Epoxy Resin

I took delivery of my resin kit last week and had a couple of small experiments before having a go at replicating a Georgia Jacob lamp in the not too distant future.

First off was using some silicone koi molds and gauging the curing time of the resin, which was well in excess of the advertised 12 hours - multiples of the curing time for car bodywork epoxy resin, but that gives you time to work of whatever you're making and tuning the shape.

I'd bought some orange and blue dye to colour the koi with - you only need a drop to get various shades - trial and error.

I then had a go at some fabric.

I covered it in a thin layer of clear resin on a silicone mat I have for baking.

I draped it over a makeshift former, but the material was too thin and it was almost impossible to prevent the folds from sticking to each other. Being thin material, it didn't really soak up enough resin to be really solid - it needs to be muslin or linen. However, it was a modest, initial success. I have to give careful thought to the shape and size of the former though - it needs to be tall and not interfere with the folds.

A small, LED display lamp is on order (the cost is just a few quid) to place the resin 'vase' on. I'll cut out a small aperture at the bottom for the light to shine through and see what it looks like.

I had the idea of perhaps making some display lights by making coloured shapes and drilling holes into which to insert a string of LED lights, rather like this set we bought years ago from IKEA and are no longer available.