Hi guys,

I'm hoping somebody can help me with this ......................  >>


I'm currently making 2 headlight covers tooling plugs using EC' Vac-Cast Epoxy Resin.  I followed the entire procedure as per the instructions,  my first cast turned out superb,  my second cast ( image above ) ended up with hundreds of tiny little white specks on the surface!  

The white specks are on top of my tooling plug,  no white specks on the sides or bottom of the plug.  As the cast was done upside-down,  the top of the tooling plug would of been the bottom of my silicone mould.  I used the aerosol MANN 200 silicone release on both plugs,  so if the release agent would be at fault,  both plugs would of ended up the same,  but they didn't ..............  just this one.

You can't feel the white specks when running your fingers lightly on the surface,  but I'm a little concerned that they're going to cause problems on the next stage as I need to vacuum form transparent PETG or Polycarbonate to vacuum form the headlight covers.

Would anybody have any idea what caused this please?


Many thanks for your time.



TURK
T4 Concepts

I warren,

Yeah,  it was a bit touch n go getting the temps in my workshop high enough,  but with both my oil heaters heating my workshop for a week I did manage to get a steady 23°C 

I didn't get any stickyness from the silicone moulds at all,  in fact, they turned out superb.  Notice the nice glossy finish of the Pattern-Coat Primer Resin plug,  that was well detailed into the CS25 silicone mould,  also nice and shiny!.  It's unfortunate that the result is a matt finish after having to use the MANN 200 release agent  >>



The 'Micro-Mesh' are actually soft sanding pads and not discs, they can be used either wet or dry .............  guitar makers and jewellers use them for high gloss finishes.  I'm thinking they might be the answer for polishing resins to a high gloss finish as opposed to using Farecla,  or any other polish.  I can only but try     Technologies are even making great advancements in the sanding world!  these haven't been on the market all that long,  they're like a very fine cloth abrasive.

D'you think I should finish off with  'Autoglym Super Resin Polish'   ?
Baring in mind that I will be using these resin tooling plugs for vacuum forming transparent headlight covers.


I'll let you know how I get on.  Who knows,  this little post may help other guys out when making resin tooling plugs,  and how to get that perfect finish    





TURK
T4 Concepts