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Alumilite Clear

Bucks

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Yes, the polyester does smell...strongly. Personally I don't mind the smell, but I'm sure some find it objectionable (it's strong/overpowering when you're actually casting and in the same room, but after that I find the smell OK). Why not just get a small amount and try it, maybe on a day when the family are out? The smell may linger for a couple of days, but I wouldn't think it would be overpowering for that long. And I certainly wouldn't worry too much about using it in an attached garage, as long as you keep the door firmly shut, unless someone in the family really hated the smell.

We've now cast a few blanks using the Polyester resin with no ill effects, we use organic vapour resipirators while casting (which is a must) but with keeping the windows open in the casting room & room next door we are managing to just contain the smell to the casting room :phew:
 

Bucks

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We've only been stabilising & casting our own blanks for a week or two, but getting pretty good results, I'll get a few photos sorted over the weekend as I've been so busing tranforming the kids playroom into a casting/store room, also we've been very busy making our own silicone mould's!
 

Paul hd

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Quick update.

The Amazing Clear cast has a totally different feel now that I have mixed by volume rather than weight.
When I was weighing parts A & B the surface would have a slight tacky feel after a day. Weighing by volume it feels like glass hard after a day.

Hopefully tomorrow I will turn it and go through the grits and see if I can get a finish like the pens earlier in this thread.

Well I got a fairly nice finish on this test piece. It does seem to scratch easy but that could be something to do with the Chestnut spirit stain colours changing the chemistry of the Alumilite.:guessed:

Amazing clear cast Resin test - YouTube

Here is another test piece with no colour. This does feel a lot harder on the surface without the colours. Unfortunately I didn't do a great job of sanding and left a hazy part in the middle. With more practice I will get better.
I still would like to give Alumilite clear a go, so hopefully that will turn up in the UK soon.

Amazing clear cast Alumilite on the scrollsaw - YouTube
 

Penpal

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Paul hd loved the video after a while all of these things will fall into place, like the experimenting so well shown.

Peter.
 

Paul hd

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Hi,
Did anyone get any recent feed back from Metalclay about the Alumilite clear?? I have made a couple of enquiries but get no answer.

Regards
Paul
 

Paul hd

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Sorry Paul, I didn't see your first post asking this question about a month ago!

No I haven't heard anything from them

Thanks Paul for the update.

I think I will go for another product. I will try one that Melanie mentioned in this thread. I will also buy small amounts of other resins and give them a try.

Cheers
Paul
 

Bucks

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Thanks Paul for the update.

I think I will go for another product. I will try one that Melanie mentioned in this thread. I will also buy small amounts of other resins and give them a try.

Cheers
Paul

That's what we're doing, but haven't had much chance to have a really good try with them yet, due to all this mould business, by the end of next week should have the full range of moulds all setup.

Which one did Mealine mention? sorry to busy to scroll back through the posts!
 

Paul hd

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I've tried both the Polycraft FC6600 Slow Set and the Polycraft Opti-Cast 100. Both are water clear and work well. The resulting casts are very similar - the main differences between them is the pot life. I will say that the resin blanks are very difficult to polish, but I understand that this is the same with Alumilite clear (I've never used it, so I can't directly compare). I always use a vacuum chamber when casting, but not a pressure pot, so I'm not sure what results would be like if done differently.

I've also tried Polytek EasyFlo Clear. It's an amber transparent resin. Again, it produces a nice blank, in fact I prefer it to the two above, as it polishes up much better and easier. The issues with it are obviously the colour cast, but also the fact that it has LOADS of air bubbles. You definitely need to use a vacuum chamber or pressure pot - however, it only has something like a 2 minute pot life, so you don't get much time to mix and degas (I can just about manage it when doing a one colour cast, I wouldn't want to attempt it with 2 colours).

Hi Paul,

Here is the post I was referring to.
I have ordered the Polytek. I'm interested in how the amber looks when Dye has been mixed with it. I also like the look of the colour as it looks warm and maybe a good match with some woods.

I have also ordered a small amount of a water clear PU for Badge doming, all experimenting.:thumbs:

I have ordered from MBFibreglass
 

Bucks

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Hi Paul,

Here is the post I was referring to.
I have ordered the Polytek. I'm interested in how the amber looks when Dye has been mixed with it. I also like the look of the colour as it looks warm and maybe a good match with some woods.

I have also ordered a small amount of a water clear PU for Badge doming, all experimenting.:thumbs:

I have ordered from MBFibreglass


The Opticast 100 is one that MB Fiberglass recommended to us, as being a very close match to Alumilite Clear! after I sent them the spec and asked for something similar, the others I don't know about.
 

Bucks

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I did look at that. Did you try it?

We've got a few cast here but have only had chance to turn one pen, but I agree with fingwe's statement "I will say that the resin blanks are very difficult to polish, but I understand that this is the same with Alumilite clear (I've never used it, so I can't directly compare)."
 

Paul hd

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Looks like Metalclay got some Alumilite clear in stock. Unfortunately it is still in a small amount (940ml) and works out fairly expensive.

But fair play to them. They did get in stock.
 

Paul hd

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Hi All.
Thought I would share this email in case anyone is interested in Alumilite or Cactus juice.


Hi Paul,

I just wanted to let you know.

We are now stocking the Alumilite Clear cast resin.

Both the 16lb Alumilite Clear Cast Resin and 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon Cactus Juice are now available for Pre-order on our website. They should be crossing the pond as we speak and we expect to ship them out to customers from Wednesday.

We have a small stock left of the smaller 16oz kits. We will be selling these off at a vastly reduced price around £18.95. If you are interested in any of these please do give us a call.

Going forward we plan to stock the 32oz kit around the £40 mark at the 16lb kit as detailed below.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested. If someone buys juice or clear, and mentions your name, we would add free Alumilite 1oz dye (or similar) of your choice to your next order!

The importing costs and our UK shipping options have cost us a bit more than we hoped but our pricing is currently as follows;

Alumilite Clear Cast Resin 16lb kit
Introductory offer price £183.29 ex vat £219.95 inc vat.
After intro price is expected to be £191.63 ex vat £229.95 in vat.
There is a FIXED UK shipping fee of £6.95 for up to 2 kits.


Cactus Juice Stabilizing Resin 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon.

1/2 gallon £63.29 ex vat £75.95 inc vat
1 gallon £108.29 ex vat 129.95 inc vat
There is a FIXED UK shipping fee of £6.95 for up to 4 gallons.

Give me a shout if you have any questions,

Kind regards
Stuart
 
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