#resin tutorial

I thought I would make this post because of how much Amazon pesters me to answer questions regarding UV resin and I know many of you were able to learn and benefit from my other craft posts which focused more on epoxy. Today I'm going to cover all the things I have learned using UV resin, which is something I use almost exclusively for many of the items you see in my Etsy shop.

What is UV resin?

UV resins are photochemicals that react to different wavelengths of UV (sunlight) to cure. This allows for a much shorter cure time and longer work time than epoxy resin, as UV resin will not begin to cure / harden until it is exposed to UV light. In the photos above, you can see the two main types/brands of UV resin I typically use for the creation of my projects, Solarez and Limino, both of which can be purchased on Amazon (Solarez has its own website, but shipping is not free though Amazon only has some of their products). While Solarez is known for surfboard creation and repair, boat repair, etc. It is one of the few UV resins that can be used to create larger projects such as these Fairy Garden Jars you see below.

Normally, however, UV resin is used for smaller projects - jewelry, coating, small casts, and the like. It is practically the same chemical combo found in UV nail polish. These chemicals may be triggered to harden using the same UV lamps one would see at a nail salon, though not all UV lamps or torches cover the full spectrum of UV wavelengths as sunlight (more on this later). I rely on UV resin for the creation of my popular rune sets, as they require more detail and time to fully create than the 30-45 minute work time one typically has with epoxy. Below are some examples of items I have in the shop made primarily with UV resin.

UV resins are typically non toxic and are not harmful to the environment when cured or uncured. The resin itself shares similar properties to epoxy but can have a much lower viscosity in general, making it more ideal for casting and coating than doming. UV resin does give off an odor when curing (Solarez is the WORST even when not curing), much more so than epoxy.

Pros & Cons of UV resin

Pros:

No mixing. UV resins are ready to go from the bottle.

Longer work time, shorter cure time. Great for making multiple projects at once or highly detailed, smaller projects. UV resin fully cures in approx 5 mins in full sunlight.

Great for clear casts and adding a glossy finish to any project.

Bonds to metal, wood, plastic, etc. Making it great for quick fixes.

Most are self degassing and self leveling.

Easier to handle. No component mixing means you can't possibly ruin your project from the get go.

Accepts most Inclusions / pigments one would use with epoxy

Waterproof when cured.

Cons:

Expensive. UV resin will average $65+ (for 1000g) USD for the equivalent of a 32oz epoxy combo for $20+. Solarez is on the cheaper side, but harder to work with.

Fickle. UV resin will produce bubbles that don't want to surface, must be used in very thin layers, prone to shrinkage, and cannot cure if using opaque or dense Inclusions or pigments.

Can only be used with clear silicone molds. Plastic molds tend to adhere / melt to UV resin. Solarez may be used with an MEKP catalyst to get around this, but not foolproof.

May only be used for small projects.

Must purchase UV lamp / torch to cure, but some only cure with certain wavelengths or sunlight itself. Can over cure and become brittle or undercure and be tacky.

Even clear but detailed molds may not cure correctly.

So, you may notice there are more cons than there are pros when it comes to UV resin. This is absolutely true- for cost effectiveness alone, unless you are looking to mass produce something or need more potability / work time for your project (as I do), I recommend avoiding UV resin and going with epoxy which will usually even yield better overall results.

If you DO decide to try UV resin or have tried UV resin, you may run into a few problems initially that will cause you to trash projects and become frustrated. Never curing resin is a popular complaint, this next portion of this post is entirely dedicated to troubleshooting UV resin in order to better help you achieve the results you are looking for.

Using & Troubleshooting

There are many different brands of UV Resin available. Save for Solarez, the ones that come in the big or small tubes like the Limino resin shown (I've used brands Miraclekoo, Decoroom, DIY, Let's Resin, Solarez, SooKoo, and Limino) are pretty much the same product selling for around the same price per milligram / fluid oz. They all have about the same viscosity and will generally yield the same results and have the same average cure time.

