A few months ago, I watched a series of Youtube videos by RJBWoodturner making kitless/ bespoke pens. Somehow, I was charmed and got hooked on the idea of making my own stuff on a lathe. My partner also started basic woodworking and I felt a little envious of the joy one gets from creating. I already crochet but wanted to learn a new skill since learning new things and satisfying my curiosity bring me a great deal of happiness.
Instead of starting with a wood lathe, I ended up going with experimenting with casting blanks first for two reasons. Firstly, the wood lathe that fit my budget with the necessary features went out of stock just as I was about to order it. Secondly, there are no local sources of pen blanks. Eventually, I would like to order blanks from overseas but for now, I decided to try casting my own as an experiment.
I bought two types of resin: polyester and epoxy. The shop from which I got the polyester resin claimed that Part A looked pink in the bottle but would dry clear. The epoxy resin was clear for both Part A and Part B. For molds, I got some 3/4 inch PVC pipes cut to 10 inches long, blue painter’s tape and my partner crafted a little test tube rack to hold them upright. Here are the results of my experiments.
Experiment #1 Polyester Resin
Cured without a pressure pot, the polyester resin came out of the mold with a bit of help from a dowel and mallet. It did not dry clear like the website claimed, though I suspect it is because I used it in a way that was not its intended purpose (for flooring and boats). It came out quartz pink so free colouring if you look on the bright side!
Experiment #2 Epoxy Resin
Cured without a pressure pot. There was a leak problem as I did not put enough tape securely at the bottom. Took some effort to get the mold out of the rack and I still have not been able to get it out of the mold! I suspect it will need some mold release spray or have the PVC turned off using a lathe. It also looked cloudy with lots of tiny bubbles which made my try to find a budget friendly pressure pot.
Experiment #3 Polyester Resin + Glitter + low-pressure Pressure Pot.
Added a couple pinches of white glitter to the polyester resin resin to see if I could get a pink glittery blank. I also made a (low-)pressure pot after seeing a resin artist make one on Youtube. It uses a an “American style” industrial/food grade plastic bucket with gasket lid, a bicycle pump, an inner tube valve attached to the bucket lid and a dab of silicone. The gasket in the lid keeps the bucket air tight and the valve allows you to pump air into the bucket with the bicycle pump. I already had a bicycle pump, spare inner tubes, and some silicone for other home projects so I spent less than 300 Baht to get the bucket.
After casting the blanks and putting the rack into the DIY pressure pot, I noticed a leak somewhere from the bucket. I suspect the valve I used may not have been attached properly so I will try with a different one soon! We shall see what they look like after curing.
The Pscrybe Reviews 