Interesting. I had a lot of voids in the resin, linen and metal shavings blanks I made. Luckily because of the brass shavings in one and the aluminum shavings in the other two I was able to easily fill the voids with CA and shavings and it blended perfectly with the blanks. I'd like to try making some more blanks eventually. Do you mind sharing what resin you used, it looks fantastic. I used fiberglass resin on the first and Castin craft on the other two. The Castin craft was easier to turn but no less smelly. If you'd rather not share your secrets I completely understand. Either way Happy turning your work is very inspirational.
I don’t really have any trade secrets. I used Mastercast 1-2-1 for my last few batches. I use Ecopoxy metallic powder for colouring as that is what my local store carries. I have green, blue and coral and sometimes do mix them. I have only made 4 all resin brushes, but have made quite a few resin/wood mixes. I am very much still learning myself, hence the creation of this thread!
How are the fumes on those products when mixing and pouring? They look like they finish quite well how are they for turning. The fiberglass resin was a pain. I definitely won't use that again.
Very low fumes. This particular resin is very hard and sort of brittle when turning. You have to take care not to chip it out. Drills easily enough for the hole. Finishes very, very well though. Mirror finish even without CA (my razor stands are bare). Earlier in the thread I mentioned the Ecopoxy casting resin, which was really inconsistent for me, but turned quite well.
Always tradeoffs I guess. Either easily turns but doesn't finish as well or turns hard but takes a spectacular finish. Didn't use a CA finish on my brush because i like the texture of the linen material in the resin. However I did put CA on my friends brush because he likes the glassy finish.
Wow actuall explosions, my experience was not nearly that negative. But that does make for a great indecent to retell and laugh about.
I wonder if adding paint made a difference. I use a powdered dye and do know there are concentrated liquid versions as well. The paint is maybe adding other ‘stuff’ to the mix as well...
Those are awesome, Jim! Technique question- on the first one, do you hand carve the flutes/recesses, or use something like a spindle sander?
I use a combination of a drum sander on my Milwalkee drill that is attached to a small wooden horse. I can sit in a chair and shape the piece. Then I finish with my Dremel and hand sanding.