i know i know...i should just go for it and hope for the best...looks arent as important as getting a good bond to the foam...but here we go...using rr epoxy by the way...i have been reading through the archives and have seen a lot of different methods for getting a resin swirl...the pour everything in one bucket and stir lightly method...the mix different buckets and pour them on individually method and so on...just a few questions
1. for doing a swirl with 5 or 6 colors would the different buckets method be easier?
2. do you mix the colors with the hardener then add to resin or the other way around?
3. if using the single bucket method does it look better if you have a base color mixed in thoroughly with hardener already in then add the swirly colors and stir a few times gently?
If your doing multiple colors your going to want to keep it in batches, that way when you mix it won't become mud. Any way your going to need as many buckets as there are colors, because you need to mix & kick the color in individual buckets, then you pour them together. So......pour resin, add color, then kick with catalyst, then mix together.. Either a slow drizzle one color into the next, or a fast dump, then a 2 or 3 stirs.. The idea is to keep the colors slightly mixed, but individual & bold in the bucket.
If you use a base color then add a color mix to that mix your going to get more of the base color at the last end of the bucket, resin is thick and it really doesn't want to mix that easy. So when you pour it on the board pour a small section on the nose, then pour some on the tail, then do a squiggle down the rail, then go back to the nose, then back to the tail, then the other rail, then back to the nose, then back to the tail, leaving dry spots to be filled in with the end of the bucket pour..then squeegee,,,,you get the idea. Or you can pour centerline tip to tail then work your way out, alternating from side to side....the skys the limit on design.
This works for poly and will turn out. If you do this in epoxy it will cost you $1000.00 in epoxy and probably turn out muddy, and blurred. There's a reason you don't see epoxy swirls (and all you epoxy swirls guys don't start posting your swirls to show how great they look....because they don't, they don't look as good as a poly swirl...you know this is true)
Resinhead, well put. I’m pretty sure you answered most of my questions a few years back.
I’m getting ready to glass a board and do a stone/marble swirl on the bottom. This would be a great example.
My main color is gray, accent colors are black and white. So I will mix and kick one larger tub of gray, and two smaller tubs one black, and one white. Then I will pour the white right in the center of the big tub of gray, or maybe a bit off to one side, then pour the black right next to it. Then take a stir stick and stir with 2 or 3 full circles, not aggressively though. So when I pour I will pay attention to what colors are hitting and how mixed looking it is, if I want to adjust how it comes out for the main pour from there, I will just roll the tub a bit as I pour.
I know there are a couple cool vids on youtube of austin doing some of this.
Ken, one of the nicer epoxy swirls i've seen. Nice job
Orginalism. be careful with the black.....a little goes a long, long, long way. if your using it for an accent color I use about 2 or 3 oz max. I'd do like 3/4 grey, 3/16 white, 1/16 black.
I will second using a small amount of accent color compared to the base. Like 1 oz of accent for every 5-6oz of base. A little goes a long way. Also, when you stir, try folding from bottom to top with a large paint stirrer. It will help get some accent to the bottom of the cup. Another tip I learned here from Kokua, pour in the accent color from like 2ft up in the air. The extra height will help get it to the bottom of the cup. Working with gravity and all. Good luck, don’t worry about what it looks like when you start to pour. There’s no telling what the end result will be when you squeegee it off.
Oh, and perhaps the secret to getting some fun swirls, pour, let sit for a minute, then try tilting the board in different directions. Spreads more resin around without muddling.
