I am going to be building an ergonomic concrete bathtub which I will cover with botticini (marble) pebbles. I want it to looklike it has been roughly chopped out of a huge chunk of stone.
I will have to pour a resin over the inside so that the pebbles can be seen beneath the clear surface, but I’ll have a smooth finish.
What kind of resin do I need for this. I am assuming that the thickness is essential. If it is too thin it will simple run down the sides and fill the bottom too much. If it is too thick, it will not set flat at all. I am assuming I will need to put several coats. I have never worked with resin. Anyone have any tips on this.
thanks.
Lindy
lindy@layabrick.com
you can make a female mold of the pebbles, lay a gelcoat, and vacuum everything together. are these big pebbles or lots of small ones?
If you a clear lamination PER resin, it will run down on you as you described. But if try and use a clear PER Gel coat, it will stay where you spray or brush it. It may “white out” some but you will need to experiment first in a small scale.
Just a word of caution about PER - it will absorb water over time and will eventually blister. Vinylester is more water resistant, and epoxy is pretty much waterproof.
Thanks so much for your help. Being waterproof is essential. Although the tub itself is waterproof. If the water gets under the resin, it may make it peel off. Maybe I should use the Getcoat or Vinylester until I get a smooth finish and then cover the whole thing with epoxy. Would this work? What about yellowing? I’'ve had experience (mostly with wood) where no matter what the product claims, it always yellows over time.
(the stones are small about 1 to 1.5 in diameter)
I guess I will have to buy some stones and affix them to a curved surface as a test sample (actually a pretty large one). I may end up doing several tests before something works. I am in Italy, and may not find these brands here but will look up the technical info and find something comparable.
thanks again… any additional input welcome
Lindy
silmar 41 casting resin
I’m not sure of this product but most casting resin has surfacing agent (liquid wax) in it and it will have a habit of running more than a gel coat. After each coating, if you wait too long, you will need to scruff or wash with acetone to remove the wax which comes to the top to seal off the air for a full cure.
Test and test again… 1 to 1 1/12" is really big… remember, most of us think in inches and not MM’s.
HI, the size of the stones are 1-1.5 inches, but since they will be tightly placed and the glue or plaster will fill the gaps at the bottom, I will have only the gap from the widest part of the stones and upwards to fill, thus 5 mm to 7.5 mm.
I didn’t realize that resins had any kind of wax in them. When you said, " if you wait to long", did you mean too long between coats?
Does this gel resin dry automatically very smooth, or are resins similar to wood varnish that has to be lightly sanded between coats in order to get a really smooth finish?
Thanks Lindy,
:roll:
Yes, to if you wait too long between coats. It is best to mix up a 100cc of resin in a cup, cataylst it maybe 1%, stir for 30 seconds, poke it once in a while and watch what it goes thru.
Stage “A” is the liquid stage, Stage “B” is where it starts to gel up (time to stop working with it and clean the tools) and stage “C” is the click cured state.
You want to pour or spary another coat at the “B” stage so you don’t have to sand or acetone the prevouis coat.
Gel Coat will stay where you spray or brush it as it has additives in it to do just that.
I have never work with Vinylester resin and you might be able to use this as the final coating?
JM
PS: The liquid wax to seal off the resin to air and allows the resin to fully cure so you can sand and polish it.
You were really explicit there. I appreciate that. Now I’ll know a bit more what I’m getting into.
Lindy
Your welcome. JM
Boy, we don’t get too many thank yous…