I was going nutz for not being able to get a high-sheen finish with at this point. When I filled some cracked wood planks with resin, after the resin completely set I sanded down the wood and resin with rougher grit sand paper. This mold was a matte mold, so it led to a matte finish. Please check her wor Jul 1, 2020 - Resin beginner's often ask why their resin pieces didn't turn out shiny. Simply take a spent Fein brand pad, spray it down with 3M adhesive, and slap a piece of fine sandpaper on it that's been cut down to the same size. I smoothed it out, making sure it completely covered the entire thing. 6 years ago I've looked online without much information surfacing. Use copius amounts of water as it helps control the very fine dust this step produces and keeps the sand paper from filling up with material. This creamy white polishing compound really starts to bring out the initial polished surface in the resin...and in the next steps it just gets better and better. Today I am sharing a quick tip about the difference between shiny and matte resin silicone molds. on Introduction, this looks great noah! We experimented a bit using flexible foam sanding pads, and sponge-like backers on the sandpaper, but all in all, our hands proved to be a pretty effective and flexible support for the paper to get inside all the detailed contours and crevices. It looks beautiful! We first tested on the flat surface, thinking it would be easiest, and then when the process worked great - we went back and repeated everything on all the surfaces - which were really just as easy to polish as the flat surface. We used to refinish furniture and the clear finish we put on was like glass. She is beautiful, regardless. Check out our resin shiny selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. I was furious. For the next matte finish project, I imagine that if there were not cat hair that required the 80 grit, you could instead start with a much much finer sandpaper that would not make scratches and it would take fewer steps. Shiny or matte resin silicone mold: What’s the difference? She used the Shiny Surface Geode Coaster Mold. To keep the dust to a minimum, you can use water between each sanding. Mount the first all-linen buffing wheel in the kit to the arbor and load the wheel with tripoli compound. For the P600 and P1200 paper I used a orbital sander with water. I used two different polishing compounds to start the polishing process - first was Turtle Wax brand Rubbing Compound. I used construction paper cut into tiny pieces and glued them onto a panel. The triptych has the super shiny (standard) resin coating, and the pixelated flower has a nice matte finish. Instantly the alcohol ink appears and they look amazing! Before I get too far into things, let me just tell you a little bit about the part that we'll be polishing. After polishing comes buffing on the motorized buffing wheel. Just a heads up: I took a resin jewelry class once and the instructor warned us that epoxy resin dust could dangerous to inhale and recommended that we use wet sanding. After everything was nice and smooth I stained the wood. And clearly, it was a piece of MDF that my cat had rubbed against or slept on. I used a flashlight and looked at the surface of the resin from every imaginable angle, picking out any tiny pieces of lint I could find with a straight pin. 2 Pack Shiny Mickey Minnie Silicone Molds, Mouse Head with Bow Mold, Silicone Shiny Mouse Mold For Resin Epoxy, Kids DIY Molds LuckyAndGift. Since we had to virtually start over at the beginning and were already pretty tired from hand sanding, we used a detail sander to speed up the process. I love how you’ve used your creativity and skill to roll with the punches when your pets have ‘participated’ in your decorating (Cooper) and art (Peeve) projects and ended up with improved results. The general work-flow here is to sand the model, then sand some more to be sure you've covered all the areas. Cat fur. Last week, I mentioned that my big pixel flower picture in the music room was down for repair. Would other waxes work because I only have candle wax. Start sanding the resin with 120 grit sandpaper. Any motor that rotates at around 1500 - 2000 rpm will suffice. You've done well. Follow the same procedure as described in the previous step for the finer of the two polishing compounds - Turtle Wax brand Polishing Compound. Beautiful job. They are perfect for the final polish on clear surfaces and, like other things in this ible, can be applied by hand.I have a few different bottles in my polishing area. In any case, if you've ever wondered how to make resin shiny, read on. Not sure I’ll ever use resin, But if I do I hope I remember your posts! I haven’t researched this thoroughly by any means, but thought I would pass it along. