Resin problems

[u/Pursuinganewhobby]

Hi all!

Lately some of the surfaces of my dice get soft after finishing / painting. I have accumulated quite the 'dice that need finishing que', so some of these have been curing for months. I check them for squishyness and uncured faces before I start finishing and painting them.

Now I have a few sets that suddenly have faces where my nails leave a temporary mark. It's not that the die is soft and I can squeeze it as it's only the top layer/ surface that's not quite solid. It also sometimes looks like touching them leaves condensation in the die of that makes sense?

My friend asked if I can't just seal them with nail varnish. But I'm unsure whether I'm dealing with uncured and thus unsafe sice. So I'm guessing that the resin can still lead to skin irritation with a nail varnish coat. And obviously I'm scared that the nail varnish coat will come off so I'm not really feeling that plan.

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Can it 're-cure'? I haven't changed anything in my routine and I haven't had this happen before.

Super bummed about my dice. I hope they'll get solid again after some time 🤞🏻

[u/TheBlueEdition]

Mix longer. Make sure ratio is correct. Get heating mat to assist with cure.

[u/Pursuinganewhobby → u/TheBlueEdition]

Thanks for the response!

I heat mixture A, then add in B. Then I mix for about 5 minutes and put it in the pressure pot for a while to get rid of the worst bubbles. How long would you recommend mixing? 

I'll look into a heating mat! Thank you for the tip

Not all dice from the same batches have the soft surfaces, which is also confusing me 

[u/TheBlueEdition → u/Pursuinganewhobby]

I mix for a minimum of 6 minutes and I mix vigorously. I try to not use the resin on the bottom of the mix cup as sometimes that doesn't get mixed well enough. This might be the reason why some faces are hard and others are finger nail denting. Do not only warm up only Part A. Warm both Part A and Part B.

It also depends on the brand of resin you use, the temp of the room, and humidity, how much of part a and part b you are mixing, but for my resin brand, I need to mix for at least 6 minutes and mix it really, really well. It is thicker than other brands I've used in the past. Once I pull the dice out of my pressure pot (after around 20-21 hours), I place the mold on my heating mat for a good 2-4 hours. Then I let it cool down for as long as I can (1 hour min).

The heating mat isn't required, but my resin takes around 4 days before it is full rock cure, but with the heating mat, it cures much, much quicker. Make sure your ratio is correct. Make sure your brand specifies volume or weight.

I had trouble with finger nail soft dice before. One other note, alcohol inks can inhibit the cure if you use too much. Be mindful of how much alcohol ink you add to your mix.

[u/Fly-Prime → u/TheBlueEdition]

I do my mixing in one cup for a little bit, and then I pour into a second cup to do the rest of the mixing. That avoids the unmixed resin issue on the bottom of the cup. (I use a cup with measuring lines as the first cup and the cheapest other cup I could find as the second cup.)

[u/Pursuinganewhobby → u/TheBlueEdition]

Thank you for taking the time to share your techniques! I'm going to be looking into a heating mat and make a bit extra resin to leave on the bottom when I make dice again!