Recommendations for resin

[John Hicks]

I am going to be turning mostly bowls, and hollow forms with voids and large cracks. I have been reading the differences between three different types of resin. polyester resin (toxic fumes, but cheaper) Epoxy resins like total boat, and polyurethane resins.
What resin would you guys recommend for pressure casting these types of turnings? I have discount codes for total boat (15%) but not sure if I know enough to order yet!

 

[Tim Tucker]

What objects - and what size will you be casting? If you are seeking to do pens - I would urge you to look at Cactus Juice and similar. These require a vacuum - not pressure - pot. They do not no suffer from the issues of exotherm and thus crazing/cracking and heat generation.

 

[guy laizure]

For pressure casting I use Alumilite Clear Slow.

 

[John Hicks]

What objects - and what size will you be casting? If you are seeking to do pens - I would urge you to look at Cactus Juice and similar. These require a vacuum - not pressure - pot. They do not no suffer from the issues of exotherm and thus crazing/cracking and heat generation.

Bowls and hollow forms mostly; maybe pens and small castings later on.

 

[John Hicks]

For pressure casting I use Alumilite Clear Slow.

179.00 for a gallon!

 

[Bob Brown]

Cactus juice is for stabilizing. I stabilize, then use alumilite clear slow. Wood must be super dry. Juice under vacuum, casting resin under pressure in California 5 gallon pot Large because you'll need it in future.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

179.00 for a gallon!

That's actually 2 gallons. You get 1 gallon of A and 1 gallon of B. I find the clear line easier to measure as its by weight not volume.

 

[Doug Freeman]

A possible alternative - I have considered both stabilizing and casting, and neither really appealed to me due to initial cost of equipment, ongoing cost of the liquid, and needing to have really dry wood.

I opted to try out using resin thinned 1:1 with acetone and brushing it on. It doesn’t require as much resin, and it doesnt fill all the voids like casting, which I view as an advantage. It does not provide near as much structural reinforcement though, so some pieces are just too “airy” for it to work.

I much prefer it for stabilizing punky wood as I dont have to bake to dry, evac, and then bake a mess, and for structurally suspect wood it doesnt require all the steps as casting nor as much resin. Just a simpler approach, but not quite as much capability.

 

[Tim Tucker]

I have had really good luck with a pre-catalyzed lacquer thinned 50% with lacquer thinner - and immerse the rough turn for 2+ weeks depending on the wood. Then remove, allow to dry until the smell of solvent is gone - which could be another 2-3 weeks. Then it turns like butter. And takes a polish that is beautiful. AND. the cost is a LOT less than the equipment and cost of resins.