So, Lexie, are you gonna do a model in wax & have it cast?  Or are you looking for something else?  I'm sure there are folks who'd know where to find casting companies...

sher

I'm new to PMC and love it but need more classes.  I think for this project I'll have to find a manufacturer. 

Lexie - if you can - have the cuff (or bracelet) cast and finished down to whatever specs you want - then sent back to you - then do the resin part yourself. If the resin needs to be sanded down to a flat surface level (as opposed to pour and leave alone to cure and you're done) - you can pick up a small table top sanding machine that flows water in a continuous drip and crank them out in no time. That is how some folks I know who do large production runs of resin pieces work.

Good luck to you!

Oh sorry - just realized you may mean you want the entire cuff or bracelet made out of resin...in that case, I'm not sure where to point you for a 'casting' company that will cast a resin piece. Sorry !

Hi there, I am new to resin and the forum.  I have played around with some little projects and yesteday, embedded some beaded flowers.  They are not dry yet.  Yes, the stuff is sticky but nothing that Acetone does not clear up immediately and effortlessly.  In South Africa, we do not get our resin in a neat can with a narrow opening, we get them in 1 Litre Buckets!  So about 4 inches of the rim is smeared with sticky resin. 

I am going to decant into a 1 litre glass bottle.  What I cannot figure out is how to make a resin bead?  How do I keep 'n hole right through and how to go about making a mould for a bead.  I have made tiny clay beads which I want to encase in resin.  Can anyone help?

 Also, the best colouring agent to use?

Sculpey has a lovely product called Mouldmaker.  It is softer than Fimo and works easily.  You can press it into any object and it picks up every tiny little detail.  You then bake it just like you would bake your clay.

 It stayes flexible and no release agent is required.  Also, when you stick a pin through it, the hole closes right up.  Maybe thatis my answer to making beads.  Naww, can't see it working.

Quadmom

Hi there, since you are new, I'll let you know that you will have a greater response if you begin a new thread with your questions. The people on this forum are not much into resin - but I am!! For best coloring agents you have tons of choices. You can buy the resin dyes, mica powders, spices, pastels to name the most popular choices. I do not know how to make a bead, although I am sure a mold is the only way. of course you can drill the hold after curing, which makes it much less complicated to mold.

Well, I am sure there are molds, and you could insert a wire and then pull it out (perhaps) the other thing is you can drill right through resin. So you can always do the holes after. :)

I love resin. :)

Thank you sooo much for replying!  I am so chuffed, belonging to a forum and all, I am so new I do not know HOW to even start a new thread, so I am thank my "responders" right here.  I am going to try your suggestions, only the drilling would have to go a good 1.5cm (more than  ½ inch) through the bead.  I actually have uncured polymer clay inside the resin, so would have to bake the clay first if I am going to drill.

 Will try tomorrow and post.  Thank you!

Smilies

Louise

Hi there! Resin is actually really easy to drill into - I would just suggest that you don't drill through all in one go - pull the drill bit up every couple of seconds and get rid of the excess resin dust. - Oh - and you'll probably need a dust mask or something while drilling - the resin dust is pretty dangerous if you breathe it in. I had a thought about the hole - why don't you try putting a thin straw or something like that in? That way you wouldn't have to worry about getting it out afterwards. Just an idea. Hope it works! And I know what you mean about the difficulty in getting stuff in South Africa, but you do get it in 1 litre bottles as well. Easier to work with than the cans. But decanting into a glass bottle is brilliant. Hope it works!

M'liss 

This is so cool, my new friends communicating with me!  Thank you! I will try and drill and I do have a mask handy.  Also, I am a Glass Artist and was thinking:  You get hinging for tiny little glass ring boxes (I had to make 100 of them for wedding favours the other day!) It is about 2 mm diameter.  I could just leave that in there, and the copper colour of it will look good in the bead.  Will try that as well tomorrow!

My son will upload some photos tomorrow eve.  I am a bit stupid and don't know how to.  I am going to use wooden beads and silicon to make a mould then I can do 12 or so beads at a time.

Smilies

Louise

http://www.steynedglass.com

Louise, sounds like you are doing some interesting things. Would love to see what you come up with, especially combining resin with polymer clay. please make sure to post pictures!  

I have a lot of crazy ideas yes Sparklebee!  And today I want to try quite a few things, but as the resin will need 36 hours at least, my son will post the photos, say Tuesday? I have made the bead moulds now with Sculpey Mouldmaker.  The stuff is absolutely stunning!  My son will post the little bead flowers in resin hearts today still.

I'm a caregiver if I or my son is not out, so as soon as I have him in his wheelchair, I am off to play for the whole day!

Smilies

You are wonderful with your wireworks lady!  I was thinking of "painting" a picture in coloured resins, now that I know how to colour them successfully (I tried all and found the poster paint powders and the oil colours to work perfectly).

I would have to divided with at lease 3mm high wire (or is there anything else I use for that, maybe also clay?) to create a type of cloissonne (spelling!) effect.  Any ideas on that?

Smilies

that would be a lot of fun. Eugenia Topina (I think that is how her last name is spelled) does a lot of faux cloisonne with polymer clay and resin. I've also seen people fill cells with colored liquid clays for a type if stained glass effect. Lots of people have used wire to create cells to fill with color - I would love to see how you approach it. take a look at my website, especially the pendants page to see how I make cavities to fill with resin.

 I have used resin with PMC.

 I made this bracelet using a clear stamp to make an inpression in the wet clay and then added the resin after firing.

As the bracelet had a slight curve to it I had to wait for the resin to start to go stiff before using and gently warm with short bursts from a hot gun to get the resin to run just were I wanted it.

Jenny 

I am at this stage not really concentrating on tidyness or perfection,but merely experimenting. The inlay effort with the pewter works just great, but the pewter appears to shrink away and become shorter.  I have today bought a soldering iron and will solder the joins. I poured the left side to late, as it had already jelled!  Must say I don't mind the bubbles so much on this one!

The frigde magnets were a lot of fun! 

I played around with some beads and came up with this.

I am still playing and will post again later.  After I have experimented with the soldering iron and pewter.

Smilies

Very nice Louise!!  Thanks for sharing, its always inspiring seeing other people's work!

I do ALOT of resin, I didn't even realize how much I use it until I was gathering jewelry for a photo shoot, nearly everythign I had has resin in it. You can dig around my website if you are curious www.barbesaintjohn.com

 sometimes, yes its a PAIN in the behind! different types of resin need different things, temperatures, curing times, etc...even us experienced people still get the bad batch every once in a while.

 I am going to be teaching a class on beginning resin casting and moldmaking, this Aug in Northern California at an art retreat. I want everyone to love resin like I do

barbe

 your work looks so interesting but I wish the photos were larger so I could see them better. I love resin too!

Thank you.

All my items have large photos, not just thumbnails.  If you click an item and it opens up in a new window= there is the thumbnail image on the left that will open small,  but there is a image under the description as well and that will pop opens up to a pretty big image. For some reason, you can't remove the 'larger image' under the thumbnail one.....go figure!