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Alumilte vs Minwax Wipe On Poly

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I've got a nice Ambrosia bowl that I want a really glossy finish on. Can anyone offer a comparative opinion on using Alumilite's Amazing Clear Cast vs Minwax Wipe On Poly?

Thanks,
Grey
 
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I did not know that it set up quickly, I've never used Alumilite. I saw a guy on YouTube (SG Art Turning) use it on a maple sink he turned and it looked like it came out great. Didn't know if anyone here had messed with it.

Grey
 
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I've got a nice Ambrosia bowl that I want a really glossy finish on. Can anyone offer a comparative opinion on using Alumilite's Amazing Clear Cast vs Minwax Wipe On Poly?

Thanks,
Grey
Alumilite does not like to set up when in small amounts or thin layers. It sets with heat which it generates itself after mixing. When in very small amounts it loses this heat and it never sets up. Unless I guess you used a heat gun. As a bowl finish , I don’t think that would ever work. In my opinion.
 
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I am going to respectfully disagree with the above posters--Simon is one of my favorite YouTuber's by the way. I have finished several bowls with Alumalite and it worked beautifully! I used both regular and slow set and both worked fine. I mixed up the resing in a standard manner, popsicle stick in a clear plastic cup, and then used a foam paint brush to smooth it all over the bowl surface, I started on the inside and poured in about 2 oz's. ( this an 8" inside diameter bowl) and then used the foam brush to smooth it all around and pulled a slight bit over the edges to the outside, and then I mixed up another approx 1.5 oz's. and just dipped the brush into the resin in the cup and 'painted' the entire outside of the bowl. It developed no bubbles and looks incredible glass like coating--I sold the first bowl I did like this to the 2nd customer who came buy our booth at the last craft show we attended. The first customer fondled it and stated how much she liked it, and said she might be back! I saw the sinks Simon made and they came out incredible, I just handheld my bowl while applying the resin, and I did the very bottom of the bowl in a second application and it matched up beautifully to the rest of the bowl, where Simon mounted them to a slow spinning jig to keep the Sink rotating--probably a good idea if you have a spinning jig, but my 4-5 bowls I've done I handheld all of while applying the resin.

Try it you'll like it!!:)

PS- if you heat up the resin--especially Part B, it will thin out the viscosity a lot--I put mine in a microwave for around 45 seconds--it's a low powered microwave--so ease up on it, I heat mine till the bottle is just shy of uncomfortable to hold and it really thins out the resin, making it easier to work. And oh yeah, one of my Mentors, Nick Cook-loves wipe on Poly, but I hate it, IME it takes a bunch of coats and doesn't work great to me.
 
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Thanks for all the input. This is one of the great things about forums...you get to reach a bunch of people with different experiences. I think I'll give it a try on a sample bowl first so I can work on my application technique. I think I remember that jig Simon used to keep his bowl turning slowly while applying the Alumilite was a rotisserie spinner for a grill taped to the head stock spindle.

Grey
 
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Grey, you are right about Simon's spinning jig--the president of our woodturning club build slow turn mechs for members wanting to do slow dry poly finishes, his use variable speed DC motors very low speed and fairly good torque so they can spina large heavy piece if needed--I've been thinking of buying one myself, but for bowl finishing with Alumalite I haven't needed it yet!
 

Emiliano Achaval

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I am going to respectfully disagree with the above posters--Simon is one of my favorite YouTuber's by the way. I have finished several bowls with Alumalite and it worked beautifully! I used both regular and slow set and both worked fine. I mixed up the resing in a standard manner, popsicle stick in a clear plastic cup, and then used a foam paint brush to smooth it all over the bowl surface, I started on the inside and poured in about 2 oz's. ( this an 8" inside diameter bowl) and then used the foam brush to smooth it all around and pulled a slight bit over the edges to the outside, and then I mixed up another approx 1.5 oz's. and just dipped the brush into the resin in the cup and 'painted' the entire outside of the bowl. It developed no bubbles and looks incredible glass like coating--I sold the first bowl I did like this to the 2nd customer who came buy our booth at the last craft show we attended. The first customer fondled it and stated how much she liked it, and said she might be back! I saw the sinks Simon made and they came out incredible, I just handheld my bowl while applying the resin, and I did the very bottom of the bowl in a second application and it matched up beautifully to the rest of the bowl, where Simon mounted them to a slow spinning jig to keep the Sink rotating--probably a good idea if you have a spinning jig, but my 4-5 bowls I've done I handheld all of while applying the resin.

Try it you'll like it!!:)

PS- if you heat up the resin--especially Part B, it will thin out the viscosity a lot--I put mine in a microwave for around 45 seconds--it's a low powered microwave--so ease up on it, I heat mine till the bottle is just shy of uncomfortable to hold and it really thins out the resin, making it easier to work. And oh yeah, one of my Mentors, Nick Cook-loves wipe on Poly, but I hate it, IME it takes a bunch of coats and doesn't work great to me.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I might have to try it. It's ok to respectfully disagree, LOL. Aloha
 

john lucas

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Don't know about alumilite but around here there are several using West System epoxy and a slow turn motor for application and drying. There are also several using the same application method with brush on polyeurethane. Either one leaves a very thick clear finish. The West system leaves a finish that can be used as a sink. I use Minwax wipe on poly and get a nice thin glossy finish that I much prefer to the thicker finishes left by the other methods. I apply about 4 or 5 layers of wipe on poly and then buff it out with the Beale system. Leaves a glossy finish that doesn't look plastic. We were at a craft show this weekend and a guy had bowls that had that thick finish. It was done well without runs and looked nice. My wife said I don't like that thick glossy finish it looks fake. I have never said anything to her about that kind of finish so it's just a womans thoughts. I found this video the other day when trying to tell someone how to do the slow turn finish application. Not sure it's exactly what my friends use but similar.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9g_GRTobUg
 

Bill Boehme

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I may try Alumilite. Leveling and polishing a lacquer finish to a high gloss is a lot of work and this sounds like it would be a lot easier. Is it water clear or does it have an amber color like polyurethane?
 
