In the last few days, I've created a few pen blanks for sale. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE BLANKS

All blanks are $4.  You can purchase through Paypal shopping cart.  Also I have all of the metal flake blanks in stock.

I want to thank all those who emailed me when my dog died.

We are excited.  We have metal flake blanks listed for sale on our website.  Brian has finally had time to start making blanks ago after his big project at work has completed.  Click the "Blanks" link at the top of the page.

For this blog, I will only discuss Polyester Resin that I use to create turning blanks.  To the left, you see a screen shot of U.S. Composites’ website.  This is the primary vendor I use for my polyester resin.  I use the Silmar 41 Clear Polyester Casting Resin.  The resin can be purchased in quarts, gallons and 5 gallon buckets.  I started with gallons and now I purchase 5 gallons at a time.  

My calculations say that I have between 1.5 and 2 ounces of resin in a 3/4" x 6" pen blank.  Using a gallon of resin as an example and 2 ounces as a blank size, I can get 60-64 blanks out of a gallon of resin.  (Assuming I have very little or no waste)  Currently, US Composites (USC) (http://www.uscomposites.com) has gallons for $37 each and to Kentucky the shipping is about $20.  Total is $57. 

My goal here is to show you the cost per blank of the resin.  $57 divided by 128 (@ two ounces per blank times 64 blanks to get the 128 number) equals $.45 per ounce; multiply that by 2 ounces equaling $.90 per blank for a  gallon of resin.   I took all the numbers on the high side so $.90 is high.  

Like many people, I started with casting resin I purchased from a craft store.  Most of them have 40-50% off coupons for a single item.  Last time I looked at Hobby Lobby, Casting Craft (CC) quarts of resin were $29.99.  Using the same formula, 50% discount on the resin and not adding tax, Casting Craft resin cost around $.94 per blank.  I'm not putting Casting Craft resin down.  I'm just showing the cost is really higher than ordering a gallon online.  I made acceptable blanks with CC resin.  I feel the Silmar 41 resin makes a much better blank.

Be aware when you purchase 5 gallon buckets, USC has to add a hazardous material fee from UPS.  I break the resin into gallons.  I purchased some empty gallon containers from USC.  Generally speaking, I can get the per blank cost of resin under $.75 per blank with 5 gallon purchases. 

iLLSTREET Composites is another vendor that sells Silmar 41.  The polyester resin is shipped with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide hardener.  If you aren't sure how to use the resin, check out my video channel on YouTube.  (http://www.youtube.com/user/fool4peppers) 

In the blog, I have only discussed polyester resin.  Another casting resin that can be used is Alumilite.  I have used this resin before but have more experience with Silmar 41.  I will not attempt to debate the pros and cons of the two resins.  With Alumilite, you must use a pressure pot to remove air bubbles.  In a later blog, I'll discuss pressure pots and air bubbles.  Stay tuned.

Next blog, I'll discuss coloring.

Links:
http://www.uscomposites.com/
http://www.carbonfiberglass.com/
http://www.alumilite.com/

Bonnie and I will be at the Lexington Woodcraft from 10 am till 3 pm on 5/25/13.  We aren't sure what we will be doing.  We think we will be casting blanks and stabilizing wood.  It all depends on the weather.  We like to cast outside because the resin stinks up the store.  Come out and say hi. 

We would like to thank Mark Miller, the owner of our local Woodcraft, for inviting us to demo turning our resin blanks.  We had a great day talking to fellow crafters and sharing ideas.

We are casting lots of blanks for an upcoming turning demo at Woodcraft in Lexington.  I have uploaded a short new video on casting large resin turning blanks.  Take a few minutes to view it on Youtube if you are interestsed in how we create these blanks.  You can search for all our videos under Fool4peppers.

Bonnie and I are hard at work to fill a big catalog wholesale order.  It will take a few weeks to complete.  This is just the first run.  Helps when I have two pressure pots.  Since we normally have a few left over, I'm going to have a sale on metal flake blanks here on the website.  I'll even keep the shipping at the old flat rate shipping rate if you order more than 6 blanks.  All metal flake blanks are $5 each.  The sale will end at midnight on Sunday, March 3, 2013.