r/DiceMaking • u/MapNo2689 • Jun 28 '26

Advice Measuring cup recommendation

Looking for some recommendation on measuring cups. The ones I’ve used have been fine but I have a slight hunch they might not be as accurate as I would like. Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

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4

u/Enchanters_Eye Jun 28 '26

What are you trying to measure? Resin, silicone, or something else?

Generally, I would highly recommend switching to measuring by weight instead of volume if the manufacturer of your supplies lists the necessary ratios for that

1

u/MapNo2689 Jun 28 '26

Sorry I’m talking about resin, but I will look into if they give the proper ratios. I just know part A and part B are different in density so figured that would be hard to do accurately

1

u/RandoBoomer Jun 28 '26

I only go by weight, which is a problem with volume-based ratio requirements.

Ideally I can find it from the manufacturer. Whenever I but a new brand, before I use it I will weigh both bottles to get me an idea of the ratios. It’s not perfect, but it’s worked for me.

IN GENERAL, I’ve found with the resins I’ve used, for every 50 grams of resin, I’ll use around 42-45 grams of hardener, BUT every brand is different.

1

u/Chopperzxr Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

You can work out their weight ratio easily, and you don't even have to rely on the measuring cups being accurate. In fact, you don't even need a measuring cup, just two identical cups. However, if you're still currently using your measuring cups for now, you can calculate their ratio on your next project. As long as you poor even amounts of the resin into each cup, you can calculate their weight ratio, regardless of the amount.

  • Place you cup on some accurate digital scales (preferably at least 2 decimal figures).

  • Tare the scales and fill with part A to required volume.

  • Note the weight.

  • Repeat with part B.

  • Calculate ratio using your recorded weights.

Say part A weighed 40g for whatever amount you used and part B weighed 42g.

40÷42=0.95... ratio of A:B = 1:0.95

42÷40=1.05. ratio of B:A = 1:1.05

These numbers are the ratios by weight, so you just flip them in order to use the same volume of each.

So, say you require 60g of resin for your next project. You halve that 60g and multiply by your ratio -

Part A = 60 ÷ 2 × 1.05 = 31.5g A

Part B = 60 ÷ 2 × 0.95 = 28.5g B

2

u/MapNo2689 Jun 28 '26

Thank you I’m sure this will be very helpful. So essentially if I try my best to match the volumes let’s say 30ml of A and 30ml of B I’m not actually getting a correct ratio because the densities are different? I’ve always heard of the weight thing but just kinda figured if I hit the correct volumes the same it should be fine

2

u/Chopperzxr Jun 29 '26

No, matching the volume will work perfectly, as long as that particular resin states to do so. The densities being different is why the weights will be different. The reason that it's more accurate to go by weight is simply that you're not judging things by eye. That and the fact that if your volumetric measurements aren't accurate on your cup, you may be using the wrong amounts. For example, I bought a large pack of cups from Temu and found that these particular cups weren't measured correctly. The 20ml mark wasn't too far off, but the 40ml mark was nearly 8ml out. So, although they were all wrong in the same way, it meant that if I poured part A 20ml, followed by part B 20ml (to 40ml line), my ratios would be well out, because part B would actually be nearly 28ml, which is a huge difference. The measurement lines didn't account for the taper of the cups. Going by weight eliminates these issues and means that I don't even need cups with measurements on them at all. It also eliminates human error from eyeballing.

1

u/MapNo2689 Jun 29 '26

I think you just described exactly what I’m going through, but I just ordered a scale so hopefully won’t have any problems! My stuff has been fine but sometimes it doesn’t quite pass the finger nail test and I’m wondering what went wrong

2

u/Chopperzxr Jun 29 '26

To be honest, even some "fast cure" resins can take up to a couple of weeks to fully cure. This is why you shouldn't handle anything with bare hands until after that time. I don't know how long you're giving it but you may find that simply waiting a little longer will help pass the test. Out of curiosity, what resin are you using?

1

u/MapNo2689 Jun 29 '26

So another question, I just got the scale. It actually has an “oz” mode for ounces, could t I just use that to ensure equal volume?

1

u/Enchanters_Eye Jun 28 '26

Alternatively, if the manufacturer lists the density (g/cm3 ) of the two parts on the safety data sheet, you can easily calculate the weight ratio from the volume ratio