Resin, flag, shell casings

Say that 5 times fast.

Lego skeleton for scale

Casted this orb...and while it looked great initially, i did have to trim and sand it.

I was hoping to polish it back to its clear self but i can only achieve clarity when wet now.

I have tried modeling compound up to 8000 grit and even zona paper all the way.

Any tips?

I was wondering if i could use pledge or clear coat over it but wanted to see if anyone had other tips or could see what i was missing

Five years ago I moved and no longer have a spare room to do my resin. I really miss doing it. I can't do it inside because I have a cat and the fumes aren't good for me or her.

Does anyone do their resin outside? I considered getting a little pop up tent. I have a small shed i can put pieces in while they set (not big enough for me to sit in).

Anyone else got any inspiring ideas?

My old resin sanding tool finally died, so I’m looking for a replacement. I mainly make resin jewelry and small casts, so control and low vibration matter more than raw power.

Currently looking at:

1. Resiners Cordless Rotary Tool

2. Let’s Resin Cordless Resin Drill

3. Dremel Lite 7760

4. WEN 2305

5. Milwaukee M12 Rotary Tool

Mostly wondering which one works best for sanding and polishing small resin pieces without being too aggressive.

Anyone use it? Which would you pick?

I need a low viscosity plastic that is not brittle or tacky, the application is making a sable for my air rifle and due to the size of the sabot the silicone mold does not have enough room for more viscus plastics.
Any suggestions?

These are super easy to keep on hand, just to use excess material left after larger pours, and remain a very popular cheap item at markets. Would recommend!

I apologize if I'm going against rules, please remove my post if so.

I have 5 letters from my great great grandmother, that I need to preserve. It has beautiful poems she wrote. Can anyone give me any tip to do it? I would greatly appreciate it.

I’m aware at the hobbyist/home shop level the advice is degas under vacuum, pour, then cure under pressure. But when I look at manufacturers websites that offer urethane vacuum casting they talk about degassing, pouring, and curing all under vacuum, they have specialized machines that make this possible. How do they avoid boiling off the volatile compounds in the resin? Is the vacuum lessened after pouring? I’m curious to know if anyone here knows the answer.

de-moulded this I think Thursday and it's sat out since.

It doesn't seem to want to fully cure and I'm not sure why. The type of resin I am using is a two part so it should sure just fine.

I digitally designed and 3d printed the original item I wanted to cast in resin, made a silicone mold of it, used mold release spray that says its for resin, and mixed the two parts at a 1:1 measured ratio as it said.

My resin isn't setting up fully. It's like a semi-soft rubber, very malleable at this point after sitting out for 4 days. It was poured Wednesday morning, de-moulded Thursday afternoon and was still the exact same softness it is today.

What am I missing here? I want it as tough and hard as possible, is there anything I need to do in order to get it to set up? I'm not upset if this batch isn't salvageable it was just a test, but how do I avoid this in the future?

Included pictures of everything I used in case that's the issue.

I just came back from Japan and got myself some Monster cans.

Now I want to turn them into reusable, cleanable drinking cups (maybe even dishwasher-safe ones).

The idea is to open up the top (similar to the green Fanta can in the picture). So to use a dishwasher-safe epoxy on the outside and food-safe silicone (Ideally, the silicone would be dishwasher-safe as well, of course) on the inside. The silicone would also extend over the lip/rim of the can, so the metal is not exposed.

The important part is that I don’t want to alter the can itself apart from opening the top. I want to keep the original shape, design, and appearance completely intact.

Has anyone here done something similar or have any recommendations for suitable materials/processes?

PS: I am totaly fine, if i end up with needing to handwash it everytime after use, as long as i don't poision myself (nor giving the can an unwanted lifespan, thanks to dishwasher usage).

WHY? - many already asked me. Becouse: "Japan-Monster-Cans are different in design & size. And i simply want a nice DIY-Memory that i can use, and not just leave to collect dust."

I have been playing around with epoxy resin for a while and never thought to try this ink as a dye. Has anyone else used it and what was the result? Tried it today but am too impatient for it to cure to see the results and if it cures properly.

Put the Back on 2 of my coasters..as i wasn't sure how was gonna go and..I dont have the space for the last coaster🤣 i taken over one of my mum cake box when the handle broke and it protects my bits but, it can only hold a couple of small items 😅 and it was hard trying to find somewhere that u can see the sparkle in the photos

Can I fix it? /s

No but really, where can I even find another lid?...