[Katherine Swift]

Hi Patty,

Your best options are colors that are specifically designed to color resin. These will give you consistent results every time and also ensure that your resin cures properly. Of course, there are other things that work well to color resin, but use caution as your curing may be affected. Here are some ideas:

https://resinobsession.com/resin-art/resin-painting-additives
https://resinobsession.com/resin-resin-resin/experimenting-with-resin-colors

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Judi,

I’m not sure what product you are referring to, but any clear-drying, white glue would work to seal the papers onto a tile. You could also use the resin gloss sealer spray as well. You can find it here: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray

I don’t have any experience using Art Resin on tiles for coasters, so I don’t know heat resistant they would be after curing. In general, coasters will do well with warm mugs, but not hot mugs (like straight from the microwave).

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Rachel,

I would suggest pouring in more layers. For example, you might want to pour your first third, let it start to cure, then pour your next third. Place the flowers in the middle third and allow it to start curing. Finish with your last third. You are right in that waiting for the resin to cure, then placing your flowers, makes it more likely you will introduce bubbles that will be hard to get out later.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Alice,

Casting resin beads is challenging! The best advice I can give you is to cast in the mold a few times to learn how much resin to pour. Resin will shrink a bit as it cures, so you want to overpour enough that it will become even after curing. If not, you will need to sand it to make it even.

Your other option is to use bead caps. With those, the ‘ugly’ ends are hidden under the caps, so no one has to know they aren’t even. 😉

Good luck!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Karen,

A few comments here. (and we won’t judge for the spelling mistakes 🙂 )

Envirotex Lite will work for coating artwork. If it is old, however, that may be part of the reason why it didn’t cure.

If you did not mix the resin thoroughly enough, that is another reason why the resin didn’t cure.

Not mixing anything else into the resin simplifies things. i.e. there isn’t anything else in the resin that could be attracting moisture that could affect curing.

I don’t buy hardware store resins for projects so it’s hard for me to know whether or not it should have worked in this case. The most important thing you need for this project is a self-leveling resin. That is most easily found in a two-part epoxy resin that domes.

As for salvaging what you have, you are going to have to scrape every last bit of wet resin off this project. A baby wipe will help. If the resin is simply a little sticky, that will recoat okay. If it’s gooey, it has to go.

Recoat with another layer of resin. If it were me, I would use the Resin Obsession artwork resin:

https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/resin/resin-obsession-artwork-resin

A gallon is a lot of resin to mix together, especially for a newbie. You might want to break that up into a pint or so at a time to make sure you get a good mix. Some extra hand to help you with mixing might be good too.

Good luck!

[Katherine Swift]

@Dave, it’s normal for the surface exposed to air during polyester resin curing to remain tacky even after the resin underneath has cured hard. You will either need to sand off the surface or coat with a spray. This is the one I like to use: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray

[leah]

i’ve used old resin with mixed results. one kind refused to cure after a year (though i had issues with it curing when it wasn’t as old, either) and another (ice resin) was nearly two years old and had yellowed but otherwise cured just fine. i’d recommend trying yours on a smaller project that you won’t care if it turns out or not.

[Laura Franks]

I would make a mold or take measurements of the inside of the stump and pour the resin indoors. That way no chemicals will get into the soil, you won’t have curing issues and you still get what you want.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Elizabethe,

I’m not sure resin is going to work for your project under these circumstances. There are a few challenges here:

1. Resin hates moisture. There is no way to dry the tree stump, so I’m not sure the resin will cure.
2. The tree stump is going to release a lot of bubbles into the resin while it is curing. I would not expect your resin to be bubble free after curing.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with using resin in this type of situation. A polyester marine resin would be what I would try first, but I would be worried about shrinkage/movement as the tree expands and contracts with the weather. I don’t know how much it will hurt the tree. If the stump is dead, I don’t know that you have anything to lose. It’s hard to say, however, how long the casting will last. It will definitely yellow over time and I don’t know that it will survive freezing temperatures without cracking.

