Sometimes things don't turn out quite the way I envisioned them when I'm working in the studio.
Take this flat resin ring. I cast it during a workshop on the weekend and was really pleased that the outer surfaces were bubble free. The mould has a matt finish but I really wanted a shiny ring so after trimming and sanding it, I moved on to buffing it to a high gloss. And that's where it went wrong. It turns out that the fine sanding I had done removed a very thin outer layer of resin and exposed numerous minute bubbles on the surface that I didn't see until the polish got into them. Grrr!
Polishing the resin to a high gloss is the last step in the process of making the ring and it takes a fair bit of time and elbow grease to get it to that point. So having come this far, I decided to disguise the worst of the bubbles by strategically placing some Swarovski chatons over the worst of them. So follow my progress below to see how it turned out.
Drilling holes to the right depth was a bit tricky without the right shaped bit, but by drilling and checking and then drilling and checking again, it worked.
Araldite (5 minute epoxy) is a really good choice because its quick to set up - perfect for a curved surface.
You definitely need tweezers to place the crystals right side up. You don't want them falling face down into the epoxy.
And here's the finished result - a great improvement on the pock marked surface that I started with. It's not perfect but now it's wearable.
I have some other resin pieces that could benefit from a cover up job. I think I'll tackle one over the next few days and share the results with you later.
'Til next time.....
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