Wednesday, May 13, 2020

How to make a resin and wood blank using the vacuum chamber









I made the blank of the video for my friend and woodturner Kostas Annikas Deftereos. You can see Kostas's work here:

Tools and materials I propose:

In this video I show you how to make your own resin and wood blanks using a vacuum pump to remove the bubbles. It also helps the resin to penetrate into difficult areas of the wood. In order for this to work, you need a resin that has at least 30 minutes of working time before it starts to set. 

I begun with a piece of olive wood Kostas sent to me. 

I made the main cylinder of my μold using clear PVC sheet and tape.  I cut the base of my mold on the bandsaw out of plexiglass. In both plexiglass and  PVC resin doesn’t stick. So I should be able to release the blank from the mold easily. 

I clued the PVC on the plexiglass with hot glue. You can add a drop of silicone if you want to make sure no leaks will happen. Then I poured a small amount of resin in the bottom of the mold to make sure I had no leaks. 

I then prepared the resin for my first pour. You can’t just fill the mold with all the resin you want. It will overheat while setting and it will crack. 

I poured the resin into the mold and then I de-gassed it in the vacuum chamber. I let the pump suck the air for about ten minutes and then I slowly let the air back into the chamber. 

Next day I added another pour and repeated the process. I did three pours in total. After a few days I removed the blank from the mold. The whole process took me about a week.

Now I will send the blank to my friend Kostas at Kefalonia so he can turn it on the lathe.

But that was it, see you soon with a new project video. 


Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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