I’ve recently made some photo pendants, essentially a bezel into
which I’ve put a small photo, then filled to the top with Colores
resin. So far, I’ve just done this with pendants, but I like the
idea, too, of using them (or something like them) in bracelets. Is
the resin durable enough for a bracelet? I’m just worried about it
getting nicked & scratched & such while being worn. I’m careful to
mix it properly, and it seems to be quite solid, but I’m sure if
something sharp went against it, it would scratch, wouldn’t it? If
it were metal & got too scratched up over time, it could be (at least
potentially) cleaned up. I’m not sure, though, that anything could be
done to the resin to clean it up if needed, and I don’t want to make
a piece that’s asking for damage down the line. Thanks in advance for
any help and/or reassurance.
If I’m picturing correctly what you are doing, how about using
quarts caps like the ones for making opal triplets? You can
occasionally find them for sale or make them yourself.
there is some risk if not fully cured, but no doubt you’ll fully
cure your pieces. There are a number of plastic intended compounds on
the market that will do a great job of polishing out any
problems,except gouges, thatt may occur- think of it lie a watch
crystal. there are also many dimensional products on the market that
are not epoxies,or enamels like colorit, but give a rock hard, quartz
looking domed (if you want it domed) cap to the photo. some people
also use glass,quartz,or sapphire watch crystals and use gold or
silver lined stained glass foils to solder the “caps” to the
bezels…but don’t worry the compouds will take care of scratches,
etc.one thing to consider:.add a lifetime scratch removal extended
warranty option to your pieces for an extra fee…just a thought!
The easiest way to assess the resin you are using, I assume a two
part exopy glue/resin or a pouring resin. Is to make a couple pieces
and then beat the daylights out of them. Cast a string in a pendent
sized piece, that way you can bounce it of the work bench ect. same
with the sized pieces for the bracelets. There are a number of great
books on plastic/resin jewelry out there and I would suggest get one
of them. Some you can remove small scratches and nicks some you
can’t.
So far, I've just done this with pendants, but I like the idea,
too, of using them (or something like them) in bracelets. Is the
resin durable enough for a bracelet? I'm just worried about it
getting nicked & scratched & such while being worn.
Colores is a great medium to work with, it has the characteristic to
coat evenly and when cured it is shiny, no abrasive or polishing
work is necessary. However because of this it can not be sanded or
polished because of its relative softness.
The easiest way to assess the resin you are using, I assume a two
part exopy glue/resin or a pouring resin. Is to make a couple
pieces and then beat the daylights out of them. Cast a string in a
pendent sized piece, that way you can bounce it off the work bench
ect.
I love it! I don’t blame people for asking for others’ experience–
I do it myself-- but there’s nothing like a good, simple, empirical
experiment. This is good ol’ creative problem solving.
Actually, resin is very easy to clean up/repair if it gets
scratched. In some cases, it will repair itself (and no, I don’t know
why or how this happens) but if a scratch needs to be filled in, just
use a small paint brush to add resin, and smooth it out with a sponge
then let it cure.
Thanks for the assurance that it’s not hard to fix the scratches.
I’m more concerned, though, with how to tell the potential buyers
about how to care for it. It’s one thing if I have it & it has
scratches, but what is the customer to do if it gets lots of
scratches? They aren’t going to have resin on hand to fill them in.
And I want, too, to be sure that it won’t look in great need of
repair just a few weeks after they have bought it. Or even a few
months, for that matter. That’s interesting to know that it can
sometimes heal itself! Curious.
Thanks, Thackeray, for your reply. OK, so if the Colores has such
“relative softness”, is there another type of resin that is harder,
or do you just mean that resin in general has this relative softness?
The durability of cold-set epoxy resins is based on their hardener.
The hardeners available for the Colores resins cannot be polished
after the fact. There are other hardeners available from other
sources that will allow some polishing, and there are after-coats
that can be put on that will also allow for a polished look. I do
not recommend the Colores hardeners for uses other than earrings and
pendants.
I have a few resin pieces that I’ve worn many times, and they look
as good as new. They are easy to clean - a few times I thought a
piece was damaged, then rinsed it in cold water and it looked as good
as new. I use Colores; it might be different with other types of
resin.
I haven’t had any customers call me to complain about scratches so
far, and I do always make sure when I’m doing face to face sales
that I remind the customer my contact is on my card,
which is in the bag w/ the receipt, in case they have any questions
or problems.
The Colores hardeners are repackaged versions of RBC epoxy products.
Their No. 2 hardener, aka “Durenamel” in the Rio catalogue,
definitely can be polished. It’s impossible to get a perfect finish,
but with the proper curing and a good polishing technique, you can
correct surface flaws and obtain a nice shine. There are various
tricks to doing this, but sanding under water is the most important
one. I use a Fabulustre-like product called “Wonderbar” on a cotton
buff for the final polish.
I haven’t used it, but the RBC No. 1 hardener produces an even
harder finish. Ceramit/Ceramitation yield similar results to
Durenamel. I’m not aware of any other decorative epoxies that cure
harder. Colorit, a UV-cured product, is a completely different
animal.