So I made the leap I bought my first gallon kit for resin casting as well as dyes.  For the Resin I ordered the SuperClear resin gallon kit at 60 dollars.  To see if I even like it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DM84HCZ?psc=1&smid=A1VEIRF9P54IWN&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

 

For the Dyes I went with liquid based dyes instead of powder.  The powdered dyes I've messed with and they are WAY too messy for me.  How ever these are the specific dyes I ordered.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q23M8Z?psc=1&smid=A297QD6LXTM60M&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

 

The dyes I can say I'm semi okay with not being too familiar with them.  How ever the resin on the other hand a little weary of it watched a couple youtube videos on it.  But I did happen to see that it was a 1 by 1 volume poor by ratio up to an 1/8th of an inch.  So that should make things interesting especially for the project I have in mind.

Andrew, You really don't need expensive powdered or liquid dyes. A pack of cheap acrylic artist's paints work fine. Plus, they have the advantage of being able to mix for the desired color BEFORE introducing it to the resin mixture. 

Using resins will open a ton of creative avenues for you. Have fun!

That's what I bought was an 11 dollar pack of dyes.  I wasnt going to spend 40 dollars on dye LOL

Looking forward to seeing the results!

What release agent did you get? And what king of molds do you plan to use?

Watching with interest.  Keep us posted. 

 

.40

4 hours ago, Gerald said:

What release agent did you get? And what king of molds do you plan to use?

I have not purchased a release agent as of yet I was contemplating on doing the wood molds and turning down the wood to the desired length like using a cheapo wood like poplar to make the exterior and place the wood I want from there in make the cast the turn the rest down into shape.  I was considering doing it that way I was hunting for molds but no one has the larger resin molds available to buy.

 

9 hours ago, lew said:

Looking forward to seeing the results!

 

2 hours ago, forty_caliber said:

Watching with interest.  Keep us posted. 

 

.40

They may not be great starter results LOL I've had way better luck with the wood turning solid wood materials lol so the resin will be a hole new ball game.  But at least I aint gotta buy a pressure pot bought that early on I knew I was eventually going to be doing this LOL.

Rebecca DeGroot did demo at AAW and she used sections of PVC and hot glue to mount that on a piece of HDPE from a cutting board. Release agent she used is Stoner Urethane Mold release. In this demo she did a piece of burl upside down and made it look like a root was in the casting and sprout at the top.

Plant in casting and burl

@AndrewB I’m no expert at this. IHO, the mold will need to be very smooth inside to be able remove the casting. Even then, a release agent will facilitate getting the casting free with no damage. 
 

When I used to do cold cast porcelain, we would make our molds from a silicone type material that we mixed. A similar material is now available from Alumilite. 
 

Depending on what your casting is going to be shaped like, you could get some sheets of UHMW and make molds. 
 

As @Gerald just mentioned, Rebecca DeGroot is working with casting and molds. Also check out Zac Higgins on YouTube. This is his specialty. Even though you are using a different brand, Alumilite has a lot of instructional videos on YouTube, as well. 

On youtube, I've seen pen molds made from dollar store uhmw cutting boards. 

On 7/25/2021 at 5:08 PM, Gerald said:

What release agent did you get? And what king of molds do you plan to use?

There are a lot of options out there that won’t require a release agent. A couple of examples are the cheap white cutting boards and that corrugated plastic stuff that looks like cardboard.