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Here are the results of the latest pour:
At nearly 24 hours, the actual Treadwell lens was demolded. It came out a lot clearer than the previous attempt, but it still has blemishes here and there on the convex face, and everything in contact with the silicone is still sticky (as is the silicone mold). I think my epoxy-hardener ratio was slightly off in this batch and it's taking longer to cure. (Edit: After over 32 hours, it's still tacky, but slowly improving.)
Everything with the highlighter dye was exactly the opposite of the clear lens -- tacky on the planar face, thoroughly cured on the convex face. These parts were also less rigid than I expected at this stage. The BB-8 lenses were almost too flexible to demold, but I eventually got them all out intact. The dyed Treadwell lens was demolded easily, but had the consistency of a mildly warmed jolly rancher. I could've bent it entirely out of shape if I'd wanted to. I'm putting it in a lens retainer and letting it cure further there to keep it in shape.
Given that the tackiest part of the dyed Treadwell lens was a blemish on the planar face that released unmixed dye, my theory is that any highlighter dye near the surface is close enough to reach it before the resin sets, where the moisture tends to spread across the surface and affect curing. That doesn't happen with the clear parts, nor does it happen on the lower, convex surfaces.
Regardless, I took photos of my mad science:
![[Image: normal_20170919_205058-smaller.jpg]](http://www.rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10380/normal_20170919_205058-smaller.jpg)
![[Image: normal_20170919_223012-smaller.jpg]](http://www.rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10380/normal_20170919_223012-smaller.jpg)
The lines in the Yaley mold are the marks I made to indicate 3/4 inch diameter, and you can see I still managed to pour most of these too large. The non-glowing well on the upper right in the second photo is another clear BB-8 lens that I poured. It works as a control, and has none of the tackiness of either the clear lens or the dyed lenses. Just like the first clear BB-8 lens, it came out essentially perfect.
You can see in the UV photo that the dye didn't really mix evenly; there are little concentrations and cloudy areas here and there. That's at least partly because I put the dye in last, after the regular mixing and pouring of the clear parts. If I'd put it in early in the normal mix, it'd likely be more evenly distributed. Under normal light, the dyed BB-8 lenses look like somewhat more transparent/more glossy/less frosted versions of the dyed Treadwell lens.
Anyway, the UV stuff is just for fun, and if nothing else, it serves as practice for anything I want to cast for Halloween. And who knows? Perhaps someone might want to make the BB-series equivalent of R3-B0017...
At nearly 24 hours, the actual Treadwell lens was demolded. It came out a lot clearer than the previous attempt, but it still has blemishes here and there on the convex face, and everything in contact with the silicone is still sticky (as is the silicone mold). I think my epoxy-hardener ratio was slightly off in this batch and it's taking longer to cure. (Edit: After over 32 hours, it's still tacky, but slowly improving.)
Everything with the highlighter dye was exactly the opposite of the clear lens -- tacky on the planar face, thoroughly cured on the convex face. These parts were also less rigid than I expected at this stage. The BB-8 lenses were almost too flexible to demold, but I eventually got them all out intact. The dyed Treadwell lens was demolded easily, but had the consistency of a mildly warmed jolly rancher. I could've bent it entirely out of shape if I'd wanted to. I'm putting it in a lens retainer and letting it cure further there to keep it in shape.
Given that the tackiest part of the dyed Treadwell lens was a blemish on the planar face that released unmixed dye, my theory is that any highlighter dye near the surface is close enough to reach it before the resin sets, where the moisture tends to spread across the surface and affect curing. That doesn't happen with the clear parts, nor does it happen on the lower, convex surfaces.
Regardless, I took photos of my mad science:
The lines in the Yaley mold are the marks I made to indicate 3/4 inch diameter, and you can see I still managed to pour most of these too large. The non-glowing well on the upper right in the second photo is another clear BB-8 lens that I poured. It works as a control, and has none of the tackiness of either the clear lens or the dyed lenses. Just like the first clear BB-8 lens, it came out essentially perfect.
You can see in the UV photo that the dye didn't really mix evenly; there are little concentrations and cloudy areas here and there. That's at least partly because I put the dye in last, after the regular mixing and pouring of the clear parts. If I'd put it in early in the normal mix, it'd likely be more evenly distributed. Under normal light, the dyed BB-8 lenses look like somewhat more transparent/more glossy/less frosted versions of the dyed Treadwell lens.
Anyway, the UV stuff is just for fun, and if nothing else, it serves as practice for anything I want to cast for Halloween. And who knows? Perhaps someone might want to make the BB-series equivalent of R3-B0017...