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me but it invokes some sort of childhood happy memory – ohhhhh it’s just so darn beautiful . LOL!) Can I hand polish instead of using a machine? Acrylic paints can dry rather matte and dull and often look a bit disappointing when compared to how they shine when they are wet. Once you get to 400 grit or so, depending on the type of sandpaper that you are using, it's time to start wet sanding. But your designers eye and energy makes your home so perfect. Follow the instructions - apply a small amount to a clean polishing cloth and rub it vigorously onto the surface of the resin. For the purposes of this Instructable, we are going to assume that the part has a rough surface, since the steps in polishing something that is rough are the most comprehensive and encompass the steps for simply polishing something that is already smooth. So that problem has been taken care of! Easy Ways to Polish Resin: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow I dunno if they are still available or not(I'm sure others may make them by now),but when I was a teen,and building model cars,planes,etc.,Testors used to make a neat little kit for sanding their paints that had various grits(to like 1500 grit or finer),were small(like 4"x4"),and were on a plastic backing so that,when wet-sanding,lasted a very long time! I am writing my I'ble while I do the project and will post upon completion. Hope that helps . 5 out of 5 stars (5) 5 reviews $ 5.00. Please don't get confused or worried if it looks in the photos like the non-linear surfaces of the horse muscle aren't as shiny as the linear end just yet. I am in the middle of a casting. Glad (for both of us) that it turned out the way you wanted! Or do you think the coarser grades are needed to take down the high shine? I so loved the original piece with the ‘button’ texture…just curious was it always your intention to resin it maybe for protection or something. I always thought it looked like some kind of cross stitch so a velvety matte finish is perfect! But there isn’t just one type of silicone mold. The bummer with that however is that you've then got to backtrack all the way back to the beging and spot sand the blemish out. It’s nowhere near that heavy, but I like to be safe. As much as I love resin wall paintings, I would probably only buy one with a satin finish. It’s a very long process, but I think it was worth it. Image Below by @koish_Gallery. 1 year ago I think you made a great decision to go with a satin finish. Make sure to wear a mask while doing this dry sanding since it creates a lot of resin dust, and that stuff is definitely not great for the respiratory system. Let the resin dry about 10 minutes and then add another coat. Can you take some more wide angle pics with your new lens? Hold on to the resin piece as the drill spins. And now I know how to accomplish that! The more you stir, the more the tiny particles are spread out evenly at a microscopic level. Sometimes I wish I had one of those clean room chambers that they have in labs. Use a fresh cloth, apply firm pressure and rub in a circular motion to polish your piece. Rachel is a self-taught painter, who picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 2011. This will ensure that your resin is as mixed as possible. You continue to amaze me. DIY Projects. Stop polishing whenever the finish is as smooth as you'd like it to be. Have to agree that some things are better in matte! 2 years ago It was slight compared to how it tricked my eyes after the sanding with the lower grits, but I don’t like the feeling of thinking that my eyes aren’t focusing right. I took such care with that coat. In my experience, another layer of resin without sanding takes care of that easily. If youre making the mold yourself, make sure you use a highly polished template if you want a shiny finish on your castings. I have no personal experience with it, so I can’t say definitively. on Step 14, Thanks for this ,it's pretty much what I was doing cause it's similar to a guitar finishing process ,but I'm making guitar pics made of resin and seeing its new to me I wanted to see if anything was different ,did have a question, you mention flashing? I love flowers and I especially love how this picture re-do turned out. Molding both acrylic and polymer clay in silicone molds tends to leave a fairly smooth surface (depending on the mold, of course) so I started with 180 grit or even 220 in some cases. We used the sanding block only for the one flat side on this model, the rest of the time we just used our hands as a backer. What a difference!!! I wish that someone would work on bringing the 3D printers down to the "common man" price level! Help, my resin jewelry isn’t shiny anymore after it cured! Learn how your comment data is processed. Hi I’m considering doing this to our table that we just did a glaze coat on to hide a few imperfections- do you have any recommendations on if this would work with that type of surface that is regularly being used / wiped etc. It doesn't have much friction, but if it caught en edge on the resin piece, it's possible it might try to come away from your hands. I had no idea. After the wax is buffed on and off, your part is through being polished and should be gleaming. How to make a resin ring begins with proper preparation. As I said before, make sure that you are as sure as you can be before moving up to a higher grade sandpaper. It’s really beautiful, and no matter what direction I looked, there was no bright glare or reflection on the surface. I'm sure you've already completed this project, but I