Art Resin.

Power581

Needle-chuck Ninja
So I was at a local art supply store a few days ago and came across this art resin. It is a two part self levelling resin. It is supposed to be safe for oil and acrylic paints. The samples they had there looked awesome. Just wondering if anyone had tried this on any of their work?
 
If it's what I think you are talking about it's just pour on epoxy resin, basically the same as the bar top kits. Yeah its pretty cool stuff.
I don't know what your version costs but theres a cheap alternative too if i can remember enough to find a link i'll post it up
Ah should have known, I get almost everything resin or fiberglass related from this retailer
http://www.uscomposites.com/kk121.html
Works the same way as ArtResin. It's about a third of the price though.
You can't go wrong with uscomposites
They do a great price on everything.
Epoxies are pretty much safe over anything.
 
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If it's what I think you are talking about it's just pour on epoxy resin, basically the same as the bar top kits. Yeah its pretty cool stuff.
I don't know what your version costs but theres a cheap alternative too if i can remember enough to find a link i'll post it up
Ah should have known, I get almost everything resin or fiberglass related from this retailer
http://www.uscomposites.com/kk121.html
Works the same way as ArtResin. It's about a third of the price though.
You can't go wrong with uscomposites
They do a great price on everything.
Epoxies are pretty much safe over anything.
Thanks for that link. I will definitely be looking at them when i want some. Just have to look at shipping and curency exchange.
 
Thanks for that link. I will definitely be looking at them when i want some. Just have to look at shipping and curency exchange.
If you can find a supplier for any kind of pour on epoxy resin, it's gonna be basically the same thing.
The only real difference in most of these kinds of products is the viscosity and clarity, so you want something made for tables or bars or whatever
Though UScomposites $40 a gallon is hard to beat, you may find a place charging the equivalent of $60 a gallon and work out better in the long run.
I'm sure you can beat the $120 a gallon of ArtResin brand
 
I just came across ArtResin for the first time a few days ago too. According to their promo materials, their whole hook is that they're trying to formulate specifically for non-yellowing over time. According to them, most coating epoxies either have no UV protection, or only have one additive that can slow yellowing but doesn't actually prevent it.

My own experience with these sorts of epoxies is that they do indeed yellow over time, often severely. Not a big deal when you're coating a wooden bar top, but if you're using it to seal or imbed a painted art work, it can be a big problem. That's actually how I found them: by searching for a non-yellowing clear epoxy for a project.

If they're being truthful, that might explain the cost, and might make the cost worthwhile vs other finishing epoxies. Small company making small batches of a custom formula for a niche application.

Might be worth trying a sample to see if they're on the up-and-up.
 
True, I can only speak for the uscomposite stuff. Which hasn't yellowed after three or four years at anyhow.
But as clear or even opaque epoxies go, UV stable is a fairy tale.UV protection, ehh a little bit, but not a lot. Epoxy by nature is UV unstable. If they could make a UV stable epoxy resin, they would completely and utterly dominate the aerospace and high end boat industry, not to mention automotive carbon fiber companies that could eliminate the high end clear coats they have to put over their parts. Art would be an afterthought and they could charge $700 a gallon.
Though I lean towards the cost just following the cost of many other "non-yellowing" epoxies, It's actually a pretty common price and it's probably good stuff.
You're right though, not all the bar top stuff would be anywhere near as good, I didn't think about that.
Ooops and Thank you


And I will say this for art resin, they do tell you it's no good for outdoors.
and the video they show of their test does claim there is at least one equivalent product to theirs called thick cast.
Though they go back and forth as to whether its equal or slightly worse
 
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They are at least being realistic since they said not good outside and they tell that theirs too will eventually yellow some
They didn't include smooth-on crystal clear. Which is what we used before uscomposite. I don't even want to see what we were paying for the smooth-on though.
It's worth a shot I'm sure
 
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I just came across ArtResin for the first time a few days ago too. According to their promo materials, their whole hook is that they're trying to formulate specifically for non-yellowing over time. According to them, most coating epoxies either have no UV protection, or only have one additive that can slow yellowing but doesn't actually prevent it.

