Resin Colorants

There are different kinds of materials you can use to add color to Resin. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages.
Resin by itself will mostly be clear. You can use this to coat surfaces or your paintings. When you add colors you can use it for casting or creating resin art.

These are the different kinds of colorants that i have personally used

1. Acrylic
One of the most popular and cheapest way to color your resin is Acrylic paints. Make sure that the acrylic you use does not contain any water. Acrylic will give an opaque and matte finish to your resin piece. If you want the final piece to be glossy you will have to put another coat of resin over the finished product.
I have also observed that acrylic does not work with some brands of Resin. It just sinks to the bottom. So always test a small batch to see if it mixes properly with the Resin. 

2. Alcohol inks
Alcohol ink will mix well with resin and will give the resin piece a transparent look.One thing we have to remember while using Alcohol inks is that it is flammable. So once you put the alcohol inks into the resin you cannot use any type of flammable items like lighter or heat gun on it.

3. Resin pigment
These are special colorants made for Resin. They can be either transparent or opaque.

Click here for a Video Tutorial

Removing bubbles from Resin

When you mix the Resin and Hardener you will get air bubbles. You need to eliminate these air bubbles or atleast minimize the amount or else once the resin has cured they will be visible or might create dents on the surface.

These are the ways i use to try and eliminate bubbles

1. Stir gently
The first way is to mix the clear and hardener gently. You need to make sure both have incorporated well together but mix gently and slowly for about a minute.

2. Use a flame lighter
This is one of the most affordable and common method to get rid of bubbles. After mixing use a flame lighter on the surface. All surface bubbles will pop.

3. Work in a warm room
Sometimes the temperature also affects the mixture. Here in India i do not have that issue. You can maybe run the heater for a while in the room if its too cold and make an ambient temperature for casting

4. Warm the resin and hardener before casting
Sometimes i use this method for my 1:1 resin since it is very viscous. I place both the resin and hardener bottle in warm water. Make sure the water is just warm and not boiling and do not keep the bottles for too long, just until you feel the liquid inside is moving more freely. Once the liquids are more fluid you will be able to mix it more easily thus giving you less bubbles.

5. Heat gun
This works similar to a flame lighter but with more heat and intensity. Use it over the resin surface for about 30 seconds. Using it for too long will affect the curing process.

These are some of the methods that i use. Apart from this there is another one. Putting the resin mix in a pressure pot. This is usually used for large castings. When you put the mix inside the pressure pot it creates pressure which makes the bubbles smaller and thus gets rid of them.

How to mix the Resin

Different brands of Resin have different ratio of clear and hardener mixing. The amount is mentioned in the label of the bottle. 
I have used three different brands of Resin and have observed the following
A resin that cures very fast like within an hour has a very short working time as opposed to one that takes 24hrs to cure. A fast curing resin will be more viscous and a slow curing one will be very fluid in the beginning.
Temperature also affects the curing process. If the room is very cold it would be a good idea to dip the clear and the hardener bottle in some warm water with the bottle cap closed to make it more fluid. 

Use a weighing scale to measure the amount of Clear and Resin. Once you pour both the liquid in a paper cup use a popsicle stick to mix it well. Mix slowly and gently to avoid getting a lot of air bubbles. The slow curing resins usually are easy to mix and give less bubbles.
To remove bubbles use a flame lighter or a heat gun and go over the surface where you have poured the resin for about 5-6 seconds. Do not use it for long as it will affect the curing process.

Precautions to take before using Resin

When the Hardener and Clear part of the resin are mixed together it causes a chemical reaction which heats up the Resin slowly and turns the liquid into a solid. While mixing the two liquid there may be a lot of bubbles and to remove them you might use a lighter or a heat gun. Heating the resin might give rise to fumes which could be harmful. Its always better to take a few precautions while using Resin

1. Use Nitrile gloves

Resin is messy. It is difficult to remove from the hands since it is very sticky and could also cause allergic reaction. I recommend everyone to use gloves always while working with Resin.Try and use Nitrile gloves and not plastic gloves. Nitrile gloves are used by medical professionals mostly.If you touch the resin with these gloves they do not react with it hence allowing the normal curing to take place. You can wipe the resin with a tissue and it can be used again later. 

Get your's here:

2. Use a Respirator

Many resin mixes have a odor which makes it difficult to breathe. Use a respirator to protect yourself from the odor and fumes from the resin

3. Work in a ventilated area

To avoid the odor and the fumes from affecting you work in a well ventilated area

4. Protect your working surface

Once the resin cures it will become hard and is difficult to remove. Protect your working surface by covering it with a craft sheet or plastic cover of some kind

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What is Resin

Resin or Epoxy Resin is a a two part component consisting of Resin and Hardener. When we mix the two in the required proportion a chemical reaction takes place that slowly turns the liquid into a solid. The solid will be a high gloss clear surface. Resin is known for its adhesive qualities. It can be used on wood, glass, acrylic or even metal. 

It can be used as an adhesive, as a sealant, in electrical systems and even in paintings and art.

