Alumilite

[Gregory Hardy]

For what it's worth, I use Liquid Diamonds. Not sure if it's available easily on your side or not. It is slower to set up, so bubbles escape nicely without a pressure pot. On a rare occasion where a bubble remains down into the depths and show up in turning, I clean out the now dust-filled hole, fill with CA, hit it with accelerator, and move on as if it never happened. Great for tube-in casting silicone mold (and certainly not in an "aluminium mould!") over paper art. Alumilite colors ("colours?") work well with it too. In its smallest volume bottles, I get about twenty-five Sirocco tube-in blanks.

 

[Sawes]

[MENTION=1846]CKdim[/MENTION]
I did spend some time with various clear PU resins with little luck. I then found xencast p6 ( from easycomposites) an opaque PU resin which works quite well for solid colours.
I also spent quite a while using glasscast epoxy resin (from easy composites) which works really well.

These aside I now use alumilite from Metalclay.co.uk and love working with it. The clear PU is great and nice short pot life where the amazing clear Epoxy has longer life for different casting applications.

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[Bucks]

I use Zencast P6 PU from Easy Composites for my opaque casting needs & Alumilite Clear PU from MetalClay for my clear casting. I have also used Easy Composites Glasscast Epoxy but no longer use Epoxy as both myself & my wife have a nasty allergy to it.

 

[Bucks]

I would also say the use of a pressure pot is pretty much essential for casting any Polyurethane/PU resins.
I use two of these.

 

[Sawes]

I would also say the use of a pressure pot is pretty much essential for casting any Polyurethane/PU resins.
I use two of these.

That pressure pot company should be giving us a cut the amount of time we share their page lol

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[Penpal]

I feel in debt to Paul who shows his methods clearly on his small videos,if he has a problem he highlights it to save us falling in the same hole.

Peter.

 

[CKdim]

Thank you all for the precious information.

 

[Bucks]

If your wanting a much cheaper option there is also Polyester Resin which is supssed to not need a pressure pot (I always use one though).

It has a very strong lingering smell, so I would recommend using it in a well ventilated workshop or shed and of course use a organic vapour respirator. It is more challenging to get good results, but if you get it right they can make some very nice blanks. Polyester Resin has a reputation for sometimes being chippy & difficult to turn, but get it right they can make Pens that look more amazing than any of the other resins. That’s why there are some high end Pen Turners who actually prefer Polyester. With it being so cheap it might be worth giving it a go.