Note: Solarez is more of a polyester based resin or can be acrylic based depending on which of their products you purchase. It has a very strong odor and is more liquid than these others. It is also fairly cheaper (Almost half the price) and can be purchased in larger quantities. Unfortunately, even though the price tag is enticing, I really don't recommend it. It is very fickle with the UV wavelengths used to cure it. If you are trying to do any indoor project using a UV torch or lamp, you are going to want to even then drop an extra $20-$60 on a multi spectrum UV lamp to cure your project. You will find that you have to intermittently expose the resin to light or it gets an orange peel/puckered texture- sometimes the light will even literally burn right through your project. It can even burn or damage your mold, as Solarez gets very hot when curing even though it is formulated to not get as hot or combust when using UV light to cure, which is something, I guess.

However, Solarez can be used with an MEKP catalyst, allowing you to dual cure it using sunlight / UV light. This allows Solarez to be used with opaque pigments and can be used for larger projects. The catalyst was not initially included with the resin, but the manufacturer began including it for some reason. The ratio is 6 drops of MEKP mixed into 1 fluid ounce of Solarez. 6:1. With the MEKP catalyst, your project will fully cure in 30 mins (using sunlight or UV light to help it along) but it is prone to becoming overheated, still requiring small layers to be cured one at a time to avoid combustion.

If you're going to try UV resin, I recommend trying any of the brands above, save for Solarez. Grab a 50-120g bottle to try and see if you like it. I recommend beginning making something simple like a pendant or earrings using a clear silicone mold or open back bezel. Mica pigments and most alcohol inks will work with UV resin the same way they work with epoxy and UV resin also creates a super clear glossy finish that may be used to gloss and spruce up cured epoxy projects.

So you took the dive and purchased your UV resin? You've got problems? Yea, tell me about it.

•My Project is Super Tacky! What do?

This is common and will vary from product to product, but usually isn't the product. So before you go flaming the foreign manufacturer who doesn't understand you anyway, ask yourself the following and try these methods to solve the inevitable tacky problem:

How long did you cure? The average cure time shown on the bottle is just that, an average. This doesn't mean that your project will cure in five minutes under your UV lamp. Not all UV lamps are made equal. For starters, check the packaging, but most UV resins require your lamp to be 36w+, so write that off immediately. If your lamp is producing less wattage, than it's not going to cure your UV resin. If you're using a lamp that is 36w+ or your UV resin claims to cure under 36w, then take a look at your lamp itself. Most nail salon UV lamps are either table shaped or dome/cave shaped. If you're using a table shaped lamp on a 3D mold / project, the light is unable to penetrate the sides and back of the mold. This style lamp will only work to cure projects in open back bezels or free hand, flat coatings. If using a dome shaped lamp then the majority of the UV light is found at the back of the lamp. If you have your project at the front or sides, it is unable to be fully penetrated by UV light at all angles.

Try turning your project,curing it for a minimum of 5 minutes on each side. Using finger cots, remove your project and let it cure free form. It shouldn't be so tacky that it sticks to your work area at this point, but if it is, then there is only one solution:

Let it cure in actual sunlight for 10-20 minutes, turning it so that every angle sees light. Typically, your UV lamp doesn't offer the same UV light wavelengths as pure sunlight, and you can buy new lamps or torches to test, but sunlight is free.

If your project is still tacky after all these measures, you've tried adding a new layer of clear resin to it and allowing it to cure in sunlight.

If this doesn't work, think about your Inclusions, your glitter, your pigments etc. If your project is nearly opaque, then you'll need to tone it down if you're going to use UV resin.

If NOTHING else, your product may indeed be a dud or became contaminated in some way. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to get in touch with the manufacturer, but if you order your product from Amazon, they'll more than likely allow you to return it.

My project is all bubbly? What do?

Bubbles are always a problem, whether you're using UV resin or epoxy. Little tiny bubbles always form, especially around the edges of the mold or embedded within details in the design. Don't forget, you have infinite work time with UV resin. This means that you have as long as you want to work out the bubbles.

Use a toothpick to pop tiny bubbles at the bottom of the mold or dislodge them to bring to the surface. Be careful though because you don't want to leave little scratches on your mold or puncture it.

