Lens Aperture Exploded in Resin

I travelled to New York the last Christmas and I enjoyed it as much as troubles me and my family had there. One of them was my sister's camera.  It lens got blocked; maybe because of the high changes of temperature (We live in Canary Islands, so we aren't used to control those things). The thing is that we couldn't take photos there with that camera. Now, I decided to take the piece that wasn't working (aperture) and sink it into resin, making a gift for my sister in order to remind her the good (and bad) times we had in New York.

This 'ible is an example of what can you do with transparent resin, so the following instructions can be taken for other ideas. The resin used is Transparent Polyester. I bought it on this store , very cheap by the way.

Step 1 Safety First

Resin can become an hazardous issue if you don't take the correspondent precautions. There are required some protections:
- Latex or nitrile gloves.
- A Mask for the fumes
- Acetone (is the best product for clean polyester resin).

Comments

[eyrops]

I like to undercatalyze polyester resin to reduce the exotherm, and reduce the risk of cracking. That increases the setting time, of course. I also often use styrene monomer as a "float layer" to wet the object so bubbles don't stick to it. I then pour the catalyzed resin into the liquid monomer layer. Looks like your project turned out very well without those precautions, but they might help someone doing a thicker project or one with a surface more likely to trap air.

[plugable]

So much thanks for your comment, It's my first time working with resin, so I didn't known anything about that. Would polyvinyl alcohol work to avoid bubbles on the object too?

[eyrops]

I don't know for sure. I'm not very familiar with polyvinyl alcohol I thought it was used as a mold release, so my guess is that if you painted it on and let it dry, it might separate the object from the resin. That would probably not be what you want. The thing about styrene monomer is that it wets the surface and is compatible with the resin as the resin cures. So, for example, if you have a complicated porous object such as a dry piece of bark, you can anchor it with a thin resin layer. Then you can pour a layer of styrene monomer over it. It will wet the bark. Then you can pour the next layer of resin right into the monomer, and continue. Styrene monomer is available from Industrial Arts Supply Company in Minnesota.. I haven't looked into other sources.

[tinker234]

wow amazing i wonder if i could do something like this with a old camera i have on my shelf

[cekpi7]

is good to put a small speaker inside and drill holes so i can hear it??

[plugable]

Well, the speaker must vibrate so as to produce sound. If you cover it completely doing just some holes in the resin, it wont work. Other option is to let just the back of the speaker make contact with the resin and protect the front with a plastic cilinder (that you can remove after the dry), making it free to move. Then you can make a resin top with holes if you want. ;)

However, if resin can reach the diaphragm from the back (e.g.: a computer speaker) you should think in other idea.

[Bubbler]

I have a snake skull that I always wanted to put into a cube or or ball shape. The bones of the jaws and teeth are extremely fine, so is this the stuff I would use for that please? Do I need to make it less viscious?

[avatar_i]

Oh, man, is that a great idea, or what!!!

I have several small animal skulls that I collected in the deep woods, and I always thought a nice display would be cool, but I coudln't figure out how!

Thanks, Plugable, thanks, Bubbler, you ROCK!

[plugable]

Resin doesn't expand, so you haven to worry about bones and teeth break. Besides, resin is very viscious, just a bit less than water,

[Bubbler]

Thanks Plugable, your information is just what I required.

[mathieulj]

To avoid bubbles, you could experiment with different solvents mixed in with the resin. I don't know the specific solvent/resin that was used but someone I know was casting optics and solved her bubble problem by doing so. It would increase cure time but it's higher liquidity would allow the bubbles to rise to the surface.

[Narlo11]

Styrene momomer is a thinner used about 2-5% to thin resin.

[Noitoen]

After the first sanding, if you give a few thin coats of transparent acrylic varnish it will become crystal clear.

[trojan52]

The silvery thingies you are talking about are probably caused by a thin layer of air trapped beetween the resin and the lens.

You might want to take a look at the url at the bottom of my comment, it's a wikipedia entry about the phenomenom (total internal reflection).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_internal_reflection

[plugable]

Thanks for the info.

[nerd12]

do you know any where i can buy the resin in India?
pls reply
the site was also in Spanish or something which i did not understand.

