Introduction to Resin Craft (How to do Casting with Casting Polyester Resin)

These instructions provide an introduction to the general technique of casting with TAP Casting Resin. Important phases of resin craft, such as catalyzing the resin, coloring with transparent dyes or opaque pigments are covered.

With a little desire and imagination, you will be into a hobby that will give
you hours of enjoyment creating lovely items for your home or gifts for friends
and family.

Catalyzing or Curing Casting Resin
Many factors in.uence the speed of resin gel or cure. Most important of these are:
· amount of resin used
· temperature of the room
· temperature of the resin
· temperature of the mold
· additives, such as dyes, color pigments, pearl pigments and other types of embedments

There is an optimum amount of catalyst for each type of project. In all cases, refer to catalyzing instructions on the label.
Catalyst (hardener) starts a chemical reaction that creates an exotherm (heat) which cures the resin. An excessive amount of catalyst will overheat the casting, causing crystalization and fractures. Thicker pours require less catalyst because a thick casting retains heat. A thin section dissipates the heat requiring more catalyst.

Room temperature, resin temperature and the temperature of the mold affect gel time. (The higher the temperature, the faster the gel.) Too fast a cure will cause fractures. The high heat of the fast cure also causes excessive warping and fading of colors. Humidity slows the cure of resin. Moisture in the resin, which may come from humidity in the air or from temperature present in embedments, can cause the resin or casting to be cloudy. Keep the can of resin capped tightly when not in use.

Coloring TAP Casting Resin
Use TAP Dyes for transparent colors. Add dye to resin before adding the catalyst for thorough dispersion and resistance to fading from the catalyst reaction. The dye is concentrated, so use sparingly until you obtain the desired shade. One drop of TAP Transparent Dye per ounce will create a pastel shade; three drops per ounce will generally make quite a dark shade. Stir thoroughly.

Use TAP Premium Opaque Pigments for opaque castings. Color Pigments is most thoroughly dispersed by mixing in a small amount of resin, such as ¼ ounce color pigment to one ounce of resin. Then disburse the concentrated mixture into the balance of your resin.
For veins or streaks of color, add three drops of catalyst to resin and color mixture (add this mixture slowly to the resin, stiring only slightly). Pour slowly into the mold.
In small amounts, TAP Color Concentrate will make the resin or casting translucent rather than opaque. TAP Dyes and Color Concentrate cover the full range of transparency, translucency and opaqueness.

Always add the Color Concentrate .rst. This will give you time to obtain the desired shade and reduce the possibility of fading. After reaching the desired shade, add the catalyst. Do a little experimenting to obtain some very unusual and pleasing effects.