Question about making jewelry with clear resin...?

Question

I have been making pendants with wood tiles and then covering them with clear resin that I bought at a craft store. As you know, most of these resin products come in two separate parts and when mixed, they can be applied and then harden to create a glass like finish. Usually, I have no trouble with this product. However, if I don't mix the two parts in exact equal measure, the pendent may not dry completely and is very slightly sticky when finished. One of the bottles of the resin mix is labeled "hardener." If I rub just a small amount of this hardener onto the finished pendant, do you think it will counteract the stickiness and finish properly? If not, is there a way to get rid of this problem aside from making brand new pendants?

Answer 1

The resin you're mentioning is in two parts, 1 is the resin itself then the other 1 is a hardener combine the two will result to a hard resin finish with a glossy look not adding enough of 1 will cause it to be to hard or to soft.Try doing what you think will work if not i am sad to say you have to do all your work over again. p.s. the stickiness is the result of not enough hardener being mix. always make sure the two parts starts off equal.

Answer 2

Try putting it under a heat lamp , sometimes  the humidity may take it longer to dry ;)))

Answer 3

First, the type of resin you're describing is an epoxy resin (mixed one to one).  

The other main kind of craft resin is polyester resin (mixed a few drops of catalyst/hardener to a much larger amount of resin), and that type can stay sticky on the surface which dried next to the air normally, so it's usually used for casting in molds or using between sheets of fiberglass.

Epoxy resins aren't supposed to be cast or layered more than 1/8" at a time (up to a total of 1/2")... when doing more than one layer, each layer has to be cured before the next one is added.  Don't know if that could be your problem though.

Wood can be a problem too since if it hasn't been sealed it may always contain a bit of residual moisture (which can make bubbles at least) and it's porous.  

So if you're using bare wood tiles, you might want to seal them first (permanent white glue thinned 3 or 4 to 1 with water is probably easiest), then let dry thoroughly before they come in contact with the resin.

The other thing is that there are specific conditions required for the best cure of resins... humidity and temperature (as well as proper mixing proportions, mixing, and applying).  

Here some info about those issues from my site:

Work in reasonably well ventilated area

...do not mix or pour in direct sunlight

...best results, temperatures between 68° and 80°

...best hardness, pour and cure at humidity below 50%

...mix up only the amount you'll use in 20 minutes or less (...for larger areas, best to have a helper to make new batches)

Mixing......(keep capped tightly when not in use)

...pour resin in one cup and hardener in another cup (equal amounts)...

...then pour one part into the other part

...mix very thoroughly for 1-2 min (for clearest result)... scraping the sides and bottom of container continuously

...some people recommend pouring into a new cup (then mixing 30 sec. more), so any unmixed liquid in bottom will stay in first cup

......uncured  Ã¢Â€Â˜sticky’  spots will result from any part of the liquid which is not thoroughly mixed (can't chemically react, so won't cure)

........in that case, scrape the spots from the cured surface... scrub well with acetone or rubbing alcohol... then re-pour entire surface

Allow item to cure in a warm, draft free and non-dusty room ....away from children, pets, activity, fans, etc.

......protect resin surface from dust & pet hair during curing by placing a cardboard box over the item, for example

...leave undisturbed for at least 24 hrs.

......sets up in 3-5 hrs, depending on temp & humidity

......cures to touch in 12 hrs.

......full cure in 48-72 hrs ...for example, at 80º (4 hr set up, 60 hr full cure), or at 70º (5 hr set up, 72 hr full cure)

There's more info on using epoxy resins and polyester resins on that page, if you want to check it out:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/other_mate...

You can always add more epoxy resin over epoxy resin (or over polyester resin, though no polyester over epoxy), and/or scrape or sand it down first to get rid of any stickiness presuming you do everything else right the final time, I guess.

HTH,

Diane B.