Using Resin in Art

I use Resin mostly in Art. You can use resin to create depth and clarity in your art. Resin can also be used for casting.It is usually used with Silicone molds to produce art pieces. Different color pigments, glitters, etc can be added to the resin.

Rocking Bird DIY

Materials

1. Foam
2. Safety pins (2)
3. A nail
4. Small circle made of cardboard
5. Small piece of steel wire
6. Toothpick
7. Drawing of a bird made from paper
8. Glue

Method:

1. Open both the safety pins wide and make sure the space between them is the same.

2. Push the safety pin to one end of a foam piece and the second pin on the other end.

3. Next take the circle made out of cardboard and make a hole in the center.

4. Push the steel wire in the center of the circle.

5. Next push the nail in the side of the circle as shown. This will provide the weight.

6. Draw a bird and its wing separately out of paper and cut it out.

7. Take the wing and put glue on its side and stick it in the middle of the bird. Make sure not to put glue in the center of the wing. The toothpick will be passed through here.Once the sides are stuck put the toothpick through the center of the wing.

8. Push the other end of the toothpick on the opposite side of the nail as shown.

9. Pass the steel wires through the loops of the safety pins keeping the bird in the center.

10. As simple as that. Tilt the bird forward and let it go. The bird will oscillate back and forth for a short time.

Moving Cardboard Puppet

Materials required:
1. Cardboard
2. Scissors
3. Sticky Tape
4. Scissors
5. Thread

Method:
Make a drawing or stick a picture on a cardboard and cut it out. My drawing is of a girl playing badminton.

While drawing the picture keep in mind to draw the parts you want to be moved separately. Here in my picture i want the girls hands to move. So i drew both the hands separately. Make the hands a bit longer than usual. You need to place the moving parts behind the main picture so it needs to be a bit longer.

Place the moving parts behind the picture and once you are happy with the way it looks poke holes in both the parts

Pass the paper fasteners through the hole. Make sure that the paper fasteners are not tightly fit in the holes. Keep it loose else the moving parts will not retract properly.

Next take a piece of thread and stick it across the two hands at the back. Use sticky tape.

Take another piece of thread which is a bit longer and tie a knot in the middle of the first thread.

Cut any extra thread and the moving puppet is ready

To see it in action just pull the string down. The hands will move up and down showing the girl playing badminton.

For the video tutorial click below

Aquabeads

Hi guys..its been a long time since my last blog post. I have been concentrating a bit more on my Youtube channel.
I recently tried out Aquabeads or Waterbeads or Fusebeads for the first time. I came across this youtube video about perler beads and was instantly hooked. I immediately went on Amazon but saw that most of the kits were very costly and imported. I wonder why they are not popular here in India. This is a great DIY and would be an instant hit with the kids.
Since it was very costly i decided to try and get it from Aliexpress.com. Its my go to site for pretty much all the DIY materials that i do not get in India. It takes about a month to come but comes for fraction of the price that i see on Amazon or any other site.
While i was looking for perler bead collection i happened to notice another collection called as Aquabeads/ Fuse beads. I checked out a Youtube video on it and this too was pretty interesting. So i decided to order both, a Perler bead kit and an Aquabead kit.
About 2 days ago and almost a month after ordering it the Aquabead collection finally reached me. Unfortunately the Perler bead is yet to come. I would have preferred to try it out first since perler beads are more popular.

A few differences between the two:
1. Perler beads are cylindrical, aquabeads are round
2. You have to iron the perler beads to melt them together, aquabeads need water to be sprayed on them to be fused.

In any case yesterday i tried the Aquabeads for the first time. I have to say i have been intrigued by it. This is the kit i received:

It contains the following things:
1. One peg board
2. 12 color set of aqua beads
3. 6 different shape card
4. Water sprayer bottle
5. Tweezer
6. Bead dispenser
7. A pamphlet with example of shapes

Make any shape you want using the shape card or your own. Put the beads on the peg board. Once done use the water sprayer bottle to spray water evenly on the peg board over the shape. Once dry scrape the bead from the peg board. I used the shape card to remove the beads.
The waited about 45 minutes for the shape to dry. The beads were not tightly stuck to each other. Subsequent one's were much better but i am not too sure about its strength. You can make keychains, magnets, etc out of it. But they feel like it could come apart any minute. I would never put a key on this.
Apart from the amount of water i felt the strength also depends on the quality of beads.

Its a good way for your kids to spend their time. If you have small kids below 5 i would say please keep them away from this activity as the beads are very tiny and would be dangerous if swallowed. My daughter is 8 and i was there with her when she made different shapes. She enjoyed spending her time with it and came up with her own too.
I would probably turn them into fridge magnets.
Overall 7/10 for this particular product.

Looking forward to working with perler beads. Hope more companies send their products to India. Waiting a month for this to arrive was too long a wait.
Will post a video review of this soon.

Fun Projects

        

     

  

Popsicle Stick Crafts

       


          


       

            

Paper Crafts