Use a torch to pop bubbles on the surface. A grill lighter, regular lighter, or whatever will do the trick. Make sure you hold the flame a good inch or so away from the surface. It will catch fire and your mold possibly will too. Do so carefully! I run the torch across the top layer every time I add something to the resin to remove any bubbles it gives off. This also works for epoxy.

Blow on it. Some people claim the heat of your breath will pop surface bubbles, but I have had no success with this method.

Warm your resin. Stick your UV resin in a plastic bag or something air tight. Allow some water to heat to near boiling on the stove before pouring it over your resin bottle in a bowl or basin. Do not stick your resin in the microwave or oven or anything crazy.

Stir slowly. Stir inclusions like glitter and pigments slowly, scraping the sides and bottom. This will prevent air bubbles kicking up into your mix and oxygen being introduced into your pour.

Try pigments. For some weird reason (most likely due to changes in viscosity), resin projects with pigments, glitter, and the like have less tendency toward bubbling than clear casts.

Are your bubbles huge? This may be because your pouring super thick layers of resin and all sides have not cured properly. Your layers should only be 1mm thickness maximum when using UV resin.

My project has come out warped, not even, has divots , etc.

If you are curing your layers quickly, your project is heating. When you add more resin over top of this hot resin in a hot mold, this will not only cause more bubbles but also lend to shrinkage. Allow your project to cool to room temp and have some downtime between curing. This will also protect your molds that will become damaged from overuse / overheating and cooling.

With Solarez, this is key to having a beautiful project at the end of the day. Even though it is formulated to not overheat if exposed to sunlight, Solarez will get this orange peel like texture on the surface layer if overexposed.

Yes, there is such thing as overcuring as well, and it will make your project brittle and even flakey, but this is normally not the biggest complaint with UV resin.

So why even buy UV resin?

UV resin has its perks. In a pinch, it makes for a clear, glossy finish that will cure / harden quickly in the sun or with a UV lamp that one would be waiting 24-48 hours for with epoxy. It can be used to repair epoxy projects and fill small divots as well as the ability to bond to pretty much anything makes it useful to have around. It is convenient to use due to the fact that you don't have to mix it, it is easy to pour and compatible with most inclusions. It is also ideal for its extended work time as it will not cure until exposed to UV light. This allows you to create highly detailed clear cast jewelry and other projects you wouldn't be able to assemble and detail before epoxy would begin to cure.

I hope this helps everyone who is having trouble with UV resins or those who have considered using UV resin as an alternative to epoxy. If you have any other questions you would like answered or are someone adept with UV resin that would like to share, please do so! Good luck!

~Samantha

These are so fun to make. One of those random ideas I had, didn't think twice about it, & then they actually started selling like crazy 🤷🏾‍♀️

You never know with this small business gig! & they're so satisfying to make, cuz you really can't screw it up: Layer of clear resin, decorate it, & wait. Then swirl your galaxy colors on the next layer, & bam! Celestial cuteness 😍

Hope you enjoy this lil process vid! More to come, so like, share & follow!

Heck yeah! Lets do it now!

First I made my own silicone molds because buying molds is espensive ...

Supplies:

Pourable silicone, a bunch of stir sticks, a marker, a dice set, some clay of some sort, and some appropriate sized cups

First I mix the silicone according to instructions, slowly as to make as little bubbles possible but long enough to be thorough. Thump the silicone to get all the bubbles out.

Then I put a LITTLE bit of clay on the "1" side of a die. Very little is needed but it helps stick the die to the bottom of the cup when you pour in the silicone. I write the type of die, such as d6, on the outside of one of the cups so I know which mold is which when I'm done.

Then pour in the silicone super slowly and gently or it might knock the dice off the clay. Try to cover the dice completely without using too much otherwise it will be hard to get dice out. Wait for about 24 hours for the silicone to harden then gently cut down the side of the cup. A clean cut means you can put tape over it and use it again.

Here is how my mold came out (in use as of now lol). You take the clay out then with scissors or an exacto knife or something, cut gently so you can get the die out. Then use your marker to write on the bottom of the mold what die it makes. Yes it will fade, I haven't come up with a better way yet.

