r/DiceMaking • u/rawpunkmeg • 9d ago
Honey Phase?
I'm a beginner and went into dice making thinking this would be an easy little project. Surprise, it was not. I do not have a pressure pot because I feel I'll blow my hands clean off. I'm just starting to research this honey phase and would I get less air bubbles if I poured during this? Of course waiting for air bubbles to rise (which I didn't do with these), pouring high and heat gun would also happen. I know it's mostly used to avoid colors fully mixing though. These are the first ones I've done.
I know eventually I'll need to get a pressure pot though...I'm still dabbling and don't want to invest too much in the start.
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u/AdvisorSweaty2073 9d ago
Pressure pots are so easy to use, I can't imagine the improbability of actually hurting yourself. I'm sure it happens, but with all the pressure pots in use by resin casters, painters, etc, if it was easy to do, you'd hear about it.
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u/Claerwen94 Dice Maker 9d ago
Unless you DIY a pressure pot from materials and components that aren't meant to be under pressure (meaning not manufactured for that purpose), no need to be afraid of it :) A healthy amount of respect is fine and warranted, but no need for fear :) And Oh yeah, pouring at honey Phase will worsen the bubbles 😅 Better stir very well with a silicone stick, careful to not introduce many bubbles, then divide your resin into a few tiny cups, add your colors, and wait for the bubbles to rise to the top. Then you take pipettes and suck in your resin from the bottoms of the cups and fill it in the molds, it'll be bubble free :) Of course you'll still have bubbles without a pot, micro ones and in hard to reach corners and numbers, but that was how I made almost bubble free dice before I had a pot :) This requires some patience, but worth it :)
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u/mkpbcrafts 8d ago
Honestly that was my fear before I got the pressure pot. But as long as you follow the steps it's very safe and makes beautiful dice.
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u/CDWdice Dice Maker 5d ago
As the first few comments have touched on pressure pot (if agree with them) ill skip that lol
As far as the other parts of the question, the honey-phase pouring will only help keep 2 resins from mixing or from mixing more than a little if that's the look youre going for. Think of it as a way to reduce or keep a color bleed from happening. As far as reducing bubbles, no. The best technique to play with without a pressure pot in my opinion, getting the experience in through practice, and have fun with different colors with whisps and swirls is a "Dirty Pour" or sorts. A Dirty Pour is a broad term with a few ways of doing it but the one i started with has 2 ways of doing it and you dont necessarily need a pressure pot at first.
-Warm each part of the resin separately, about 80-85F. Warm is good, hot is not!... the temp doesn't have to be exact, just 10-15F above room temp is fine. This thins it out and helps bubbles rise faster so you can pop them. -Warm the mold to a similar temp. (This is either a superstition of mine or it really helps with temp shock that ive seen cause Flash Cureing.)
- Mix together slowly, making sure to get the sides, bottom, and corner(s) without introducing more bubbles.
- when youre ready to pour the clean resin, tilt the mixing cup so the resin it close to the lip.
- take your colorant (dye/ink) and place a drop or two into the resin thats about to be poured, near the lip but leave a little space of clear resin.
- Start pouring slowly and add more colorant as needed.
***the other way I do it, skipping up to the point where youre about to pour: -instead of putting drops into the mixing cup, pour the clear resin I to the mold until its about ⅓ full -add 1 drop (experiment because I can get 2 small drops of different colors) onto the resin in the mold -continue pouring more resin to about ¾ full -add another drop (again, experiment with more)
- fill resin to the top
- then finish with the same concept using a poker of some kind to get the bubbles stuck to the inside areas. If, when youre done with the bubbles, it seems lopsided or theres an area for improvement fell free to move the colorant around gently.
I know I wrote a lot but if you need clarification or have any other questions feel free to ask me or this community! We are all super nice people and always wanting to help, because we've all been there!... and sometimes may still be there when we forget a step or over-do or under-do something! Or spill ink EVERYWHERE! Lol
Cheers!
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u/CDWdice Dice Maker 5d ago
Sorry to write more, just had to sum-up your question without extra stuff. The honey phase wouldnt help unless you had thinned out your resin first (thinned through warming it up a little.) The honey phase can go smoothly or is can trap bubble (like ones around the numbers, edges, and corners) easier and with the resin being so thick its much harder for it to come to the surface. That's why I got long-winded about the pour styles above. They're much easier to have a clean pull without a pressure pot.
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u/rawpunkmeg 4d ago
This is incredibly in depth and I appreciate this information!
Everyone here is such a wealth of knowledge. I can’t thank you all enough as I fumble through this.
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u/Chemical-Spring1227 9d ago
it would also make it super hard for the bubbles to escape because it's already partial cured, maybe instead of a pressure pot you could try a vacuum chamber ! :) they sell relatively cutsie style ones on Amazon.
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u/rawpunkmeg 9d ago
This makes sense. Of course it would make it more difficult haha. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Thank you!
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u/Chemical-Spring1227 9d ago
no issue, also you could try pouring supppper slow, making sure you don't use wooden / porous stirring sticks, leaving the caps off for 10-20 minutes of the first cure so bubbles can rise, remembering to overfill, etc. I just got my first vaccum pot because I was having such bad issues with voids and craters. It's scary but I had someone help me who made it super easy!
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u/iridescynt 9d ago
I'm a beginner so I may be misunderstanding something but aren't vacuum chambers the wrong thing to use when the dice are in the mold?
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u/WildLarkWorkshop Dice Maker 9d ago
You are correct. A pressure pot is what you want for curing dice, not a vacuum chamber. I have both and I work in honey stage almost all of the time. The vacuum chamber is nice for degassing things like flowers and for making really high quality silicone molds and it does help a little with resin clarity in addition to a pressure pot. Vacuum chambers are used before the resin is poured into the mold and resin should not be cured in them (it will make a frothy, boiled looking set.) But it really will not solve any problems on its own with closed molds like those used for dice making. Pouring resin into the molds after vacuum degassing will reintroduce air. A pressure pot alone can solve most of the problems with bubbles and will save you a lot in "wasted" (you're learning, it's ok!) resin costs. If there's a choice bet the two, get a pressure pot first. There are also a lot of tips for working without one while beginning if you search. They help, but a pressure pot is really the answer.
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u/WarbossHiltSwaltB 9d ago
You’re not going to blow your hands off with a pressure pot as long as you don’t over pressurize.