I am looking forward to try something like this
But I am living in Europe and I have not been able to find any product like it...
The local store have no clue what i'm talking about
Hope someone in here can help me out on what to look for, and where?
It's just a epoxy resin that they use with fiberglass. I once made a card table, put green felt down and laid out playing cards and penny coins around the edges. I then poured about 1/2" thick layer of epoxy resin over it. It turned out crystal clear and very hard finish.
garylmast wrote:It's just a epoxy resin that they use with fiberglass. I once made a card table, put green felt down and laid out playing cards and penny coins around the edges. I then poured about 1/2" thick layer of epoxy resin over it. It turned out crystal clear and very hard finish.
Last time I used Fiberglass resisn was 197? somethng. I believe it was quite flamable. In this video - the guys passed a torch over the top to break up the bubbles. I don't think it is fiberglass resin.
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Gary, My father made a similar table when I was a toddler (I'm now 53). He wrapped a printed fabric with cartoon characters over the table top and poured resin over it and the finish was also like glass. I would suspect it was epoxy resin or maybe polyester resin as he used both for fibreglass work. I doubt there was much more to choose from back in 1960.
Be careful though with fibreglass resins when poured on very thick. Heat builds up quickly and it can spontaneously ignite. I usually leave the mixing container outside in a safe area if there is any left over.
Here are some links for companies that make the clear epoxy products. They're specific to table tops and bar tops, but I'm sure there are other clear epoxies that would work.
I have a friend that mixes it with powdered turquois or powdered coral and uses it for a decorative wood filler. I don't recall what brand he uses, but even our small town lumber yard sells it, so I'm sure you'll find a suitable product close enough to you.
I personally don't see any danger in quickly passing a torch over the surface to pop the bubbles with that type of product. It doesn't off-gas enough flammable gas to ignite with the quick pass of the flame. Sure you could catch it on fire and have a big problem if you kept the torch in one area long enough to get it too hot.
Let us know what you find out, and post pictures of your work with it!
Chris
Thanks for all your suggestions.
I also can easily find products inside the US.
That's why I thought I would try to ask if there were someone in here who was able to refer me to a place
in Europe?
Since it's a rather heavy product the Shipping price from the us typically ends up higher than the
price of the product it self.
I use a material like this a lot, and a heat gun or even an ordinary hair dryer can be used on the bubbles. The idea is to heat them up quickly so they raise to the surface and disappear.
An epoxy or polyester resin will do what you want & easy to obtain in Europe, if you are looking for it to flow & self level then you are better off with a slow hardener.
You can certainly get it in the UK and I am sure the rest of the EU.
Its often a matter of finding out the best search term - unless you are on target with the common name you will likely only get US hits in your search engine.
In the UK I have usually found this product by searching for "clear casting resin" - you can also try "transparent" and so on, unfortunately I do not know
what the best search term in Danish would be - variations the English use are "Water Clear Polyester Casting Resin". The word casting in English
applies to the process of making things with moulds but also applies to the process of burying small artifacts in resin to make paper weights and so on.
Resins are pretty much universal, I have not heard of anything available in one region but not another - most of the time is about knowing what everyone
else calls it you could call "East Coast Fibreglass Supplies" which is in the UK - even if they cannot help you directly they may give you some leads.
Often the problem is shipping because there are often rules and regulations with volatile chemicals.
If there are no Danish suppliers I would try Germany I think you will find fewer shipping issues when its overland by road - you could start by
looking up bacuplast - if they do not stock it I am sure they would tell you exactly what to search for on Google DE.
Be careful of buying regular resins intended for fibreglass - I have worked quite a lot with fibreglass and so far every resin I have used in several different EU countries has a colouration, usually green or blue when viewed in bulk and is definitely not 'crystal clear'.
In addition to Martin54's advice regarding catalyst, curing time and the time to self level - I would add that you can use temperature to your advantage. When I have a lot of work to do with fibreglass I will often work somewhere very cool - say 10 deg C and then bring into a warmer environment ( or just turn on the room heating ) when my work is done and cure at room temperature. Bubbles can take ages to surface so the way you mix and the way you pour can all affect the outcome.
Cure time often varies with thickness - curing produces heat and heat speeds up curing so in a thick sample its possible to get a run away reaction. I usually stay on the side of caution and if in doubt I will under-estimate rather than over-estimate with catalyst, this has only once cost me an item that would not cure properly. As long as catalyst is properly mixed it will usually cure given enough time and warm temperatures - more mistakes in my case by adding too much than too little.
Kind regards
Jon
Hej - I am not Danish but I am in Denmark for the next four months - my wife is Danish.
jonnie wrote: unfortunately I do not know
what the best search term in Danish would be -
Kind regards
Jon
Hej - I am not Danish but I am in Denmark for the next four months - my wife is Danish.
Hej Jon
Directly translated it would b "flydende glas" but I cannot find an answer for that.
However "vandglas" rings a bell in my brain. http://www.borup.info/en/FarveAndKemi/H ... dglas.aspx
You will need someone to translate.
I remember as a kid we put dried flowers on a serving tray, then poured "vandglas" over it and got a hard glass-like surface that lasted for years.
When I asked for "waterglass" here in Australia I just got a blank look
Cheers
Wolffie
Cheers
Wolffie
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