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Where to purchase resin

Philip Ralph

Philip Ralph

Joined
Jul 11, 2018
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Location
Marshfield, MO
I have used resin a couple times and have liked the results that I’ve gotten I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share where they get their resin, there is quite a few places out there but price points seem to jump quite a bit. I’m a new turner, so I would like to know which resins work best and are easiest to work with.

Thanks so much!
 
Like John said, there are hundreds of types of resin ... epoxy, polyester, urethane, many types of casting or finishing resins that would be of interest to woodturners. Could you give more information about what you want to do?
 
There are also the wood hardener resins that are used on wood blanks to harden softer woods and stabilize the grain for turning.
 
This shows you how little I know.
I’ve made a walnut and casting resin pen and loved it.

Is that not what products like alumilite are, casting resin? I need to do some more research I guess. I just want to make more pens and maybe some bowls and didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg.
 
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I don't do much of that but have used casting resins from Hobby Lobby. There are lots of varieties. I've use several and all worked. I hear lots of good things about Alumilite.
 
I don't do any of that myself, but I have seen demos of using products like Cactus Juice and Alumilite. Cactus Juice is for stabilizing wood while Alumilite will fill large voids.I have used Inlace a lot for doing decorative inlays. Inlace is actually Reichhold Polylite 32153-00 orthophthalic casting resin that has been repackaged in small quantities for artists working in various media. The product is primarily used for manufacturing faux marble, granite, and onyx countertops. Another two part resin is bar top finish which I haven't tried. I've used Minwax Wood Hardener which is mainly used to harden soft punky wood on exterior window sills, porch columns, and other architectural features. It cures by evaporation of some really noxious VOC's. It's hard to avoid making a mess when using it. Use it only outdoors and avoid breathing the fumes. I probably lost a few brain cells each time that I used it.
 
When I was in pen production I used resin from US Composites called "Silmar 41 Clear Polyester Casting Resin". I bought it by the gallons. It is also very reasonably priced.
 
Lamar Wright said:
When I was in pen production I used resin from US Composites called "Silmar 41 Clear Polyester Casting Resin". I bought it by the gallons. It is also very reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

That sounds very similar to Inlace. Both use the same ratio of resin to MEKP catalyst.
 
from a very serious pen maker, take my word the best to use is Alumalite--there isn't any place I've found that discounts it though--so I either buy it from Curtis Seebeck at Turntex https://www.turntex.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=121
or direct from Alumalite. Curtis is a great guy and the Cactus Juice originator. Alumalite turns beautifully and you can come up with cool color schemes easily--I especially like the Alumadust powders. I frequently stabilize chunks of burly/punky wood with Cactus Juice and then cast them in a mold with Alumalite to make 'wasted wood' blanks---just beautiful IMO

Good luck with your casting---PS, California Air tools paint pressure pot-5 gals- converts to a casting pressure pot easily and is the best reasonably priced option I could find. This is the best deal on one I could find: https://www.maxtool.com/california-...78bGio7GfMpJl9lEpQrl5cRSzFaOl9MRoCBjAQAvD_BwE
 
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Polyester resin you used before is very likely not the same as epoxy resin. At the minimum, viscosity and color will be different. If you want to get informed on pen casting, go to http://www.penturners.org
There you will find that if you use a casting resin or epoxy resin, you shouldn't use the manufacturer's recommended mixing ratio. It's too brittle for pens. Also tons of help on wood drying before casting, molds, colors, etc...
 
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