[Aud]

Any pattern I pour an hour later turns into straight lines pointing from exact center of the mold to outside. Tried silicon molds of various depth (0.1-0.7 inches), widths (2-4 inches), shapes (square, hexagon, round); different dyes (alcohol ink, acrylic, mica) – always same result. Beautiful pattern initially, and then everything starts flowing towards the exact center. Tried waiting for 30 mins until resin is much thicker – it helps very little. We are using 24 hrs Craft Resin and looking at posted pictures nobody else has this problem with it. Actually nobody seems to have this problem at all with any resin on the internet. What am I doing wrong?? Thanks!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Aud,

How are you adding your colors?

[Aud]

I tried three methods: 1) mixing resin with alcohol inks or acrylic pigments in separate containers and then pouring them into molds; 2) pouring pre-mixed resin with different colors to a single container first and then from that container into the mold; 3) clear resin into the mold and then drops of alcohol ink on top.

There doesn’t seem to be much difference in the flow depending on the method. However (2) is most shocking to observe because (2) gives most beautiful patterns which get erased by the same dull pattern of lines going towards center. The erasing starts from the perimeter towards the center, at about 1 mm per minute speed until all sides meet at the precise center of the mold.

Here’s an example: https://ibb.co/wC5gKCy

What happened here: I pre-mixed equal parts of resin with white acrylic and blue alcohol ink, then poured them into single container, then poured them on the mold. The original beautiful pattern got replaced with lines in about 30 mins. Then I mixed up the mold again to give it some swirls. And then new swirls started getting erased again – you can see how the outer margin is turning back into the straight lines pointing towards center. Amazingly this second pattern-erasing-flow took place at the time when resin was quite tacky.

The weirdest part about all this is that lines meet in the exact center no matter how much resin I pour. I tried to pour way more resin in the center than sides; it all gets flat in under a minute and then patter erasing begins.

Thanks!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Aud,

Have you tried pouring the resin closer to the end of the pot time?

You may also want to try resin pigments instead of alcohol inks. They are heavier and are more likely to stay in place. These are the ones I use: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/liquid-colorants/resin-obsession

[Aud]

The type of dye doesn’t make difference. I tried just acrylic and just mica and it’s the same. However I think I’m onto something. I kept experimenting by eliminating all the factors one by one. No alcohol inks, no torching, no covering, different mold, different size, different thickness etc. – nothing made a difference.

And then – I tried pouring on wood instead of silicon mold and boom! It didn’t flow! The beautiful pattern survived the hardening without any flow.

To know for sure I did another experiment: I did identical pours from the same batch on the silicon mold (just a little in the center, without filling it) and on wood. The pattern got erased in minutes on the silicon mold. It hardened intact on wood.

I’m so puzzled about this as there seems to be zero other people having same issue. I see people using same techniques in molds without problems. What is happening?? 🙂

Thanks.

[Author]

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