Resin
jewellery is very much the current
item of interest in the jewellery marketplace. This interest has been
sparked
by the discovery that the new resins are safe and easy to handle and
enable
widely different forms of resin jewellery to be made by the entrepreneur
without the
outlay of considerable capital.
With resins
you can express your design
ideas in many different ways. Once you have mastered the very simple
concepts
in handling resins the creative juices begin to flow. No longer is the
large
manufacturer the arbiter of public taste. Small one-person ranges of
resin jewellery
are beginning to appear on the web. In fact the web and resin jewellery
appear
to made for each other.
A
simple web site provides the entrepreneur
with a low cost shop front to the world. This has never previously been
possible in marketing, that a person can create a range of designs,
photograph
them with a digital camera, price them and put the illustrations on
your web
site for sale for a very low cost and what is more important, be very
successful. No more finding a shop, renting it, employing staff and
then buying
opening stock or making your designs in depth for display purposes.
It used to
run into the tens of thousands
of dollars to be raised and a lot of heartbreak if your venture did not
succeed
at the first attempt. There is no excuse for not trying out your ideas
these
days. Business failure can be a learning experience and as I have
already said,
these days it does not involve the trauma that used to prevent people
from
“giving it a go.
Apart from
the marketing aspects, new
resin jewellery is succeeding because of advances in resins. There are
three
main types of resins used in simple jewellery manufacture. Epoxy
resins,
polyurethane resins and polyester resins.
Polyester
resins have been used for many
years and give a clear glass like appearance when cast. For certain
large size
castings it still may be necessary. However it is no longer the resin
of choice
because of its highly unpleasant odour and the MEKP hardener used .
MEKP is
considered a dangerous chemical by Australian Post and cannot be sent
through
the mail. We still use it in our factory for certain jobs but prefer to
use
epoxy or polyurethane wherever possible. |
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EPOXY
RESIN.
A lot of work has been put into
developing
this chemical by research laboratories around the world. For everyday
use it is
safe and has no unpleasant odour.
It
comes in four basic forms.
Epoxy
Laminating Resin: This is
used to make laminations
with reinforcements such as fibreglass. Polyester is still the
preferred
laminating resin.
Epoxy
Resin Adhesive: A good
example of this resin is Araldite which can be found in most hardware
stores in
a 2 plastic cylinder pack for dispensing equal quantities of resin and
hardener. It is used in resin jewellery for gluing on pin backs and small
repairs
Epoxy Surface Coat: This
works in much the same way as polyester gel coat. It comes in a two
pack of resin and hardener and used on wood and other surfaces to give
a deep, lustrous clear glass like finish.
The first time I saw it was in Florida over 20 years ago. This
entrepreneur was harvesting old Florida swamp cypress, cutting into 5cm
thick segments to fit a clock movement and numbers and finally coat
with resin. The clocks looked
terrific and sold well for years. It is marketed under the
trade name of "Aristocrat"
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For
resin jewellery this product can be used in many ways. It looks like glass and can be built up
in
layers. Say you start with a picture or dried flower on one layer then
a colour
layer, then fillers.The possibilities are only limited
by your imagination.
Epoxy
Casting Resin:
Unlike polyester resin this resin is
limited to small size castings. However this is not a problem in
resin jewellery
manufacture as most jobs do not entail large size projects.
It
casts water white and cures or hardens in times that allow you to
complete a project without having to rush. Available as Crystal Cast Clear.
Another good thing about it is that if there
are surface bubbles or other defects in your finished project you can
eliminate them by passing the heat from a propane torch over the
surface. This method of surface treatment applies also to the coating
form of this resin.
POLYURETHANE
CASTING RESIN
We use a
lot of this resin for castings of
figurines. Our most popular polyurethane resin CraftCast
75D sets
up in an amazing 3 minutes. We can remove it from
the silicone mould
in15 minutes or so. It is white in colour and can be filled to reduce
cost and
to give differing effects such as a porcelain like look, using calcium
carbonate.
This hard
surfaced resin would have many
uses in jewellery and can be coloured any opaque shade of the rainbow.
It
starts off as a two part product both of which have the viscosity of
water. The
great advantage of this is that it penetrates every section of a mould
easily
and rapidly reproducing the finest detail and having no trouble with
undercuts.
A good resin to use.
For
clear castings and for transparent dye effects, we use Polyurethane
WC784. This resin cures in 6 minutes and may be removed from the mould
in 2 to 3 hours.
The
only problem with polyurethane is its sensitivity to moisture, so you
must be sure that anything you add to the casting mixture is dry,
otherwise the casting will not cure or will foam. No trouble once you
get used to it.
For Clear casting and transparent dye effects use Easy Cast Clear.
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POLYESTER CASTING
RESIN
This
has been the basic resin used for over
20 years. You can make large clear water white castings that are strong
and
resemble glass. Wherever possible
we
avoid using polyester resin, instead preferring to use epoxy or
polyurethane
resins which are less toxic.
Instead
of using equal or large quantities
of hardener as you do for the other resins you need a few drops to
start the
cure process of polyester. A good starting point is to use 10 drops of
MEKP
hardener to 30ml of polyester resin. As such a small quantity of
hardener is
used you must be accurate in your measuring. Extra care must be taken
when
handling polyester resins. They have a nasty smell and can cause skin
problems
to sensitive skins. Use only in well ventilated areas.
Safety
Note:
Before
starting any project with polyester or
any of the resins listed here you should ensure that you read the
manufacturers
instructions carefully. Keep away from
children these are industrial products and require care in handling. |
