January 28th, 2009
Over the weekend, I experimented with the resin, which I will use to make a positive mold for my senior thesis project. After researching different types of resin, I made the decision to use a resin and a catalyst from Michael’s store. Resin is extremely expensive, so I bought a medium priced brand for testing purposes. Used a small plastic mold that in the end will turn into a birch mold that will hold the cameras. There are two different processes for getting the molds ready for the resin. First you have to decide if you need to cast in layers or all at once. There are ratios for the catalyst that make this decision important. For every 8 ounces of resin used there must be 40 drops of catalyst for a solid pour. For pouring in layers, the first layer gets 5 drops per ounce and the second layer gets 4 drops per ounce. You also have to decide which process will work better for the object that you are trying to cast in the resin. I chose to do a sold pour, which worked. The problem that I will try solving over the next week will be to figure out how to make the sides of the end product smother than they turned out in this experiment. I ended up completing two molds because practice does not hurt in these experiments. Below are some images of the process and the end product.
