Resin and Chemicals

[Rebecca Harris]

Hi I am a fine art student and i am using resin in my work at the moment. I want to create chemical reactions with the resin but i am not sure which chemicals react with resin. I don't suppose anyone knows what will react with resin? it would be a great help!
Rebecca Harris

[Fleafa]

What kind of resin? React in what way?
Pretty sure we could figure out a way to make it explode, but I doubt that's what you're after!

[Rebecca Harris]

its expoxy resin and i am looking for it to react in a way that it creates textures colours ect. Theres and artist called keith tyson that uses acid, aluminium, paint and resin that creates these really interesting paintings so that sort of idea really. I don't think my tutor would be happy with exploding resin in the workshop! haa
Rebecca

[mangozac]

Generally for what we do with resin here the last thing we want is wild reactions like that! Are you talking about making realistic/abstract 3D objects with some kind of textured effect or more like textured abstract 2D artwork? I think your best bet would be to work out exactly what kind of effect you'd like to achieve and then talk to a resin supplier about what additives they suggest to achieve it. Although who knows somebody else on here might have a suggestion!

[Fleafa]

As far as I know, no one on here uses polyepoxide. Pigment should be easy enough to apply. I'd try mucking about with whatever pigments you can get your hands on.

[blind pig]

I use clear epoxy resins to make the clear bit for my Plasma Pistols.

It takes PTSF resin pigmets from Barnes really well (http://www.barnes.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=73_78) and I can get some wonderful patterns and colours by partally mixing a couple of coloured resins together.

I've seen the Candu! kits from Barnes(http://www.barnes.com.au/catalog/index. ... th=195_198) which use a clear polyurethane (PU) resin use metal and pigments to give fantastic effects for jewlery. People stick all sorts of stuff (buttons etc) into the moulds before pouring coloured clear PU resin into the Platinum Cured mould.

I'm guessing you could add metal and a patina together ( http://www.barnes.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=56_60) (perhaps as well as pigments) then mix this partially into your PU or Epoxy resin, before pouring into a Platinum Cured (if using clear PU) mould to cure. You could also partially mix coloured epoxy or PU in through the metal/patina liquid/PU/epoxy resin to give some interesting results.

I have also seen a needle and syringes to inject pigments into curing (treacle-like) clear PU resins to give trapped coloured liquids in airbubbles within bangles.

Best of luck and keep coming with ideas and show us what you do....

[blind pig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04hk12yc ... e=youtu.be

I'd use an 18g blunt drawing-up needle to give better accuracy and control in including colours.

Just a thought: metals and patina fluids would alter the density of resins. You would want the bulk of your resin that you are inserting metals into to be fairly well on the way to being gelled before adding metals, as it would probably just sink or float in "thin" resins.

[Rebecca Harris]

Thanks for all of your advice and help! I shall definitely be trying these! I like the syringe, pigment and air bubble idea i shall be experimenting with these chemicals to see what effects I get!

[blind pig]

No problem. Us Rebeccas have to stick together in this blokey Forum!

The syringe and pigment would work with water or food colouring too, I'd guess, but you'd run into the water wanting to float in the resin and rising to the top.

Oooohhhhh! Cooking oils with water-based food colouring, mixed together, and injected into an airpocket in resin. It'd be like oil and coloured water trapped in an airbubble!

Probably be best to wait for the resin to becone quite gelled before trying to inject lighter or heavier densities of fluids/solids ino resin.

[Rebecca Harris]

Ahh these ideas are great! I'm getting my hands on some syringes this weekend and shall be trying all of this next week! I shall let you no how it goes. Hopefully well! Haa. Thanks for your help again

[paulson games]

Don't use anything waterbased like food coloring, most resins react poorly with water and it causes the resin to boil over and create all sorts of nasty air pockets.

I've had problems from washing my molds and I didn't dry it 100% before using and even just a few drops of water caused the whole batch to get messed up and 50% of the resin bubbled right out of the molds.

[blind pig]

IIRC, she's using epoxy.

The local resin company, Barnes holds classes in Australia on imbedding objects, colours and liquids
into it's polyurethane and epoxy resins. Bubbling polyurethane might give an interesting effect.

We all use eye and skin protection when working with resins, right?

[Anvils Hammer]