I noticed that there's no subcategory about casting resin jewelry and resin beads.

I have started creating resin pendants last May, just the simple stuff you can make with molds.

Resin is soooo hard to work with. It's very sticky, hard to clean up after, and the fumes!! ack.

Anyone else crazy enough to work with the stuff?
 

Hey Butteredheart!  Don't I know you from somewhere?    (Polymer Clay forum)  Just few days ago, i decided to try working with resin.  I post photos on Flickr  one of my "contacts"  has made some fantastic pendants out of resin...so I thought I'd give it a try.  i just bought a few supplies yesterday and hope to use them tonight.

I'd love to see some of your resin pendants!  Do you have a website?

I like using it in my jewellery - instead of a stone or enamel. And there're some really nice things you can do with it too - like putting tinfoil on the back and using a transparent tint. What do you use to make the molds?

Hi guys! I love resin! I use it more as a coloring agent - like enamel. I do inlay with it and some other things I'm playing with. I don't cast it though I'm considering some casting - but with my own twist. :) .

Here are some things I've done:

(sorry for the size of the pics!)

Wireywoman - great pieces!!

Hey wirey... if I knew what resin to get and how to use it, I would definately do some projects that I currently don't know how to do.  How did you learn this (what to get and what to do)?  Was it a book or a tutorial?

 --
Jim

Thanks all!

Jim, I took a workshop - resin inlay..with Karen Christians. But its so easy...the teaching lasted 5 or 6 minutes and then the rest of the time we played.

Basically you need some sort of frame - make it like a bezel frame for a cab...then you can put in bezel wire for sections or designs. Then you take the resin and mix in whatever you want to get color -dry ingredients work best. For most of these I used spices or sand....the blue is paint pigment. Once the resin sets you turn the work upside down and rub it on wet sandpaper starting at a medium-high grit and working down.   Thats basically it. I use Devcon epoxy, its two part. The 5 minute works fine but sets REALLY fast. I put some out on a little index card, then dump the spice (or whatever) on top, then slowly mix with a toothpick. Once its mixed, use the toothpick to scoop some up and fill the part sof the piece you want. Then move to the next color and so on. If I fill so that its really mounded up, I use a *** file to take the top off, then go to the sandpaper. I have a little basin sort of tray, its only an inch deep, about a foot and a half by a foot and a half. I used duct tape to affix 4 different grades of sandpaper, then I just dump water in on top of the sandpaper and go to work sanding. With the 5 minute epoxy, you can mix, fill and sand within an hour. Makes for a quick project. I have just ordered some slower setting though so I can have a bit of wiggle room.

We have lots of info on resin over at the Jewelry Artists Network Forum, link is in my sig - feel free to check it out. :)

I like your resin work too! Not sure if it's something I'll try, sounds pretty messy and stressful (drying so fast) 

LOL and thanks! I thought it was messy the first time or two I used it but not anymore. Like anything else there is learning curve and once you 'get it' you find what works best for you.

Thanks for the detailed response.  I have some Epoxy 330 sitting around that I wanted to try some chip inlay with.  It sounds like it should work pretty much like Devcon.  I saw a Resin kit on RioGrande.com that ran almost $80. There wasn't enough information in the description to tell me if that would do work similar to what you showed above.  I figured you were using something like that.  What you posted I can try this weekend if I can find some good coloring agents to add.  Look out paprika... here I come!

 --
Jim

Wireywoman, where do you get Devcon 5 minute epoxy?

Hey Jim, I look forward to seeing what you make!!!  Paprika, cinammon, curry, cumin, even adding things like dill weed - which is what is in one of those above that I showed -- makes for cool effects. I like to use something for color and then often will add something else - dill or tea leaves or sand...for texture.

Cre8tiv1 - You can get it at Thunderbird supply or Rio - maybe contenti....I haven't checked around too much. Some people use Colores - but I think that is kind of expensive - and has a much longer setting/curing time. Good luck! Show us what you make!

Thanks, Wireywoman, for the link to the Jewelry Artist forum.  I bookmarked it yesterday and read through several resin posts and learned alot about what not to mix into resin!  I tried pinata inks last night for the heck of it...and it turned white.  Guess I'll save the inks for my clay!

You are welcome! :)  I'm glad you can learn from my mistakes!!!!  lol Really, I am - I know others have helped me bypass certain things by sharing what didn't work as much as by sharing what did work. Do feel free to visit with us there. Its a great community of talented people! :)

cre8ive1:

Wireywoman, where do you get Devcon 5 minute epoxy?

I haven't looked in a month or two, but I used to be able to get this at Home Depot in the adhesives section (usually in the paint isle, not far from caulk.  Ask if you can't find their glue section).

--
Jim

I want to have a custom bracelet made, hopefully with silver and resin.  Has anyone heard of a manufacturer that works with resin or is it considered a craft item?

Lexie,

You mean you aren't going to jump in & try it yourself???

I had a classmate in a silver class at a local art center who did a fabulous piece.  Basically she used different shaped tubing cut at various heights & then filled w/ bright colored resins.  WOW!   Good enough to eat!  I hadn't been sure where she was heading w/ this project, but it turned out dynamite!

Myself, I've been playing w/ store-bought resin beads in many shapes & lovely saturated colors.  Their light weight makes them makes them appealing as well.

sher

I would love to work with PMC and resin but I have an idea for a cuff bracelet with a gimmick and hope to sell thousands of them.  I need something that can be mass produced.