hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Jul 6, 2022 17:48:32 GMT -5
I'm still looking for advice on using art resin for rocks. I just finished the final polish on some random rocks I have accumulated. Before the final polish they were run in 90 grit, 220 grit, 600 grit and finally in Raytech polish. They look very nice, in my opinion, but they have hairline cracks in each stone. These were not visible to me in the previous steps. I use the white small ceramic filler in each stage to cushion the rocks. This is all in a 3 pound rotary tumbler. I've looked at, I think, all of the postings on here about this but must say I haven't found a solution.
I know others have referenced the use of art resin to smooth the stone and fill the cracks. Is this done before the final polish, at the beginning of the tumbling procedure, or what? The stones in question were all soaked in a stabilizing mix of epoxy and acetone for about a week or so, then left out to dry for a couple of weeks.
For what it's worth, I have no problems with hard agates. I use the same procedure and length of time for them except I do not stabilize them in the epoxy/acetone mix. Everything else is the same and they come out beautiful!
Could someone explain to me how to use the art resin properly to fill these cracks. Please, a complete explanation if you will. If you want to direct me to another section of the forum for this, please explain how because I'm not very computer savy. I appreciate everyone's input and experiences to help me.
Just a late ad on - if the art resin is applied at any point prior to the final polish, I'm assuming that the rock gets tumbled with the art resin on and fully cured. If my questions seem a bit elementary to you, sorry, but thats where I am with this process.
All help and advice is welcomed.
Jim
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Jul 7, 2022 17:31:57 GMT -5
Someone out there must have some information that can help me!
Jim
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Post by liveoak on Jul 7, 2022 18:21:35 GMT -5
I know others have referenced the use of art resin to smooth the stone and fill the cracks. Is this done before the final polish, at the beginning of the tumbling procedure, or what? The stones in question were all soaked in a stabilizing mix of epoxy and acetone for about a week or so, then left out to dry for a couple of weeks. Jim,
First I have to tell you I've never, used Art Resin - so I'm probably not going to be very helpful for you. BUT it sounds to me that if you're already stabilizing the rocks with an epoxy /acetone soak for a week, aren't' you already doing what the art resin would ??
But maybe I'm missing something.
OTOH you might re-visit the dilution you're using.
If you use too much acetone, the epoxy molecules will be so spread out that they can't really cross link with each other properly & they will never harden correctly.
Patty
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 7, 2022 19:16:32 GMT -5
Check out this thread. fencejumper should be able to answer any questions you have, but this thread is pretty complete with information.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,539
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Post by rockbrain on Jul 7, 2022 20:50:43 GMT -5
I'll start by saying I really don't know anything about this either. But reading the guides on here I don't see how you could make it work for tumbled stones. Since you apply the resin to a slab an "make sure you keep it level" when it heats I don't see how you would accomplish that with a roundish rock.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2022 22:57:02 GMT -5
Bob uses something for the cracks. Can’t remember what it was. I’ll look and update. Tagging him so he can chime in. Edit: he called it opticon
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Post by Bob on Jul 7, 2022 23:38:38 GMT -5
Bob uses something for the cracks. Can’t remember what it was. I’ll look and update. Tagging him so he can chime in. Edit: he called it opticon I have never done the acetone/epoxy thing, but have saved some porous ocean jasper for that someday when I finally try it. But I do find Opticon fracture sealer does well for its intended use.
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malduin
starting to shine!
Member since June 2022
Posts: 29
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Post by malduin on Jul 8, 2022 9:43:57 GMT -5
I have experience making coasters using art resin so I thought I would chime in. Firstly, when he says to preheat the resin (parts A and B), just place the bottles in hot water for a few minutes to warm them up. This lessens the bubbles that you get when you mix parts A and B. Heating up of the rock also might help for the same reason. I would use my heat gun for this. And after you apply the reason to the rock, you could use the heat gun on low to eliminate any bubbles you see forming. As for placing it in the oven, I would assume this is just done to speed up the curing / hardening time. Otherwise, most art resins take at least 24 hours to cure and I would question if that's even enough time to hold up to tumbling grit or not? Maybe the baking gets you to the point where it can hold up much, much quicker.
Now, since you asked about tumbling, the question would be at what part of the process would you do this? I would assume before either course or medium because I would doubt pre-polish would be able to get out the resin overflow that's on the surface outside the cracks you fill. Keep us informed if you try it and heck I could easily run an experiment as I already have all the supplies to do so...
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Jul 8, 2022 10:06:42 GMT -5
My thanks to all of you for what I consider valuable information. These posts make it pretty clear how to use the resin.
Thank you again,
Jim
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Jul 9, 2022 20:31:34 GMT -5
Just put the resin or epoxy on any area that you want to remain Unchanged and tumble. You will need a way to remove it when you are finished.
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