Which resin for casting

The advanced formula clear resins set with fewer air bubbles than most available formulas. However, no water clear polyurethane casting resin is completely bubble free. Therefore, the use of a pressure pot is recommended to perfect the casting without bubbles. The advantage of polyurethane resins over polyester resins is that these formulas are very low in odor compared to carcinogenic producing smells of polyester resins.

Our polyurethane resins are also the perfect choice for cold casting when combined with our metal, stone and wood powders to create beautiful cold castings that exhibit the realistic look of rich metals, stone and wood.. As a caution, polyurethane is very moisture sensitive.

It will not cure well in humid climates or in molds that contain water. You can color polyurethane before casting using our Circius Polyurethane Dyes. Polyurethane Resin. Home Casting Materials Polyurethane Resin. View as Grid List. Show 12 24 36 All. Polyester resin is a diverse material that has many uses, making it imperative to many different manufacturing projects. There are a range of different kinds of polyester resin casting materials, including clear casting resin, G P resin, multi-purpose resin and gel coat resin.

Each kind of polyester resin has its own individual properties and strengths, making it useful for different kinds of projects. Polyurethane resin is most commonly used for the casting of model kits, figures, foundry tooling and pattern making. One of the advantages of working with polyurethane resin is that it is a very fast working material, with easy mixing. Polyurethane resin has a low odour and also low viscosity which makes it ideal for filling intricate moulds. An epoxy resin is used for casting, embedding, cold enamelling and coating on your project.

As it is a self-levelling and non-shrinking material, it will adhere to most surfaces. Since airbrush paints are also very easy to mix and have a high luminosity, they are generally used very often for coloring casting resins. Unfortunately, this high quality also has its downside: Airbrush paints are comparatively expensive compared to other acrylic or water-based paints.

Pure pigment powder can also be used very well for coloring casting resins. But you should mix pigment powder with the resin casting resin before adding the hardener.

Usually, a minimum dosage is sufficient when using pure pigments. Pigments can be bought in all possible color variations from metallic, shiny colors to matt colors.

We recommend you not to pay too much attention to the price when choosing your pigments: Only the high-quality products from recognized brand manufacturers can satisfy with light-fastness and correspondingly high color quality.

In this way, you can ensure that your cast resin artwork will still impress with brilliant colors and a non-fading color structure even after several weeks and months. In general, it can be stated in a simplified way that the surfaces of cured epoxy resins are usually much harder than the surfaces of fully cured casting resins. However, the lower hardness does not necessarily have to be a problem.

On the contrary, depending on the project, it may even be advantageous if the surface, due to its lower hardness, allows a certain degree of adaptation to other materials processed with it, such as wood or glass. For example, wood can expand or shrink depending on humidity and temperature.

You should, therefore, consider individually for each work project whether these properties are desirable or undesirable.

A coating with epoxy resin and thus the decision for a particularly abrasion-resistant and solid sealant will be the right choice, for example, for a table or other surfaces subject to intensive mechanical stress. However, this can also be achieved for wooden tables after processing with casting resin by applying a hard finish of epoxy resin or laminating resin as a protective layer.

Casting resins and epoxy resins are generally about equally susceptible to the problem of air bubbles trapped in the material. From a purely physical point of view, of course, these air bubbles can escape from the much thinner layers more quickly and easily when working with epoxy resin than from a thicker layer of casting resin. But working with casting resins makes up for this supposed disadvantage in another way: Since the time until the liquid material hardens is considerably longer, the air bubbles can also rise more during this time and thus eventually burst at the surface.

But there are other methods to limit the formation of air bubbles from the outset, even when casting thick layers of casting resin: If you work with porous surfaces such as wood, there is a risk that air bubbles will escape from the material and thus get into the casting resin. If these surfaces are first sealed with a thin layer of epoxy resin, the escape of air bubbles into the casting resin can be prevented. You can proceed in a similar way if you want to embed objects in your casting resin.

Especially for wood, we always recommend sealing with epoxy resin to minimize the number of air bubbles. We recommend the use of a modern digital scale for an optimal mixing ratio of casting resin and hardener.

However, there are also cast resin systems where the perfect mixture is calculated by volume. These can be measured with a suitable measuring cup.

With casting resin, you should use polished silicone molds, which works best for casting resin. Buy it. Buy: Dr. Powered by WordPress. Our Sites. Close the menu Menu. ARTnews Expand the sub menu.