figured I could share what I did. It’s so heavy now with all of the resin layers that I can no longer get lift it myself. Starting around 400 grit, you can switch to a wet sanding method, as those papers will be specially made to work best with water. The particular model featured in the photos in this Instructable is a horse's leg muscle that's been scanned and modeled to show how tendon attaches to the end of a horses muscle. Add paint pyramids to the middle to support the art as it cures. I hope to be able to achieve the same results over several hours or days of parts vibrating in different grit medias that could run unattended, except for the changing of the media as the part moves up the grits. You will then have a perfectly shiny finished product, which is ready to use. on Introduction. Anyway, on the final layer, I was short on resin. I am now the Creative Programs founder and manager for Autodesk and just finished building out…. 2 years ago. This is where you polish your dice, using a microfiber cloth and resin polish. The Beall Kit's next step is a diamond buffing compound. lol. Just a beautiful satin finish. Lock the drill trigger on, load the ball with polishing compound and polish all the surfaces of the resin piece. I didn’t use a buffer since mine is just hanging on the wall, but I’d probably take a bit more time and care with it if I were making a table. And about the cat hair. It's possible to buff the entire model - even concave areas by using different parts of the wheel, and even digging into the corner of the wheel if needed for smaller, detail areas. It's easy to make custom sanding pads of the finer grit sanding papers for the detail sander. It reminds me of when I was in college for art my teacher gave us a project of recreating a picture from a famous artist using anything except paint. Make sure to sand all the surfaces of the resin part before going up to the next grit paper. The sanded resin made the wood buttons look so blurry that it was like my eyes wouldn’t focus. The recommended coverage is four ounces per square foot, and I think I was short about six ounces. That sounds like I’m talking about your hubby! If you have some old, faded electronics or other plastic gadgets in your house, you can make them look great again with just a dab of Vaseline. And as much as I love a super shiny finish on some things, there are just times when I’d rather opt for a matte or satin finish. Hopefully I won't have to go the full route you did, as it gets a little pricey. If you are buffing a large area, you may need to reapply compound to the wheel. And the wet sanding was a part of the job, everyone should remember that when they have a “small scratch/damage” and they receive a quote. I am currently working on a completely automated, "hands off" version of this process using lapidary equipment - a vibratory polisher and different abrasive mediums. It all came about kind of by accident, but I’m so glad it did because after having to move the resined triptych into the music room, I wasn’t really thrilled with the idea of having super shiny resined pieces on both walls in there. We love the look and when it comes to talking about how to paint rocks with resin, there is no better person than Rachel of Rachel’s Rocks! So I took the picture down and did another coat of resin, this time making sure that I used just a bit more than recommended. Dry your piece thoroughly. DIY Chuckbox. Yes, the dust produced from sanding epoxy resin is dangerous. Make sure you apply tape to all the areas you don’t want your resin to stick to. Well, a perfectionist like myself can’t live with something like that. Make sure to sand all the surfaces of the resin part before going up to the next grit paper. 3 years ago I was anxious to “unwrap” my newly resined piece and admire the perfectly smooth and flawless finish. Possible to get Felicity and Peeve together? 7. The casting looks like I'm definitely getting there, but there's still a haze. Thank you for letting us into your home. It literally looked like I  had held my cat over the freshly poured resin and ran a comb through her fur, letting the fur drop to the resin. To make resin shiny after sanding, apply polish with a polishing pad. So at that point, I had two options. I could have left it like that, but at that sheen, it was still dulling the look of the wood buttons to the point that it was still playing tricks on my eyes. Start sanding at 400 and work your way up to 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and finally, 2000. I love learning more and more about how to use resin and the various things it can be used for. excited to see how these other techniques work out. By 2000 it should start to look pretty clear, but not polished. The same methods I will address in this how-to, apply to all cast resin polishing, and can be used to polish virtually any type of resin be it polyester or epoxy based. 