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Post by mrguesp on Jan 16, 2017 23:38:24 GMT -5
Hello! I recently purchased some phosphorescent powders from another supplier (in colors you do not offer) and made some casts with them. You can see them at the bottom. I was fairly pleased with the results but one issue that occurred was that the powders settled somewhat and a uniform glow was not achieved (for reference I used Water clear for these figurines). I've never had this issue with your powder (though these powders are also strontium aluminate) and so I was wondering if you had any advice on how to prevent this problem. Do you treat your powder with some sort of dispersant or is it merely a very fine grain size? All of these powders are <50um. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Best, MrGuesp http://instagram.com/p/BPT53tRhrI5 |
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Post by mrguesp on Jan 19, 2017 14:19:03 GMT -5
Bump! Any advice?
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Post by Frank Roberts on Jan 23, 2017 15:26:12 GMT -5
You might try slowly rotating your poured molds around the horizontal axis while the resin sets so that the powders aren't pulled by gravity in one direction. Think barbeque spit.
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Post by mrguesp on Jan 26, 2017 14:53:06 GMT -5
Hi Frenk,
Thanks for the response. I thought about doing this, but I use a pressure pot to eliminate bubbles, which makes rotation of the molds difficult while they are in there. Additionally, I would need to seal the hole that i use to pour the resin into the molds, which would also be tricky since I'd have to pour plugs for every mold I've made.
I've had some success by grinding the powder up in an agate mortar and pestle, as well as by delaying the pour so that the resin is more viscous, but neither is an ideal solution as they are difficult to control and, in the case of grinding, require significantly more labor. What I would really like to know is if someone as Alumilite knows of a dispersant that I could easily treat the powder with...
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Post by mike on Jan 30, 2017 10:18:56 GMT -5
Sorry for the slow response. The weight of the particles is the real issue. You could add a lighter weight particle to it to help it suspend however this will interfere with some of the opacity and make it a little "whiter" and not quite as transparent.
Our Phosphorescent powder is more than likely lighter and does not fall out nearly as fast. A fine mesh size powder will typically help as well if you can ask your current supplier for a smaller mesh in those same colors. The result looks very nice.
As you mentioned, the only thing you can really do with the current powder is keep the material moving and pour later in the open time giving the heavy powder less time to fall out before the Water Clear cures. Definitely not ideal but will work.
I'd first ask your current supplier if they have a smaller mesh size in those same colors.
Mike
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Post by mrguesp on Feb 3, 2017 14:17:59 GMT -5
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the response! Unfortunately tey do not currently offer it in a smaller size but I'll look at other suppliers. Also been getting some good results by grinding the powder with mortar and pestle but that's kind of a chore... Do you happen to know what the particle size is for your powder? I don't think it's on the material data sheet.
Best,
MrGuesp
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Post by Zoltan on Feb 22, 2017 14:18:03 GMT -5
Try using a small rotary ball mill instead of the mortar/pestle. They are not too expensive, or easy to make one. Let it run for several hours and you should get a very fine powder.
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