Hi All
Looking for advice on what I could use to tint epoxy resin to a black (or at least, a very dark) colour. I am facinataed by fine small boxes and I want to try different infill or inlay materials. One aplication is to infill with irregularly shaped small twigs embedded in epoxy, all sanded flush to top of a bix lid. For contrast, a dark colourred epoxy would look best IMO.
Any ideas/experience with tinting epoxy?
Thanks
Ken
If you want to tint small quantities, I have used laser printer toner. Just get an old used up cartridge and open it. You will find enough to tint quite a bit of epoxy just from what is left in a cartridge. I have also tinted epoxy using the chalk that is used for chalk snap lines. You can find it in blue, red, yellow, and I think I have seen black. A little goes a long way, at least for the black toner. You can also buy tint especially for epoxy, but if you are like me you just need a little bit. I have also seen artist paints used to tint epoxy as part of a woodturning demo, but I don't remember the details enough to help you. None of this would I recommend if the epoxy is structural, but for filling and inlays it won't affect the epoxy in any noticeable way.
--
******** Bill Pounds
I once tried to tint epoxy (West Systems) black with the tints sold for polyester gelcoat. The results were not great - the thinnest parts of the epoxy were almost clear and only the thick areas were opaque. Not recommended.
Mike
What about mixing in tempera paint powder?
Chris
Almost anything. Artists' acrylics are one of the most convenient. You'll probably want to fill the epoxy too - this also makes it more opaque and easier to scrape or sand. I use phenolic microballoons (West System), which work fine with dark tints.
Jewelry supply houses sell kits of different colored epoxy as an enamel substitute. Should work great for what your doing.
I'm going with Bill on this one. I turn a lot of wormy mesquite, and I fill most of it with epoxy tinted with copier or laser cartridge toner. On small holes and termite runs it can look really nice.
However, it can look like black plastic if you have a lot of it, depending on how far you take your sanding/polishing routine. I am now adding a little ground coffee to the epoxy/toner mix and it looks more natural to see the brown flecks in the black. I have also used key filings from the local hardware store that I crush with a hammer mixed in with the toner and it looks pretty good if you don't overdo it. Just about anything will work as long as it isn't too absorbant since you aren't using the epoxy as an adhesive, just a resin mixture.
I would watch out putting anything in the epoxy and leaving it clear. After a period of time, in my experience it yellows.
Robert
UV attacks epoxy.
Black hides the problem.
Try some micro-balloons as a filler.
Think you will like the results.
Lew
I have used artist's oil colors sold in small tubes at any art supply store. There are hundreds of colors available! For my application, fiberglassing the floor of a sauna, it worked beautifully.
In one of my discussions with the WEST Epoxy people . . . they recommended a water-soluable DYE {or alcohol soluable?}.
A little goes a long way . . . and it's another example of 'multi-tasking'.
Regards & good luck, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop
System Three (1-800-333-5514, last number I had) sells both graphite powder and pigments. They'll also send a catalog.
No financial interest -- &c. -- just a satisfied customer.
Joel Jacobson
Just be careful with ink toner, that stuff is seriously toxic. In several states they require state workers who deal with copy machines etc. (i.e., secretarial staff) to go to a training course before messing with those cartridges.
HOn Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:50:20 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ron Magen" quickly quoth:
-- Vidi, Vici, Veni ---
Thanks to all for the fine suggestions. With regard to pigment-type additions, I would have thought that these might leach out of the epoxy over time, but I will give it a go in any case.
Regards to all.
Ken H
On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:11:15 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "K & C Hunter" quickly quoth:
If you're worried, lay down a coat or two of finish before cutting the inlay. It will protect the bare wood while you lay in the tinted epoxy. I understand that a hand scraper (used on the epoxy prior to it fully setting up) will be the easiest and least messy way to bring it flat.
Hello Ken;
I regularly cast parts using West Systems epoxy, tinted black by mixing in powered acohol-soluable dye, as is commonly sold for woodworking finishing. That's given me the deepest black color of anything I've tried.
Bruce Johnson Johnson's Extremely Strange Musical Instrument Co. Burbank, CA
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