[Katherine Swift]

This question comes from Ann:

Hi Katherine! Thank you so much for all your awesome tutorials! I couldn’t find the answer to my question on your site. I am making a memorial piece for my friend and I wanted to do both a pandora bead and sphere. The inner layer with ashes with hair wrapped around it when dried then another coat of resin. I’ve worked with resin before and have been practicing for this piece. I can’t seem to get the hair technique down. How do you suggest I do a hair inclusion wrapped around the pandora bead and one wrapped around a sphere? Is there a clear drying glue you prefer? Lastly, is there any way to repair little holes on my resin pieces? I often find little defects like holes on my euro bead and want to keep the color of the bead and not add putty that looks off in color in comparasion with bead.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Ann,

Thank you for the kind words.

I’m having a hard time visualizing what you want for your bead. You want both the ashes and hair inside the bead and/or sphere or do you want the hair on the outside of both?

As for repairing little holes in your resin pieces, I would suggest recoating with another layer of resin. These holes are usually caused by bubbles in the resin resting up next the mold while the piece cures. The bubble then forms a void. You can avoid these in the future by taking these steps:

1. Make sure your resin is as bubble free as possible before pouring.
2. Warm your mold before pouring the resin.
3. Roll a small amount of resin inside the mold before pouring a larger amount. This will help to break the surface tension.

[Katherine Swift]

Response from Ann:

This is the closest I can find online to what I mean. That yellow part would be ashes. And the hair would have this effect.

I’ve tried warming my resin, pouring in layers, but tiny holes sometimes appear. Can they be repaired without impacting color?

Thank you so much!!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Ann,

It’s going to be difficult to have the ashes not interfere with being able to see the hair. In the case of the bead above, it looks like the maker made the resin slightly opaque (with either yellow or white). The hair is dark enough that you can see through the resin.

As for microbubbles, I would suggest using the tips on my last post. You can try using the Resin Obsession super clear resin as well. When mixed carefully, bubbles are almost never a problem. Yes, you can repair the bubbles by covering with another layer of resin, but it may distort the perfect shape of your sphere. It should not impact the color.

[Beshoy]

I will definitely try the resin tips ty!

As for the hair effect, how would I be able to recoat a bead with resin after wrapping the bead with hair? I think it’s meaningful to her that both are there despite visibility.

Also, is there a transparent glue you can recommend to attach the hair?
Thank you again

[Katherine Swift]

I would prop the bead up coat and recoat with resin similar to what you see here: https://www.resinobsession.com/forums/topic/looking-for-tray-to-help-with-dripping-resin Make sure you put wax, wax paper or something similar over the tip of the toothpick, otherwise, the resin will cement your bead to the toothpick. You can also try to find a way to suspend the bead while painting with another layer of resin. (Yes, more tricky)0

Are you looking to put the hair on the outside of the bead, then recoat with another layer of resin?

[Beshoy]

That is exactly what I wanted to do 🙂 I will check out that forum ty! I just need to make sure it’s perfect because of the nature of the piece.

[Katherine Swift]

To attach the hair to the outside of the bead, I would suggest a 5 minute, two-part epoxy. You can find them at hardware stores. Mix up a tiny amount, then use it to adhere the hair to the bead. (Work quickly!) It will then be compatible with another layer of slower curing resin.

[laura]

When I make a pandora style bead with hair, I put it in my first (and only) cast. I push it towards the outside with a toothpick.

[CHRISTY Robinson]

Laura, how do you add the hair so that it stays centered around the middle of the bead and not sink or float?

[Katherine Swift]

This article shows how to use pet hair to make resin beads: https://www.resinobsession.com/resin-tutorials/how-to-make-pet-hair-beads/

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