[Rossella]

I had the same problem but with warm temperature. I used a slow curing epoxy resin in a mini glass vial and it cracked after curing. I knew that polyesther resin expands and epoxy slightly shrink, but so much for such a small amount….unbelievable! So I’ll go in creating with resin and excluding glass till we’ll find a solution!

[Katherine Swift]

Paint can should work provided the resin has room to drip off and hit the floor. Otherwise, if it drips off but pools on the paint can, you will have done a great job of gluing wooden pedestals to a paint can.

I don’t have enough wood experience to know whether or not the wood choice makes a difference. I do know that you will need to seal it because bubbles will come up later during curing. A clear, acrylic based product will do well.

What is your experience level with resin? That will help me guide you as to a choice.

[Katherine Swift]

What a neat project Judy! Here’s what I know if I were to attempt this.

Final resin cure strength is dependent on the resin. i.e. Some resins cure very hard and brittle, others cure soft and pliable. I don’t know that adding fiberglass fibers is going to make the resin stronger. Instead, if you are worried that people would try to break off the ends, I would use a resin that cures a little ‘bendy’. That way if someone does grab it, it’s not going to snap.

However, all that said, at the thickness you are casting, a hard curing resin might be suitable. I would suggest casting a length (no branch necessary) in the resin you are considering. Demold and put it up like you intend to display it. Have friends and family touch it, try to break it, etc. It might be fine…. But if it is a long piece, maybe not.

P.S. I would love to know what you end up doing. Please report back how it goes!

[Katherine Swift]

Sure, you can drip wax into the mold, cast, then remove the wax after curing.

To remove the wax, I would scrape out what I could with my fingernail, then pass over the cured resin with a heat gun or a hair dryer to warm the wax up and let it seep out.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Christine,

I have reposted your questions and will insert my comments in between.

Hi new to resin and I’m unsure what you meant about using the release in between two pours. Do you mean if you are putting a layer of clear then letting it cure before putting ink or something like glitter and then putting another layer of resin?

—-I don’t recall sharing anything about a release in between pours. A mold release is something I use in a mold before pouring resin. What you are describing with pouring layers, allowing them to cure, then pouring more layers is definitely something you should do if you want your casting to look like it has multiple layers.

Do you need to spray silicone or hard plastic molds first? I tried opaque resin in silicone and it fell out.

—-Yes. I always use a mold release whether I am using plastic or silicone molds.

I’m also wondering why most take so long to cure and this was hard in 10 mins.

—-It depends on the resin. Some have a short pot and cure time, while others do not. When you purchase the resin, this information should be readily available in the product description and the packaging.

Lastly can you drop food coloring in resin or does it have to be some expensive dye? Could you mix it in as you mix the two parts?

—-In general, colorants designed specifically for resin work the best. You will get a consistent color and curing is not affected. Unfortunately, food coloring does not work for resin. If you are looking for some other coloring ideas, this article will help:

https://resinobsession.com/resin-resin-resin/experimenting-with-resin-colors

I’m going to watch more of your stuff but I want to buy the resin so I’d prefer to get the release of absolutely necessary. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge.

—-You are welcome! Happy to help. 🙂

[Angel]

Unfortunately the are cracked, cracked,I took out the eyepins to see if the cracked ones were fixable but I can stick my mail in the crack and pull the resin apart. I tried to band some too see if I could maybe get the cracks flush enough to resin over but it didn’t want to budge.

I primarily use the art resin so I did some more reading on it. I do warm up the resin and hardener in a bath, measure with disposable measuring cups and mix for about 5 minutes, then let it sit for 5 to let the bubbles start rising out before using it. The art resin sir suggests not scraping the sides of mixing cup before transferring it to another cup, so I might try that.

Also my boyfriend said that it may have more to do with the eyepin itself. Art resin is a little bendy compared to ezcast. But he said that maybe I need to drill bigger holes for the eyepin instead of just a pilot hole because with storing temperature changing night to day (+/-50 to -/+100) that the metal itself is expanding and contacting. Since I didn’t see any problem till it started getting over 85+, I’m going to try the bigger pilot holes on the ones that haven’t cracked, and monitor working and curing temperatures a little more closely. I’ll keep playing with them. 🙂