I bought some casting epoxy for Margarit a few months back. She has always collected rocks, but in recent weeks she got serious about collecting a bunch for this project. I built a mold for her from some wood scraps. In late September we finally gave it a try.
We mixed up enough resin to create a layer, about 3/16" of an inch deep, in the bottom of the mold. We mixed some blue pigment with this batch to give a base for the display. Unfortunately some of the resin seeped out of the gaps between the wood pieces. In hindsight I should have sealed them with a bead of silicone, before we did the pour. But, enough stayed behind to seal the edges and to create a base, a little thinner than originally intended. Once that had partially cured, Margarit positioned all of her rocks. Then we mixed up the rest of the resin that we had... about a gallon. Before doing that I sealed the four upright seams on the mold with silicone and let that cure. Then we poured the resin into the mold. It was just barely enough to cover the tallest of the rocks. For the next day or so small bubbles kept rising off the rocks. We used a propane torch to flash these off. After a couple of days the resin had set, and although still a little tacky, was relatively solid. But over the course of a couple of more days, as it continued to cure, it shrunk a little. One of the rocks ended up protruding above the resin a little more than we would have liked. And there was a patch in the middle that was a little uneven. I ordered some additional material so that we can do a third pour, of another 1/4 inch or so to finish it off.
Mostly this was just a trial to get familiar with the materials. We'll probably end up doing more of this stuff in the months to come.
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