Epoxy
Resin Jewelry
A lot of work has been put into developing this chemical by research laboratories around the world. For everyday use it is safe and has no unpleasant odour. It comes in four basic forms.
Epoxy Laminating Resin: This is used to make laminations
with reinforcements such as fibreglass. Polyester is still the preferred
laminating resin.
Epoxy Resin Adhesive: A good example of this resin
is Araldite which can be found in most hardware stores in a 2 plastic
cylinder pack for dispensing equal quantities of resin and hardener.
It is used in jewellery for gluing on pin backs and small repairs.
Epoxy Surface Coat: This works in much the same way
as polyester gel coat. It comes in a two pack of resin and hardener
and used on wood and other surfaces to give a deep, lustrous clear
glass like finish. The first time I saw it was in Florida over 20
years ago. This entrepreneur was harvesting old Florida swamp cypress,
cutting into 5cm thick segments to fit a clock movement and numbers
and finally coat with resin. The clocks looked terrific and sold well
for years. It is marketed under the trade name of "Envirotex
Lite ".
For jewelry this resin can be used in many ways. It looks like glass
and can be built up in layers. Say you start with a picture or dried
flower on one layer then a colour layer, then fillers.The possibilities
are only limited by your imagination. More
information on our Clear Coating Epoxy resins here.
Epoxy Casting Resin: Unlike polyester resin this
resin is limited to small size castings. However this is not a problem
in jewelry manufacture as most jobs do not entail large size projects.
It casts water white and cures or hardens in times that allow you
to complete a project without having to rush. Available as Crystal
Cast Clear.
Another good thing about it is that if there are surface bubbles or
other defects in your finished project you can eliminate them by passing
the heat from a propane torch over the surface. This method of surface
treatment applies also to the coating form of this resin. More
Information on our Clear Casting Resins here.
Polyurethane Casting Resin
We
use a lot of this resin for castings of figurines. CraftCast the form
we use sets up in an amazing 3 minutes. We can remove it from the
silicone mould in15 minutes or so. It is white in colour and can be
filled to reduce cost and to give differing effects such as a porcelain
like look, using calcium carbonate.
This hard surfaced resin would have many uses in jewelry and can be
coloured any opaque shade of the rainbow. It starts off as a two part
product both of which have the viscosity of water. The great advantage
of this is that it penetrates every section of a mould easily and
rapidly reproducing the finest detail and having no trouble with undercuts.
A good resin to use.
The only problem with polyurethane is its sensitivity to moisture,
so you must be sure that anything you add to the casting mixture is
dry, otherwise the casting will not cure or will foam. No trouble
once you get used to it.
For Clear casting and transparent dye effects use Amazing
Clear Casting Resin.
Polyester
Casting Resin
This has been the basic resin used for over 20 years. You can make large clear water white castings that are strong and resemble glass. Wherever possible we avoid using polyester resin, instead preferring to use epoxy or polyurethane resins which are less toxic.
Instead of using equal or large quantities of hardener as you do for the other resins you need a few drops to start the cure process of polyester. A good starting point is to use 10 drops of MEKP hardener to 30ml of polyester resin. As such a small quantity of hardener is used you must be accurate in your measuring. Extra care must be taken when handling polyester resins. They have a nasty smell and can cause skin problems to sensitive skins. Use only in well ventilated areas.
Safety Note: Before
starting any project with polyester or any of the resins listed here
you should ensure that you read the manufacturers instructions carefully.
Keep away from children these are industrial products and require
care in handling.
Polyester
Clear Casting Resin is available here.
Which Resin Do I Use?
As you can see there is
no one answer. Different projects require different resins. To help
your decision making we have made up a "How
to Make Resin jewelry Kit" which will include the prefered resin
at any point in time. At present we are including in the kit a clear
casting epoxy resin called Crystal Cast Clear. This
kit is available by clicking here.
Getting
Started with a Kit
| How
to Make Resin Jewelry Kit |
| |
This
is one of the most exciting kits we have assembled. It is
a complete introduction to making the moulds and casting resin
jewelry.
The kit contains everything you require to start producing
designer quality resin jewellery. It includes the latex
and full instructions on resin jewelry mould making and
also a finished mould to make 11 different beads. This is
a high quality assorted mould which produces high quality
resin jewelry pieces.
A 24 page full colour book that is included, contains one
of the best descriptions of resin jewelry making that we
have seen up to date.
The kit contains high quaility Crystal Cast Clear epoxy
resin which is a low odour and easy to use resin for jewelry.
We prefer using this resin as it does not require the highly
toxic MEKP that Polyester resin requires. The low odour
means no more headaches and you can make your resin jewelry
pieces from the comfort of your own living room or kitchen.
Click
Here for more information
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| Resin
Jewelry Bangle Kit |
 |
Would you like
to learn how to make a mould of a jewelry item such as a
bangle and reproduce hundreds of copies. Perhaps you would
like to sculpt a unique original bangle design in clay and
reproduce it many times in resin to sell at market or on
ebay.
This kit will
help you get started with everything you need to make a
mould and cast copies of the original.
The kit comes
with complete instructions and further support is available
on our forum or by email or phone.
Click
Here for more information |
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