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Bill it is totally clear and doesn't amber with age. I have used it a lot to make watch part pen blanks, and several of them are 8-10 years old and the resin is still crystal clear. As far as bowls go the oldest one I did with Alumalite is a little over 4 years old, and the owner tells me it looks just like the day she bought it! It was an ambrosia maple bowl.
 
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john lucas

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Interesting Don. I just read the literature the other day and if I remember correctly it said it will yellow with age. I'll have to go back and re read it. Maybe I misunderstood.
 
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Well John I don't think that's right and it certainly isn't my experience--I have a knife I made from amboyna burl and alumalite resin that is 20 years or so old and that resin is still crystal clear too.
I will say that I looked on Alumalites website recently and if I was buying some specifically for finishing bowls I might try the product they call 'Amazing Clear Cast' it is listed as being great for 'encapsulation, coating, or casting applications such as taxidermy, bar tops, potting/encapsulation, hobby, craft, prototyping, and much more.' So as it is listed specifically for coating objects it may be a better choice. I have used regular clear and water clear for coating bowls, and although the water clear is specified as having a more rigid(hard) surface I wasn't able to tell the two apart in many uses specifically in Pen blanks, they both polished up wonderfully!
 
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Bill Boehme

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I've used clear Inlace a lot which is just Reichhold Polylite 32153, an acrylester that is used to make faux marble counter tops. I've never considered using it as a finish, but maybe I'll give it a try. Being acrylic it would be much less likely to yellow than many other materials such as most types of epoxy. The potential problem with Inlace is its viscosity. Also you would need to work fast because it has about a 15 minute open time. Then it goes from thick liquid to stiff Jell-O in an instant.
 
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I've used clear Inlace a lot which is just Reichhold Polylite 32153, an acrylester that is used to make faux marble counter tops. I've never considered using it as a finish, but maybe I'll give it a try. Being acrylic it would be much less likely to yellow than many other materials such as most types of epoxy. The potential problem with Inlace is its viscosity. Also you would need to work fast because it has about a 15 minute open time. Then it goes from thick liquid to stiff Jell-O in an instant.
The potential problem with Inlace is the SMELL!
 

Bill Boehme

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You are right. I always use smelly chemicals outdoors. Having a breeze and staying upwind also helps, but that's not a perfect solution. Inlace isn't quite as bad as some other VOC's that I use like MEK, lacquer thinner, acetone, and xylene and I don't even use denatured alcohol indoors because the level of methanol in most brands of DNA has gone from just a few percent to as much as 85%. Kleen Strip now has a "green" DNA that is mostly ethanol. I have a mask with organic vapor filters that I should wear, but it isn't very comfortable so I generally don't.
 

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I used a lot of Inlace many years ago. Although it was fun to use I always got pin holes that had to be filled which was a pain. I worked in a photo darkroom for 30 years or more so smells don't bother me. :) What I did like about Inlace was the fact that it gel's quickly. You could wait until it just starts to gel and pour it into the groove cut around the outside of a bowl. You had to work quickly and keep it moving but you could fill that void all the way around while it's on the lathe. Can't do that with anything else
 
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There is a flake like additive for Inlace which allows you to use on vertical or round objects. I have started using it on my problem patches and have a piece on the lathe now with a 3/4 wide grove all the way around and worked very well . But it still had a little tack after 24 hours so leaving another day.
 

Bill Boehme

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There is a flake like additive for Inlace which allows you to use on vertical or round objects. I have started using it on my problem patches and have a piece on the lathe now with a 3/4 wide grove all the way around and worked very well . But it still had a little tack after 24 hours so leaving another day.

Are you talking about Thicken-It? The problem with that is the Inlace is no longer clear, but sort of milky. It's easier to turn the Inlace between 12 and 24 hours when it has a slight bit of tack. The longer you wait the harder it gets. After a couple weeks it's like granite.

John, I've never had pinholes in Inlace and the thing that I liked was that it didn't have imbedded bubbles like epoxy.

I try to wait until it starts to thicken slightly, but then the window is less than a minute before it's too thick.
 
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Are you talking about Thicken-It? The problem with that is the Inlace is no longer clear, but sort of milky. It's easier to turn the Inlace between 12 and 24 hours when it has a slight bit of tack. The longer you wait the harder it gets. After a couple weeks it's like granite.

John, I've never had pinholes in Inlace and the thing that I liked was that it didn't have imbedded bubbles like epoxy.

I try to wait until it starts to thicken slightly, but then the window is less than a minute before it's too thick.
Yes but I am not using clear. I use turquoise and now jade
 

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I finally remembered to look up the info from the Alumilite technical Data Sheet. Here is what they say about color stability. It's item #8 in their handout.
Alumilite Clear and Water Clear do Not contain any Mercury and are cured using a much safer tin catalyst. Mercury cure systems typically have better UV stability than tin systems which are not known for long term stability. The health and safety benefits of not using Mercury outweight the expectation of some yellowing over time. Although clear castings do not typically change drastically, you should expect some change in color. If color is added, typically no color change is ever noticed.
If I didn't make any typos that is directly from their handout. Glad to hear Don has clear because I want to try and use it sometime.
 
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