I read up about how bubbles will be normal and that with Easy Cast resin, it will automatically degas itself.
(All the resins can have bubbles, and they can all be treated the same in terms of getting rid of any that don't pop on their own--not true just for Easy Cast.)
When I used my hairdryer on the resin to release the bubbles, I saw some raise to the top and disappear VERY slowly. But most hang around at the bottom and they seem stationary :O
You don't say if you used the hair dryer right from the very first bubble or waited a while. It won't hurt to wait and the resin will be warmer then so bubbles should rise more quickly. You should also try the straw-blowing or match method...those may also work better for you (and little or no dust).
I did warm up the bottles before I used them, and they felt warm to the touch so I'm sure I did that right!
It would be good to also store the bottles at those temps too though just so you can be sure that every bit of the resin even in the center of the bottles is warm enough.
with CastinCraft Easy Mold
I hadn't realized that Castin Craft was now also making a silicone putty. I looked it up, and it
may be that that brand is more like the Amazing Mold Putty than the "better-quality" silicone putties. It has a relatively low heat tolerance like AMP (400 F, instead of 600-700) and a longer working time like AMP has (25 min, instead of 5-10 min), so it may also not have the smoothest surface (also like AMP). I don't know that for sure though, just inferring from the stats.
I am trying to make 1 inch resin domes ...I worry that maybe with the small amounts that I use, they just end up cooling down while they're exposed to air for the 3 minutes of mixing and double mixing.
Three minutes might be more than you need, but don't know if that would make a difference. Most times the first stirring is recommended for 1-2 min, then another 30 seconds for the second... that's for regular epoxy resins anyway.
The working time for regular epoxy resins is about 20 minutes so that should be okay (though I don't know the working time of the tweaked epoxy Easy Cast...guess it could be different).
Do be sure not to work in direct sunlight though since that could speed up the reaction time.
(And for best
hardness, pour and cure when humidity is below 50%).
As for the amount, are you mixing a really small amount--just to pour one or two molds, for example? Don't know that there would be problems from too little though.
And the air shouldn't be a cooling-down problem since the resin creates its own heat from the chemical reaction happening during curing. A thin pour will take longer to set up than a thick one though (since less mass to create heat).
Diane B.
button to nominate it!