[plugable]

Sorry but I don't known. English version (without descripition and some spanish titles): http://adhesivostnk.es/tienda/en/bisuteria-orgonites-transparentes/155-kit-resina-de-poliester-transparente-1-kgr-endurecedor.html

[guaps]

Do you think this would work for insects too? I found a huge cockroach in my room while visiting a friend in Venezuela. I want to put it in some resin like this.

[plugable]

Yes, it works very well because I watched some examples on the net. The only precaution you may do is the exotherm effect, which make the resin rises over 60 ºC. However, it shouldn't affect the result in this case.

[omgitschrislol]

Would it make a better cast if I were to use one of those clear plastic boxes from walmart? They have perfect angles and all that and wont leak. Even come with a lid to make the bottom section seperate. I am OCD when it comes to perfect angles and stuff so this would be a must. The only issue i can think of would be sticking but i think you can use Pam cooking spray or the like.

[plugable]

Since you use a clear plastic box, you won't have sticking problems, but you have to find a way to take it out without break the box. I made a test sample in a plastic recipient, and it took out with just some soft hits.

[murraykaynottawa]

That is a really niffty idea.
And I think your sister would be thrilled to receive such a great piece that you obviously worked hard to prepare for her !
Great job !!

[plugable]

Thanks!

[destroyer2012]

If you don't want to invest in polish paste or a special cloth for this purpose, I have had good success with toothpaste and a sock.

[plugable]

I read somewhere that metal polish works as well, and is cheap too.

[drdasd]

Very cool project that can be applied to most anything that has parts! Also great for using stuff that would otherwise be thrown away. Thanks for sharing!

Would the resin found here work for this? http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=37&

There is a local store so it would me much more convenient for me!

[plugable]

That resin is for fiberglass, not transparent. It is used to stick layers of fiberglass in order to create a determinate object,

You have to look for transparent resin or clear resin :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Castin-Craft-Clear-Polyester-Casting-Resin-16-oz-/380363479607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588f6e1a37

[ihart]

Great idea to display a lens like that. I would just use epoxy resin. There is no 4 hour sanding effort. It dries perfectly clear.

You spray mold release into your mold. Next, mix the resin and hardener exactly in a 50/50 ratio for each layer you are making.

Here is an example of the epoxy resin/hardener:
http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Technology-16-Ounce-Casting-Craft/dp/B000GBT8V0

Here is an example of mold release:
http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Technology-4-Ounce-Release-Conditioner/dp/B000XAWQJU/ref=pd_sim_ol1

[trojan52]

Sure you could use epoxy resin, but your project would probably be 10 fold more expensive.

[coldblackice]

Great idea! Thanks

[chuckyd]

The surface still looks fuzzy. You could get a smoother finish if you sanded up to 12,000 grit paper, and then polish with 3-step auto polish.

The grits above 1,000 were developed for cleaning airplane windows.

[omgitschrislol]

Could you use a vacume eleminate air bubles? If i were to put that in a sealed case while the Acrylic was hardening and i applied a vacumme would it pull the bubbles out? I absoluty love stuff like this. Im going to be going to college to be an electrical engineer.

Sorry for spelling and gramatical errors I reciently cut the crap out of my thumb on a cd drive case and am typing without it and its actually harder than i thougt.

[Wasagi]

This is beautiful!! Great job!

[plugable]

Thank you so much!

[lemonie]

The shiny bits will be air layers, yes.
Maybe wetting the parts with un-activated resin first would fix that?

L

[frank26080115]

I remember learning about how to make crystal clear ice, the trick was to apply some air pressure , would that help in this case?

[lemonie]

Negative air pressure, but that's degassing, the air in this block wasn't in the liquid. And resin is more viscous than water.

L

[theweldingwizard]

On the site you posted to buy the resin ,waz it 1 kilogram for 10$ ,i wanna make a clear counter top, and can't find any store's in Montreal that have it a a resonable price,and if it is can the ship to Canada???

[plugable]

They sell on eBay.es too, but it only reach Spanish territory. Send them a message to their contact form, maybe they can ship it to you.

[frank26080115]

Would a soda can make a good cylindrical mold?