Converted a paint reservoir to a pressure pot and decided to play with some resins while I wait on an aluminum shipment. Not too bad for a quick expirement. I do like these metallic powders. I ordered some silicone for making molds. I'm going to try making a 2 in diameter mold for making blanks that fit in my 7/8" collette on my mill. I'll post an update once that is done. I still need to tune the program but soon I'll be able to load the blank, push go have a brush that just needs to be parted. I will need some better chip evacuation. Need to think that one through.
I think anyone who's turning their own brushes is probably handy. We do most our home improvements ourselves. Also, I have a friend who does custom construction. He's told me several times that remodeling the whole house is always more expensive than bulldozing and starting over, but you can't really bring back that vintage look and feel.
I'll be doing a lot of brush making over the next few weeks. I plan to make a bunch of these in aluminum, but decided to make one from resin while I wait. I mixed resin and divided it into 4 cups with 4 different colors of mica powder when the resin hit 90° F I poured all 4 colors in the same cup then poured that into a 2" cylinder shaped mold and put that in a pressure pot at 50 psi for 12 hours. I like the results but I wonder how I can get more integrated marbling without over mixing.
What kind of resin are you pouring? I usually wait till my resin gets to about 100 degrees F then pour. I get better color separation at slightly higher temps but it can be a bit of a gamble if you wait to long. I've had a couple batches flash and set on me.
I'm using Epoxy Resin from East Coast Resin. The only other resin I have experience with is Art 'N Glow which does take longer to harden. This stuff goes from 90 to about 110 in nothing flat. The first time I tried I spent about 20 min waiting for it to hit 80 degrees, it hit 95 degrees before I checked, and hardened before I could mix the colors. Perhaps that's a selling point for the more expensive resins. Even with my limited experience I've noticed this stuff goes from runny to hard very quickly. Just curious, what resins do you prefer?
I primarily use epoxy resins by Oak Brook or Royal Palm, who is unfortunately out of business now. I mix my resins fully then immediately mix the pigment in then wait for it to come up to temp. I just saw a 3d printed segmented paint cup that I'm thinking about trying sometime.
Edit: I also mix in the pigments right after mixing the resin. When it hits temp I just pour it onto the same container and then pour it into the mold so it strings together in the final pour. Very interesting. I'm very new to resin as I've only made 4 resin brushes, but I've poured 3x that in blanks, call it the learning curve. Anyway I use 3D printed molds. I could easily print a removable partition that can be lifted out when the resin gets to temp. That mighy look pretty cool. It would be unique. Do you have a 3D printer?
I pour directly from my mixing cups into my molds. On multi color pours I usually pour two colors at a time and kind of layer as I pour to get better color dispersion. This is the 3D printed cup I mentioned. I do have a 3D printer so I think I will print a couple of these to try them out the next time I pour.
These are awesome, Evan. Was there a commercially available example you used, or did you design these yourself?
That post was from @Scott Strangfeld, but the design is available on Thingiverse. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4609370 Might be the perfect excuse to buy that 3D printer you've been wanting.
…Thanks for that, Evan. I've bought myself a new Driver and a set of Irons, a few days before decent Kayaks for SWMBO and I. Methinks that if a 3D Printer arrived in the mail these days, a coupon for a marriage counsellor should probably accompany it... I see that some are available commercially:
You purchased golf clubs for you, kayaks for both of you, the 3D printer is for her. You're not selling it right. It's not a 3D printer, its a path to a glow-in-the-dark baby yoda or an endless supply of low quality drawer organizers.
I was going to mention you don't fashion up a lid, you score a lid. But you can do it your way. Anyway, nice job Patrick! I like it! Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
Mill turning is interesting. The mill spindles tend to turn faster but with far less torque. But, you use what you have and my lathe is as simple as they come. Sorry for the chatter. It's a combination of a worn tool and lack of rigidity. I'm sure my feed rate could use some tuning as well.
I agree completely. Right now I am trying Kool Mist Formula 77. It seems to work well. It's a water soluble oil which seems to just evaporate or be carried away with the swarf. I was using 0w synthetic engine oil but it just made a mess.