Make resin flexible/soft again after curing?

[Nelliobunny]

Hello!

I have been working with resin for a while but a thought just occurred to me and I was wondering if its possible.
Is there a way to make resin flexible again for a short period of time after it has cured?

For example, if you take a piece out of the mold before it has cured all the way you can bend it a little. If I were to maybe heat it up a little shortly after its cured, maybe a day or two after, could I make it flexible again for a little while?

Has anyone tried this?

The reason I ask is because I want to cast the same figure multiple times and wrap it around different crystals of varying shapes since no natural crystal is the same. And timing the curing resin to take it out at the right time before it has fully hardened would be a pain in a two part mold.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[mangozac]

Hi Nelliobunny, welcome to RA!

Yep that's easy: just hit the part with a heat gun or hairdryer and the resin will become temporarily flexible. Don't overheat it or try to bend it too much though as it will still break. It's best used for just tweaking the shape like you require

[Nelliobunny]

Oh! der why didn't I think of a heat gun, I was thinking of popping it in my mini craft oven for a few seconds on low heat. A heat gun would work so much better. Thanks!

And thanks for the welcome, the interwebs keeps directing me here when I search for all things resin related so I have lurked without an account for a while so i figured I should finally make an account.

[mangozac]

No problem, glad to help