Resin help!
- Thread starter Fuzzual
- Start date
i use this for some projects i've made
Smooth-Cast® 300, 300Q, 305, 310 Product Information | Smooth-On
Smooth-Cast® 300, 300Q, 305, 310 Product Information | Smooth-On
LeMarchand
Sr Member
I use smoothon smoothcast 305 for almost all my stuff. It has a worktime of about 5-10 minutes depending on temperature and volume (larger volumes tend to kick faster). For pieces that are really large and i need the extra time for mixing properly, i use 310. Smoothcast 300 (which kicks really fast) is great for small items when you need a lot of them.
exoray
Master Member
The Alumilite black and tan are both fast kicks, and they work great for quick turn open molds, but it's a thicker resin and doesn't degas as readily so that has to be considered... It's my go to resin for small parts that I need to cycle quick... Alumilite white is a little slower to kick...
I have been using a lot of Dascar RP-40 as of late, it has a VERY low viscosity and neither side separates when it's just sitting around like many other resins do... It also is much more tolerant of humidity then a lot of resins...
Fuzzual
Sr Member
WOW! This site is great, because there are soooo many of you with experience in one way or another. What I thought was a simple answer turned out to need more details from me so here we go.
I am trying to speed up the process in my R2D2 build, and I am hoping to take advantage of what I have done, and not have to duplicate it for the other 3 units that I want for my poker room. that said . . .
1. I need to duplicate the smaller parts of the body, detail on the legs, dome, etc.
2. (Most important) I want to cast the feet/pads. They took me nearly a month to build, and they are made of several parts, so I would like to cast them. The biggest problem, is that I am unsure how to go about this. Do I make an outer cast, then an inner cast so they are thick enough to support weight, attach the wheels, etc.
Now that you have a little more, and pictures, I would love some advice. This first droid has taken me nearly two years to get to this point, and I would love to have three, but I don't want to wait four more years
I am trying to speed up the process in my R2D2 build, and I am hoping to take advantage of what I have done, and not have to duplicate it for the other 3 units that I want for my poker room. that said . . .
1. I need to duplicate the smaller parts of the body, detail on the legs, dome, etc.
2. (Most important) I want to cast the feet/pads. They took me nearly a month to build, and they are made of several parts, so I would like to cast them. The biggest problem, is that I am unsure how to go about this. Do I make an outer cast, then an inner cast so they are thick enough to support weight, attach the wheels, etc.
Now that you have a little more, and pictures, I would love some advice. This first droid has taken me nearly two years to get to this point, and I would love to have three, but I don't want to wait four more years
exoray
Master Member
My sincere advise is that you find someone experienced in your area to help with such a large and "costly" molding process... You could easily waste $1000 in "ooops" mistakes on a mold that size...
If you can't find anyone local I would suggest you mock up some smaller 'simiar' shaped pieces and simply practice... Get a slower resin for the simple reason that you will have more time to play around with mixing and pouring, the fast kick resins like Alumilite almost have to be used on pure instinct with little thought process on larger parts or else it kicks mid pour...
You are going to want to slush cast or two part mold those vs a solid block that would be resin wasteful...
If you can't find anyone local I would suggest you mock up some smaller 'simiar' shaped pieces and simply practice... Get a slower resin for the simple reason that you will have more time to play around with mixing and pouring, the fast kick resins like Alumilite almost have to be used on pure instinct with little thought process on larger parts or else it kicks mid pour...
You are going to want to slush cast or two part mold those vs a solid block that would be resin wasteful...
Fuzzual
Sr Member
I see your point. The legs themselves can easily be made of wood, which they are now. They don't take too terribly long. But am I right in thinking that the smaller parts that the image arrows are pointing too, would be best casted?
And about the foot pads? Too much to resin cast? Any thoughts on a better method for them, cost if obviously a slight factor. Thus far the entire project has only run me $200 or so.
Thanks again for the advice!
