GlassCast 50 Epoxy Resin for Woodturning - 1kg

The perfect epoxy resin for casting woodturning blanks

GlassCast 50 is sought after by professional and hobbyist wood-turners who require thick section (up to 50mm) casting resin that machines really nicely, cures bubble-free, stabilises and bonds to wood and other encapsulations such as fir-cones and models and is compatible with a wide range of pigments, dyes and decorative effects.

Any turners who have worked much with cast resin will know that there’s nothing worse than tiny pits on the surface of your barrel caused by air bubbles trapped within the resin! GlassCast 50 was designed to be self-degassing and to produce bubble-free castings without the need for a pressure-pot or degassing chamber, leaving you with super smooth turnings!

For those who do want to use either a degassing chamber or a pressure-pot to drive resin into wood in order to stabilise it further, there are a number of techniques for using GlassCast 50 in this way.

Why choose GlassCast 50 for making woodturning blanks?

• Highly machinable – Turns, cuts, and polishes beautifully.
• Self-degassing – Almost zero air entrapment, without degassing.
• Suitable for thick sections – Cast up to 50mm depth in a single pour.*
• Solvent free – 100% solids, no VOCs, almost odourless.
• UV resistant – Best-in-class protection from yellowing.
• Widely compatible – Works great with most pigments, dyes, and effects.

*50mm into a conventional mould, 25mm maximum depth into highly insulating environments like a wooden cavity or enclosure.

Getting Started

Ambient Temperature, Pot-Life and Pour Depth

The GlassCast range of resins, in common with all epoxies, generate heat as part of the curing process. The amount of time the mixed resin can spend in the pot, as well as the maximum depth it can be poured at, will vary depending on the ambient temperature.

For best results, we recommend working in a consistent room temperature of 18-20°C. GlassCast can be used in temperatures from 15 to 25°C but higher temperatures will reduce the pot-life and the maximum pour-depth of the resin significantly, as shown in the table below.

What to cast into

There are a number of options to choose from what it comes to what to cast your blanks into.

• Simple batten frame – Timber battens can be wrapped in release film (or even brown parcel tape) and screwed down to a plastic base to make a simple watertight frame or any size.
• Simple plastic frame – Alternatively, strips of polypropylene plastic can be hot-melt glued onto a baseboard to make a simple frame.
• Silicone moulds* – Specialist woodturning suppliers offer high quality moulds suitable for casting blanks.
• HDPE moulds* – Alternatively, some suppliers offer sturdy HDPE plastic moulds in various sizes.

* Repeatedly casting epoxies into silicone or HDPE moulds will cause the moulds to degrade. Using Vaseline or similar as a release agent has been found to be very effective at extending the life of both silicone and rigid plastic moulds.

How much resin will I need?

The amount of resin needed to cast a blank will vary depending on whether you’re encapsulating other materials, such as wood, into the mould.

Adding different colours and effects

The number of ways that GlassCast 50 can be tinted, pigmented or otherwise modified to achieve different appearances is almost limitless. Our own range includes pigments and additives to create translucent tints, vivid opaque colours, and even sparkling metallic effects.

• Translucent tints – Translucent ‘see-through’ colours, like a stained-glass effect, can be achieved by adding just a tiny drop of our CULR universal resin pigments.
• Opaque pigments – Make solid opaque colours by adding a few drops more of the CULR universal pigments.
• Metallic-effect powders – For shimmering, swirling metallic effects, just add a pinch or two of our metallic effect SHIMR powders.

Combining, blending and marbling

Of course, much of the fun is in blending, combing and marbling colours and effects together. This is done by mixing separate pots of different colours and then bring them together in different ways in the mould. For the most dramatic marbling effects, the resin can be allowed to partially ‘gel’ in the pots before being combined and disturbed in the mould.

Inspiration, and help if you need it

Take a look in the GlassCast customer gallery to see beautiful woodturning projects handcrafted by our talented customers, all using GlassCast clear epoxy resin.