Blueberry meringue bowl

tdotrob

New User
T.Rob
So I was pouring resin for a hybrid bowl and got one of those "stroke of genius" ideas - what if I briefly put the bowl under vacuum before putting it in the pressure pot? It works for stabilizing resin so why not casting resin?

Well, the answer in part is that the casting resin I used has a 12 minute working time so it was already setting up when I tried this. The result is a giant blueberry meringue-looking bowl blank with more and larger voids then the wood blank I was casting had to begin with.

I'm hoping the foam is mostly on the top of the mold since that's the bottom of the bowl and it will mostly get cut away. But it may end up as a total loss. Will find out once I cut into it over the weekend. That's a lot of resin to waste if it doesn't work out. And I'm reconsidering that whole "stroke of genius" thing.

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Berta

Berta
Corporate Member
But, if the voids left are large enough could you fill them with clear? Maybe add something interesting? I have never used resin, only epoxy. But still…
 

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drw

Donn
Corporate Member
I lot of great and valuable discovers came from experiments that didn't quite work as expected...your experiment could be a total waste OR the beginning of something new!
 

bowman

Board of Directors, Webmaster
Neal
Staff member
Corporate Member
As David Picciuto (Make Something on YT) says, "Rule number 4, Everything is an experiment".
 

tdotrob

New User
T.Rob
It might still be a stroke if genius if you can fill the remaining voids with a complimentary color.
But, if the voids left are large enough could you fill them with clear?
Unfortunately, those voids all started life as closed-cell bubbles and relatively few of them will have combined into large voids. The result is something that is deceptively non-porus so I could fill the voids at the surface but no way to get to the ones that are not exposed. Definitely going to have to cut back down to the rough-turned bowl under the resin.

Add a few sprinkles, claim Kale as an ingredient, and you are off to a new super-food that actually looks delicious!
A good fallback plan!

I lot of great and valuable discovers came from experiments that didn't quite work as expected
Ever the optimist, Donn! And I'm guessing the bulk of those experiments of which you speak did NOT start out with "hey y'all, watch this!" Mine did not so maybe it is still eligible for the "great discovery category".

I have never used resin, only epoxy.
I've got good news...after curing, epoxy is a resin so you can now add that to the list of stuff you've done. Congratulations!

As David Picciuto (Make Something on YT) says, "Rule number 4, Everything is an experiment".
It's like the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition applied to Maker culture. I'll keep that as my fallback position. But if it works out I'm taking the advice of Tubby the cat and going with the "uhhhh, I totally meant to do that" approach.

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tdotrob

New User
T.Rob
Definitely NOT a stroke of genius. I was hoping the foam would be at the top with solid resin below - like a glass of beer. But it was foamy throughout the resin, including inside of the cracks I was trying to fill. When I cut down to the bare wood, the the resin in the cracks had small- to medium-size voids from the bubbles and I had to fill these with CA glue.

To top it off, the resin came off as small bits ranging from BB size to fine dust. I wore a respirator which saved my lungs, but I had hours of cleanup just to get to where it wasn't tracking into the house and I'll be cleaning it out of nooks and crannies in the garage for...well, forever. And this was WITH the dust collector and overhead air cleaner running. The filter on the air cleaner was toast.

By the time I got the outside down to bare wood and cleaned up the shop I was a tad bit frustrated and disappointed so I left off for the day. It's going to get finished, just not today.

Next time I get a bright idea, I'm going to test it on something smaller.
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Thanks for sharing, and please don’t be afraid to share the good and the bad. Some of the best things in our world, was a happy accident.
 

tdotrob

New User
T.Rob
Some of the best things in our world, was a happy accident.
Aint that the truth! In this case, mostly accident and happy - enough - in the end. When I went back top the bowl today I had relegated it to "practice bowl" status and figured I'd try out my new beading tool. Despite all of the issues with the resin I was very happy with the beads, and I learned to move them a bit lower because the rim dropped by 1/4" after I turned the beads and it was a bit too close.

Final update on the resin - since the bubbles were from air in the wood it makes sense that even deep in the cracks the resin was foamy. What had been blue appeared white and LOTS of voids. On the outside I tried adding some mica powder to 5-minute epoxy to fill the voids but it was too thick and after cutting away the over-spread the voids were still there. In the end I just used black CA glue which got into the voids and the black/white combo looks...interesting.

After turning the outside I had the idea that the foamy resin would not add very much strength to the blank and with all those cracks I had to be very cautious. So I used the tailstock virtually the whole time while hollowing, took my time, used my full-face shield, and tried to stay out of the throw path. The white resin makes the cracks stand out and you can see what I was dealing with.

This was supposed to be the bowl I gave to the guy who gave me the wood. He gave me two logs which I split into 4 blanks. The first bowl turned out to be a funnel so he didn't get that one. I wasn't comfortable with giving him this one given all the issues so I have two more chances. The reason I said "happy enough" is that my wife saw it and called dibs immediately. If she likes it that much then I guess I'm happy with it too. :)

Finished bowl is 9.5" wide by 4.5" tall. Next resin pour goes straight into the pressure pot. Lesson learned.

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teesquare

T
Senior User
I lot of great and valuable discovers came from experiments that didn't quite work as expected...your experiment could be a total waste OR the beginning of something new!
Somehow your statement makes me think of the ex-wife....and that cause me to sweat!:oops:o_O:oops::D
 

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