which resin for casting..?

NikNak · 27 Feb 2012

Hi guys

I've got a piece of wood that's full of holes/voids, and i'd like to try infusing this with resin before turning.

Question is which resin is best for turning purposes..?

Epoxy?, Polyester?, Vynlester? etc.

I'm gona take a punt here and guess that Epoxy will be too hard and brittle to turn, but could be wrong...
Vynlester won't be 'clear' enough (the ones i've used in the past were very dark in colour)
Which leaves the Polyester.... the cheapest(?) of the bunch.

Anyway.... your thoughts / input please.

As always, cheers in advance.

Nick

Roger C · 28 Feb 2012

Nick polyester will do fine. I have tried it and found that you must mix the catalyst and resin very well else the wood is inclined to absorb the catalyst Regards Roger C

John. B · 28 Feb 2012

Nick,

If you have more of the wood, you could create some fine sawdust or sanding dust,

fill the holes/voids then put in some thin CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue. job done.

Alternatively put in some brass or aluminium dust (commercially available) followed by CA glue.

Both turn well and can look good. (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

John. B

nev · 28 Feb 2012

I purchased some of this stuff ...
http://www.cfsnet.co.uk/acatalog/CFS_Ca ... n_245.html
which works a treat for casting your own blanks and does polish to a glass (ok plastic!) type finish, though not sure whether you can colour it and use it as a filler.

Previous to that i used the resin from a fibreglass repair kit from halfrauds which does work as a filler but it dries an amber colour.

I think George is your man for all things resin and wood based maybe there's some clues on his blog? http://fromthetreewoodturning.blogspot.com/

jumps · 28 Feb 2012

Nick

What a coincidence; only yesterday I was playing with a lump of spalted beech that, unfortunately, had gone too far - but persevered for fun really. Copious SS was getting me nowhere, and although I used a fair bit of CA and sawdust on the outside it became obvious that the actual integrity of the piece was at risk as well when the inside was (carefully) turned.

Looking at it again this morning, my thoughts were along the lines of 'I wonder if I could use a clear casting resin on the inside, and leave the outside as wood.....?'

Will be ordering some of the stuff recommended on here for encapsulating 'stuff' for pen turning (when I can find the bookmark!)

John. B · 28 Feb 2012

This is a pen I made for a friend with the same resin as Nev used. http://www.cfsnet.co.uk/acatalog/CFS_Ca ... n_245.html
A photo embeded in the clear cast resin.
It is brittle so to turn it you need to take extreme care with very sharp tools.
You also can get micromesh made for plastics, used with water it makes a slurry which starts the polishing sequence, ending up with a glass like finish.

John. B