GlassCast 10 Clear Epoxy Casting Resin - 1kg

The GlassCast range of products are not designed for permanent outdoor use. Although the GlassCast resins have a very high level of UV resistance, the very high levels of UV exposure and the variety of inclement weather and environmental conditions experienced mean that the resin would degrade if permanently used outdoors.

Certainly, we can sell the resin and hardener separately if you need extra of either one one its own. Although not listed on the website we can do this over the phone or you can email us and we can send you an invoice with the correct amounts on it. The hardener for each of the GlassCast products is unique for that product. Using hardeners from other resin systems will cause serious curing issues or it may not cure at all.

Any mild soap and detergents will be fine for cleaning GlassCast Resin. Try to avoid strong acids or bases or neat cleaning products as it is possible they may dull the surface finish.

Hi Nicole, this would slightly depend on how you'll be making up that total depth. Generally speaking, flower preservation castings are done in at least 2 pours often more. At the very least, the first pour is usually used to provide a clear 'shelf' on which to position the flow so that it appears suspended in the final casting.

If you're doing multiple pours on a casting that will be a total of 7cm thick then it will probably mean that no single pour exceeds the 50mm maximum (per pour) for GlassCast 50 (when pouring into a mould) and so you could use GlassCast 50.

If you wanted to do the whole depth (50mm or more) in a single pour however then you would need to choose the GlassCast 50 PLUS. 50 PLUS allows you to cast up to 100mm (into a mould) in a single pour with a lower risk of the resin over-heating during its cure. This makes it great for big/deep castings and would make it a good choice for 50-70mm flower preservations but the trade off is that it does mean that it takes a lot longer to cure; around 7 days compared to 48hrs for GlassCast 50.

Unfortunately the GlassCast range of resins are NOT designed to be thinned in use.

Yes you can. Once the 10/150 surface has cured to a B stage, you can use GlassCast 3 directly on top. Alternatively if the surface has fully cured, key it with 120 grit sand paper and thoroughly clean prior to pouring the resin. To get a nice smooth finish, you would need approximately 2kg per square meter to ensure there is enough resin for it to self level evenly. GlassCast 3 used in this way will provide a high gloss and smooth finish that does not need further polishing.

Yes, you can do an oven post cure of the coasters. The reason a post cure is helpful is that epoxy resins like these have a very long tail end of the cure when cured only room temperature. This means that over several weeks, the properties of the resin - including heat resistance - will develop as the resin cures fully. Typically after 7 days most of the resin is cured, however the post cure process will improve on that further as well as speeding up the process.

To do the post cure, you need access to an oven which has a reasonably accurate temperature control. The actual post cure cycle is to initially cure the resin for 24 hours at room temperature, followed by curing in the oven at 60° for 16 hours. Once allowed to cool to room temperature, the coasters will then be ready for use. Doing this post cure will give a heat distortion temperature of around 55 - 58°C which means you even less likely to get rings or marks from hot cups or plates.

If you are unable to get access to an oven for post curing, the resin does still perform well after allowing the resin a full 7 day cure at room temperature. Following a full 7 day cure, a very subtle ring may still be left by leaving an extremely hot cup to stand on the surface of the resin, this mark is slight and can usually only be seen if the surface reflection is inspected closely. Customers who use this resin for drinks coasters report that the marking is almost un-noticeable in practical applications and continue to use GlassCast commercially for coaster applications.

GlassCast 3 can be poured over both GlassCast 10 and GlassCast 50 to give a smooth finish without the need for further sanding and polishing. The epoxy surface will need to be keyed with a 240 grit abrasive paper and thoroughly cleaned prior to pouring the GlassCast 3.

If you are casting the whole thing from scratch into a mould then yes GlassCast 10 would be ideal. If on the other hand, you are coating an existing board, then GlassCast 3 would be a better option as it is a dedicated coating resin. 

It is worth mentioning that GlassCast resins don't have any food certification, however once properly cured you can consider them a you would for pretty much any other hard plastic. 

Hi Andrew, that's a good question. We tend to think of pen blank dimensions being a little less than the 20-25mm you're describing and in many cases there is a 'core' down the middle of the blank mould which means the resin doesn't occupy the full volume of the enclosure, which increases the section that can be cast without the resin overheating. When casting blanks that are more like 15mm, or a little larger if they have a hollow core, then in almost all circumstances you'd be fine using the GlassCast 10 and the higher reactivity would mean the blanks would cure more quickly (1 day compared to 2 or more) which for a lot of our customers is a significant advantage. However, if speed of cure is not really important, or you're casting blanks over 15mm or without a core then GlassCast 50 would be a better option. The two resins are identical, it's only the speed of the hardener that's different. In your case (20-25mm) it certainly sounds like GlassCast 50 would be the better option.

Both parts of the material (the resin and the hardener) are in bottles which are much bigger than they really need to be but that is because we have to use special UN approved bottles and packaging for resins and other Dangerous Goods and there are only so many sizes of these available. The weight on the bottle applies to the weight of the contents and the combined weight of the resin (Part A) and the hardener (Part B) equal the total kit weight.

GlassCast 10 is rated up to 50°C. This makes it unsuitable for use with very hot cups and plates. As such we would only recommend their use for decorative or colder temperature drink/plate use to prevent the part being damaged. Hot plates or cups may well leave a ring on the surface.

Yes the cured GlassCast 10 can be turned in a wood lathe and machined with woodworking tools in general. Allow a minimum of 48 hours to fully harden before machining begins.

Yes, steel brackets or other 'hard points' could be encapsulated into the lower portion of the pour either as is, or recessed into the wood for a flush finish. You would need to ensure the hidden surfaces are fully keyed on the plate to help with adhesion of the metal to the resin. Finally it would be necessary to drill and clean the threads with a tap to ensure the plate is effective.

Yes you can apply varnishes over the top of GlassCast 10. We would recommend giving the surface a light key and thorough clean to aid best adhesion.

The resin will reach its full cure after approximately 7 days.

It would be possible to use the GlassCast 10 for a river table but the normal choice would be our GlassCast 50 Clear Epoxy Casting Resin product which was basically developed specifically for river table applications.

The reason why you would choose GlassCast 50 over GlassCast 10 for a river table is the thickness and size of the section. GlassCast 50 is designed for larger castings (up to 50mm thick in the right circumstances) whereas GlassCast 10 should not be cast in thicknesses more than 10mm, otherwise there is a danger that the resin could overheat during curing. If you check out the GlassCast 50 product page you'll find a whole host of information on using that product for a live edge river table.

We always recommend sealing a wood surface before coating with any of the GlassCast resins. This is because the resin can soak in displacing air and causing bubbles in the resin. Brushing a thin sealing coat of GlassCast over the wood and allowing it to fully cure will prevent this occurring. You would then just need to re-key the surface with sandpaper prior to your main GlassCast pour. Ordinarily you would use the same GlassCast product to seal with as the main pour.

Providing that the wetroom floor was fitted and used in the conventional way; i.e. it was occasionally wet and other times allowed to dry then - other than considerations around slipperiness - it should be OK to use GlassCast for this application.