7 years ago Start with 240 grit wet and dry paper to remove the nubbins left from the supports using water throughout. I am using Environmental Technology Polyester Casting Resin. Used to drive me bonkers! I’m still trying to figure out how I can do something like that on a small scale. I'm hoping that your vibratory tumbler experiment worked, I make lots of smallish resin items and its really tedious to sand each one and create all that dust. The year I did it was 1967! When I applied that, it turned it right back to the shiny resin coating I had originally, with the crystal clear wood buttons and bright colors. This frame will be removed once the resin has set. When done correctly, well polished resin casts and parts look absolutely amazing, and are works of art, ready for display, jewelry and enjoyment in and of themselves. Is it just an abstract creation? , Beautiful! It’s very heavy. Our blog post today is therefore devoted to the topic of polish vinyl PVC flooring. Dont even remember what happened to it. Does that mean heating the piece with a flame? The support material is a waste product of the print and must first be cleaned off before polishing can begin. I did a Picasso (Lady in the Looking Glass) I think was the name. But I had faith that the process would work, so I continued on. Tip All Rights Reserved. Finally, as I said before, if your resin cast starts off with a relatively smooth exterior, you may be able to skip some of the initial mechanical sanding. I needed to get the scratches out completely by the time I got to the 320-grit, because anything higher than 320 wouldn’t be rough enough to get those scratches out. Way to go! (Portable propane torch) thanks Jim, Question It showed how the rooms flow into each other and how the whole decorating scheme looks. Not what I wanted. I then used a gas lighter near the surface to heat the resin and encourage any bubbles up … How long should the resin dry before you can sand it? It's much easier to notice a deep scratch once the resin is sanded smooth and begins to become polished. To resin rocks you don't need to buy special complex supplies or expensive materials. Wow!!! Look at the difference from the shiny ones on the left versus the unsprayed ones on the right! The process builds up significant heat and we want to keep things cool by keeping everything on the move. You have more determination than even ME!!! And yes, it’s hanging on a French cleat rated for 200 pounds. The house is interesting, beautiful and very special – as is it’s owner. When you mix in the matting powder into the epoxy resin, if you stir for 3 minutes vs 10 you may have different results. Your satin finish is the first I’ve seen on resin paintings- that’s an advantage if you sell your work. Then, buff the polish off with a microfiber towel or buffing pad. Shortly after applying the stain I went back and cleaned any residue off of the resin parts. The first picture below is of a decidedly un-shiny resin finish. It's fun to press trinkets and items into jewelry resin clay. So cute! Once some red material is deposited on the wheel, it's good to go. I mostly work with polymer clay so I am just doomed no matter what. At this stage, although your dice is nice and smooth, it might still have a cloudy look. This polishing compound is a finer grit than the sandpaper, but not quite as fine as the buffing compounds that are used on the mechanical buffing wheel. Always have the wheel spin down and away from you, and always buff on the bottom of the wheel in case something catches an edge - otherwise it will get launched right at you. Would you recommend this process for this craft? So I continued to work my way up — from 320 to 400 to 800 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 to 2500 to 3000 — and this is what it looked like…. If I hadn’t needed to fix the imperfections, and just simply wanted to turn a high gloss finish to matte or satin, I’d probably start with either 150 or 220. No expects a glass like smoothness on their painted surfaces (walls, etc). But I was afraid that wet sanding the resin would have given it a higher sheen than I wanted. Through some trial and error (and lots of work) you know have a new technique in your arsenal. If you buff down and away, it will at least get launched away from the operator. And I wish y’all could touch it. I followed directions from other I'bles and things are not working out as described, so I decided to check more on Instructables and found your posting, which I would call "The Ultimate Casting Guide". The final step in polishing resin is to apply a wax. One is from McGuires and another is the Mother's brand. This is the one I used just because I happened to have it on hand, but you can also use something like carnuba car wax, which is generally locally available at any car parts/supply store. My brother had to help me move it into the music room and get it back on the wall. The resin gloss spray should work to get it looking good again, or you can coat with another layer of resin. I had one area that had a low spot in the resin, and when the light reflected off of that spot, it was very noticeable. I opted for the second solution. This Instructable focuses only on how to polish these kinds of models. This process we did by hand for more control, and so we wouldn't get electrocuted. There's obviously a whole lot to be explored with 3D printing, but representing complex biological models to advance medical research is one of the more compelling applications.