just won't prevent silicone from bonding to itself.
Is there something else I could be using for this that would be better?
I’ve never experienced this with my other molds. I get the air bubbles out, and I tap the mold so everything is spread out evenly. What am I doing wrong?
Hi All,
I am an artist and want to divide my designs across several 20 × 20 cm wooden blocks made from pine or spruce, finishing them with epoxy to add gloss and depth. I'm using the Mr. Boat Epoxy Ultra Clear 03.
However, I am experiencing a problem with the epoxy finish. I have attached several photographs showing the blocks and the issue that appears in the top layer during or after curing. The epoxy does not cure to a completely smooth finish. A type of texture remains in the surface, resembling greasy marks or stains. The surface is also not completely level and smooth.
I thought it was amine blush but i can't remove it with water & soap, it's not a layer that's on top but really in the resin itself.
The photographs were, of course, taken from very close up and directly against the light. At first glance, the effect is therefore less noticeable, but the finish is not good enough for me to sell the pieces.
The wooden blocks are prepared as follows:
My current epoxy process is as follows:
I have now worked with epoxy products from several different brands. The Mr. Boat epoxy has given me the best result so far, but the finish is still not quite as smooth as I need it to be. I initially suspected that the issue might be amine blush, but the residue or surface texture cannot be washed off with water.
Do you have any idea what might be causing this recurring problem and how I could achieve a perfectly smooth, mirror-like finish? I would like to avoid having to sand and polish every individual block afterwards.
Thanks in advance for all help and replies .
Wouter
Based on a Korean novel series called "Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea" about a dentist who gets trapped in a deep sea base.
Had fun designing all the small props, 3d printing and painting them, but looks like alcohol ink got to some of them and made some "happy accidents"
Lots of mistakes made & lessons learned
I've seen these kitty/bunny charms on pinterest (from multiple different sellers). Does anyone know where I can find the mold to make these?
I made this yesterday using a starter resin kit and I didn’t know how to measure the right amount of resin which is a little dumb, but hey! It’s my first time! And I’m progressing good! Kinda…
I have a thick resin for coating 3d prints that was extremely expensive for small bottles, but is used in very small amounts.
It's a 2:1 mix ratio. I realize the more you're making the higher the margin of error is, but I only need maybe 2-4ml mixed at a time. When I've used it so far I'm using syringes for it, but I need to use about 12ml total volume of both to actually get a fairly accurate measurement, and a lot goes to waste.
It's used to just brush on the top of the surface as thin as possible to get a light coat.
Smaller syringes don't work, since it's too thick and traps a lot of bubbles if the container is too narrow like an extremely small syringe is.
Any ideas? It needs to be super accurate at these tiny measurements. I thought of using a set of teaspoons, but I worry what's left behind coating the spoon would be enough to throw off the measurement even.
i feel at such a loss lol. i’m looking for an opaque beige colour for korilakkumas face and literally can’t find any. how on earth am i supposed to get this colour???
After I do my first try of making a resin orb with the starter set, I wanna see if I can make my own GAO Crystals for my own project and game itself. If anyone got a solution for that please let me know before I start misunderstanding this custom resin ball stuff.
I've been making small clear resin pieces like this recently, and the finishing step is always the hardest part for me.
My current rotary tool works, but the speed control isn't great and it feels difficult to get precise when I'm trying to smooth small edges or polish detailed areas. I'm thinking about upgrading to something better.
Right now I'm deciding between the Let's Resin rotary tool and the Resiners cordless rotary tool kit.
What I care about most:
better speed control (especially for delicate resin pieces)
more precise sanding/polishing
enough attachments for different finishing steps
comfortable to use for longer sessions
I usually work on clear resin pieces with embedded elements, so I need something that can remove small imperfections without taking too much material off.
Has anyone here used either of these two? Which one would you recommend for resin casting and polishing?
Would love to hear your experience before I pick one.
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Hi everyone, I’m having a problem with getting a rough surface finish when casting jewelry printed with BlueCast X-Wax Filigree. After printing, I wash the pieces in 99% IPA for 5 minutes, dry them completely, give them a second IPA bath for 2 minutes, and cure them for 10 minutes. I’m using Infinity Premium casting powder, initially at a 40:100 powder-to-water ratio and also tried 38:100. I vacuum the investment for about 2:30 minutes, pour it into a 2.5 × 7 inch flask, then vacuum it again for another 2:30 minutes and let it set for around 3 hours. For burnout, I’m following the BlueCast cycle of 150°C for 2 hours, 450°C for 2 hours, and 730°C for 3 hours. I’m casting 925 silver and have tried different flask temperatures of 580°C, 600°C and 650°C, as well as silver temperatures of 980°C, 1000°C, 1020°C and 1050°C, but the surface is still coming out rough. The printed pieces look smooth before casting, so I’m trying to figure out where the problem is. Could the issue be the investment ratio, washing/curing, burnout cycle, flask temperature, silver temperature, silver quality, or something else? I’d really appreciate your advice on what I should change first.
hi! i drew a design on my clear phone case (hard plastic back) using a Sakura Gelly Roll classic white pen (gel pen not acrylic :/). i googled and it said it would get scratched off if i didn’t seal it, but google is recommending me contradicting answers (use mod podge, don’t use it, use a krylon spray, etc) so does anyone have any experience/tips?
my design also has small dots and lines very close together so i wanted to use a spray but was scared it would run/drip or become cloudy. thanks!
Was working on this project for almost two years now, process was very difficult as I aimed for perfect surface for these lamps!
Instructions say one thing, claim one thing, the chemistry says one thing, guidelines... then in reality another thing happens.
Oh no silpoxy is so expensive, but that's the "Only way" to glue so they claim, go to the hardware store, 3euro a tube of high quality fish tank silicone and it works the same, smells the same, behaves the same, and I have colors, oh wait you need more colors, surely this hardware store silicone is not compatible with silicone paint, I mean it's chemically incompatible, oh wait, it still works fine.
Superglue won't work on this ultra soft platinum silicone, wait... it glued... well, too well... now it's stuck, this wasn't the plan.
Oh you want to add mineral spirits to hardware store caulk to thin it out?... xylene... and this mystery chemical, go on; then treat the platinum silicone with that, these are incompatible, and that's plat silicone solvent, nevermind it still glued like mad to the silicone.
Oh you want to pour platinum silicone on top of that, to paint it, using silicone like paint, that mess of xylene, mineral spirits and caulk... No it will poison it!... wait, it actually created an EVEN STRONGER bond, while the same solution peeled off the "good" area.
Oh you can't glue plastic/resin to silicone, please... let me put all these chemicals combined, superglue, and a mosquito net and baking soda too for good measure because I watched it on an idian video, it glued.
Glass and plat silicone, metal, glued, no problem. Add hair and fur, behold, the method...
There's no info, no guides, and seemingly no logic to follow.
Which I find odd, like... plat silicone has been around for ages.
Where is all that information?... why does it feel like reinventing the wheel...? Just why is it test after test and no information online or anywhere?... not even AI knows what to do. This is getting very expensive, I have so many sheets of platinum silicone I have ruined, my floor is covered in silicon and solvents and my work area has been like that for the last 2 years just test after test, and got raging headache from so many chemicals and microplastics; Where is the info?...
Same Lego skeleton for scale
Just looking for some opinions from other resin crafters, are the bubbles are distracting from the pendant? This is for a gift so I don’t want it to look messy. I think I know what I did wrong in causing the bubbles, but I still like how this one came out and don’t want to toss it.