Then I bake the molds in my oven between 250 and 275 for 2 or three hours. If the silicone isn't set right it can react with the resin and leave the dice sticky (if you have sticky dice just put them in the oven, same as the molds).

Now for actually making the dice!

(This part will differ as everyone's process is a little different)

You will need:

A towel you don't mind getting dirty, some resin, measuring cups (resin might come with them), stir sticks, anything you want to put in the resin, a heat element (a lighter, heat gun, hair dryer, matches, your breath etc.), possibly some tape, and your molds.

First I heat up my molds in the oven (same as above when I was curing them, 250 degrees for however long I need) I find heating them up helps pop bubbles when I pour in the resin but be sure to make them cool a bit or your resin will boil while in the mold!!!

While those are cooking I pour resin but first! to save money I take my two plastic measuring cups and label one A and the other B and I only use solution A in cup A and solution B in cup B. I do the same to two stirring sticks as well.

(I got some really nice measuring cups when I ordered some molds once)

Measure out the same amount of A and B and mix in a separate plastic cup, make sure you use those A and B labeled stir sticks to scrape out almost every drop. Then stir agonizingly slow as to make the least amount of bubbles possible.

Some people like to add their "others" (beads, acrylic paint, glitter, etc.) to the resin before they mix but I like to do it after. You see, when you mix part A and B the resin looks SUPPPER cloudy and I like to make sure I've stirred it all completely before I add anything. Make stir you stir it til it looks like clear crystal water or your dice will turn out bad.

If there are a lot of bubbles you can use a "heat element" to get rid of them. I use a long lighter like this:

And whole the resin won't catch fire, be careful not to melt the plastic cups. And never heat the resin in the oven or microwave because it will get so hot it will melt the cups and stink up your house. (I've done this before)

I like to take out my molds from the oven before I add my paint or anything, so they can cool while I slowly stir in the extra. When they cool off, if you see any molds with some major gapped seams use tape to seal the sides together. You'll have to be careful because most tape doesn't stick to silicone so I tape it to it's self.

Then I put all my molds in a box and wait at LEAST twelve hours. If they came out wrong you might have mixed the resin wrong, the resin reacted to your additive or molds badly, or even something I've never encountered.

When the dice are done I use a rotary tool to shave down the stumps and very fine grit sand paper to make it smooth. However this will make the dice matte and not shiny. I haven't got it yet but I'm planning on using resin polish to shine them up but I've heard other things work too.

To number the dice I dab fingernail polish onto the numbers then use an old rag and fingernail polish remover to clean it up. And viola! Done!

One of the most popular items I create for my shop are rune sets, which are actually quite simple and inexpensive to create as they do not use many materials (depending on what you decide to make yours out of) There are also many advantages to creating resin runes over using wood / stones which can break, fracture, or lose their engraving / painting over time. If you’re the creative type or have been wanting to make your own resin runes, this is a tutorial/ guide made just for you and also a way to show off my creative process :) NOTE: I am NOT affiliated with these products or companies in any way other than what I use to create my own- what you are reading is an unsponsored opinion.

What I Use:

I have made rune sets I have in the shop for sale out of either Epoxy resin (FanAut brand shown in photos can be purchased on Amazon cheaply) or UV Resin (Puduo UV resin includes stirrers and silicone cups for beginners!), both of which have their advantages and disadvantages. If you’re a true beginner, I recommend sticking with epoxy resin as UV resin is far less forgiving (and expensive). You can use any product you wish- even polymer clay or paper mache- to form your own runes, these are just tried and true for me.