My own experience with these sorts of epoxies is that they do indeed yellow over time, often severely. Not a big deal when you're coating a wooden bar top, but if you're using it to seal or imbed a painted art work, it can be a big problem. That's actually how I found them: by searching for a non-yellowing clear epoxy for a project.

If they're being truthful, that might explain the cost, and might make the cost worthwhile vs other finishing epoxies. Small company making small batches of a custom formula for a niche application.

Might be worth trying a sample to see if they're on the up-and-up.
Yeah I think I may give it a try. The one video I saw on it claimed that unlike a lot of the others it does not have the harsh smell and you don't require a mask to use it, which in my mind is worth paying a little more for.
 
Yeah I think I may give it a try. The one video I saw on it claimed that unlike a lot of the others it does not have the harsh smell and you don't require a mask to use it, which in my mind is worth paying a little more for.
Thats actually true of most pour on or casting epoxy.
The ones with a bad smell are the ones designed for glass and carbon layup or spraying, like West system with 206 catalyst.
If ArtResin is worth double and triple the price of other epoxy resins, It will be for yellowing resistance. I think. Like @Nessus was saying.
You guys have me interested enough to want to try a small amount for my own comparison though.
But I think I'd be likely to use a surfboard resin like apex if I were real concerned with UV
Its also quite a bit cheaper and has a long history of good reviews for surfboards, which probably get more xposure to UV than an Epoxy ever should. No Idea if it's stinky though.
 
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From what I can dig up, surfboard resins are polyester rather than epoxy. Polyester resin will yellow over time too, but not as dramatically or quickly as epoxy. They are definitely stinky resins, and can be caustic to some plastics in their uncured state.

I live in SoCal, and have been around surfers all my life. If you see a board that's pure white with vibrant blues or reds on it, that board is probably either under 2 years old, or only gets infrequent use. Guys/gals who go out every day, their boards tend to be the color of vegetable oil. A lot of that can be the foam rather than the glass, but if you see them up close, you can see the resin color in the refraction at the edges or tips.

...Which is not to say it wouldn't be even worse if they were glassed with epoxy. Based on my experiences with finishing epoxies, they'd probably be the color of old pine sap in less than a year.
 
For the last five years I've laid up fiberglass or carbon fiber almost every day. Using polyesters and epoxies, well aware of the differences.
Apex is epoxy and has a good rep for being one of the more UV resistant surfboard epoxies.
Not to say that it's great (never used it ), but I think there's enough time and money in the surfboard epoxy sector to come up with something decent, since UV would be unavoidable.
A large portion of surfboards ARE epoxy layup.
Granted 15 years ago 90% of them were polyester, not quite so much anymore.
Epoxy over EPS is pretty popular for boards in the last ten years or so.
and yep polyesters yellow as well

Some epoxies smell, some have almost no smell, some actually smell kind of sweet and pleasant.
It actually has more to do with what catalyst is used than what epoxy, but that's another story altogether.

The carbon fibers I've laid up that were meant to be outside and be able to see the cloth just get a UV clear coat when they're finished so consistency and wetout have been the bigger concerns with epoxy products I've had to use.
 
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For the last five years I've laid up fiberglass or carbon fiber almost every day. Using polyesters and epoxies, well aware of the differences.
Apex is epoxy and has a good rep for being one of the more UV resistant surfboard epoxies.
Not to say that it's great (never used it ), but I think there's enough time and money in the surfboard epoxy sector to come up with something decent, since UV would be unavoidable.
A large portion of surfboards ARE epoxy layup.
Granted 15 years ago 90% of them were polyester, not quite so much anymore.
Epoxy over EPS is pretty popular for boards in the last ten years or so.
and yep polyesters yellow as well

Some epoxies smell, some have almost no smell, some actually smell kind of sweet and pleasant.
It actually has more to do with what catalyst is used than what epoxy, but that's another story altogether.

The carbon fibers I've laid up that were meant to be outside and be able to see the cloth just get a UV clear coat when they're finished so consistency and wetout have been the bigger concerns with epoxy products I've had to use.
Lots of info. Thanks. Now I have more to decide:( I hate making decisions, guess I will go and paint:) after I clear the snow:cry:
 
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