Bob La Londe wrote:
With all the epoxy gurus here I thought I would ask a question.

Have any of you guys poured epoxy solids?

Encased things in epoxy?

My daughter said one of her friends said she wanted some paperweights
for Christmas with fish in them or fish shaped paperweights or something
like that. (Yes my daughter's friend is weird.) I thought I might buy
some toy fish at the local toy store or whereever I can find something
suitable and then pour them into some epoxy solids. I figured a cube, a
tetrahedron, and maybe a dome. Making a mold for a sphere is not out of
the question either, but I was thinking maybe just a hemisphere for
number three.

I can make molds out of wood or aluminum for the cube and tetrahedron.
For a sphere or hemisphere I would probably have to go with wood.

I was thinking if I go with aluminum I would polish the interior
surfaces, put a tiny bit of clear RTV adhesive silicon in the seams and
spray the inside with non flavored cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Basically screw the pieces together. When the resin is hard remove the
screws and knock the sides off. Then cut the bottom square and epoxy on
a layer of felt. Any of you guys see any problems with that approach?

For wood I was thinking I could make it similar to the aluminum, but
coat the wood pieces with epoxy first. Would take longer because I
would have to make sure the resin coating the wood was fully cured, and
thick enough to machine smooth for drilling and assembling the mold.
The advantage to wood is I could more easily make a sphere or hemisphere
shape, and it would be a lot cheaper than a piece of aluminum thick
enough to make a reasonable size sphere.

You have any tips?

Any Alternatives?

Reasons why my idea is totally stupid?

I have several gallons of two part epoxy left over from a previous project.

I also considered milling some fish shapes out of wood and using them in
the "paperweights", but I am concerned that escaping air might cause
bubbles in the end solid. I suppose I could paint the shape with epoxy
before encasing it.



A better choice is acrylic casting resin for jobs like this.
It is generally crystal clear, but can be tinted or pigmented,
or filled with a filler (sand, marbles, keys...)

Any thickness (depth) of epoxy will likely go thermal on you and boil.