While you can create your own mold by casting dominoes or whatever shape you want to use for your runes in mold material, you can also purchase these flexible silicone molds on Amazon or Etsy fairly cheaply. They allow for the engraving effect, so you do not have to engrave them by hand or rely solely on paint. (I had just demolded some runes- excuse my mess)

I like to use the thermogenic pigments you see in the first two photos (my secret ingredients) combined with glow in the dark powder to create special FX rune sets that are magical unto themselves. As you can see, the pigment reacts to my body heat to change from purple to blue as I press on it. (idk where that gold leaf came from- you should really see my work space lol), but you may use whatever materials you wish for additives- mica pigments, alcohol inks, papers / photos (sealed of course)- whatever inspires you! I often incorporate Selenite crystal shards into my own runes as well, as Selenite will NOT react to the resin by reverting to Gypsum and will retain its lustrous crystals and appearance when cast. I have used other crystals as well, allowing their metaphysical properties to coalesce with the inorganic matter, creating an Orgone energy flow effect.

You will also need stir sticks (popsicle sticks will do), gloves or finger cots, silicone or disposable plastic measuring cups (3 for your epoxy mixture and one for each pigment you wish to use), wax paper or silicone mat for your work area, and a torch / toothpick to attack bubbles with. You may also wish to grab a large box to cover your runes while they cure to prevent dust from getting sealed within them. You’ll want to grab some sandpaper or fine grain files (nail files work) to use once your runes have fully cured to smooth the edges.

Tips:

Lay your molds out flat. Store bought molds will have all 25 tiles. Pour a thin layer of clear resin in each reservoir before pouring in pigments or embedding objects.

To get bubbles to come to the surface, use a blow dryer or heat gun to heat the resin and pop them with your torch or toothpick. Bubbles are the most likely to occur around the edges of each engraved glyph, the corners of each tile, and approximately 35 mins into your work as the resin begins to cure and harden. Pay attention to your work time and how long you have to work with your brand of epoxy.

For complex or intricate designs, pour each in layers, allowing 2-4 hours in between for your resin to cure enough so the colors do not mix.

It isn’t necessary to fill each tile’s reservoir to the brim. Try filling them 3/4 of the way each, allowing some room at the top so the resin doesn’t expand and overflow while curing (think pouring muffin mix / batter into muffin cups)

Once your runes have cured (12-24 hours or whatever your product states) you’ll want to gently pop each one out of the mold. If your runes still feel flexible, tacky, or gelatinous, they need to sit longer to cure. Silicone molds are easy to demold, but plastic and other materials can be tricky. If you have trouble removing your project from your mold, there is an abundance of tips / guides on the Resin Obsession blog.

Above you see I have Mod Podge Gloss sealant and some acrylic paint markers. These are for outlining / painting the glyph’s engravings so they stand out against the color of each tile, with the Mod Podge to seal the paint so it doesn’t smudge after drying, adding a nice glossy finish. You can even use metallic Sharpies or other permanent markers to outline, which ironically will stay without a sealant. Should you choose to paint each glyph like I do and end up with a mess, grab some alcohol pads or swabs to touch up any mistakes before applying your sealant. This step is entirely optional- you don’t have to apply a sealant on the paint to benefit from outlining each glyph nor do you even have to paint them - do whatever you think looks amazing! Note: you only need a thin layer of gloss / sealant for this and it can be diluted.

You may wonder why I begin hand filing each rune after I paint and seal them. This is because sometimes the sealant runs off the tile and creates its own cluster of sad hardened material extending off the bottom. I use a regular old nail file on the back of each tile, filing until the back is level, or damn near close to it, and smooth. Depending on the texture of the rune and what resin I chose, I may switch to a very fine grain sandpaper or nail buffing block to smooth and polish.

After filing, I run each rune under warm water and add some mild soap, putting them all into a bowl and swirling / allowing them to soak to remove all residue and debris leftover from filing. More filing may take place after the initial soak if I feel it is needed. I then drain the bowl and dump the tiles on a towel to allow them to air dry.

That’s about it- congratulations! You have made your first rune set! All of this takes place before your runes arrive to you, with each set being spiritually cleansed and charged before packaging. The products mentioned in this guide may be purchased at your local Dollar Store (disposable crafting supplies), craft or hobby store, or online at Amazon / Etsy fairly cheaply.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and thank you for taking a look at my personal creative process! You can find my custom, handmade rune sets in my Etsy shop if you are not as creatively inclined as well!

Happy crafting & blessed be !