Where is the magic these days? Not sure, but I do know that when a product is a magnet it is more versatile in it's potential placements, including cars and refrigerators. Also, carbon fiber, is a good stiffener and for making things thin that don't warp it may be the right solution for me. Together these things sound really cool, like the word Hemi or Matrix or Shazam! They may be all I need, but the fact is that I really need this stuff to complete my projects.
I put a magnetic photo fresco piece on a car and when I came out of the sun the tendency of the epoxy to curl in the sun was too much for the magnet and it was laying prostrate on the ground, humiliating me in public. I quickly picked the y-que?.com logo up off the ground and hid it in my car before anyone could see it. I've now gone back to the plastics place and purchased some additional carbon fiber and am trying to decide if two layers of one direction carbon fiber, laid perpendicular to each other, is enough to stiffen the 12" by 18" photo fresco I am working on. It feels stiff in the mold, but once I pop it out it is hard to put another layer on. I could consider this a test and let it fail like the magnet, but I also want this piece to survive and I am not sure if I can add more backing later once it curls, assuming it does.
The magnetic backing that I have been playing with is interesting in that if I can print on the coating or directly on the magnet itself, assuming it bonds successfully, then the magnet serves like a frame and allows a piece to be placed on a car or on a fridge without having to do any fancy framework. I've been working on getting the price of the magnet sheets down and it appears like I can compete with the price of regular stickers in larger volume. Shazam!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
My post, my comments - Can't trust responses
I post and I post on this board, exploring the ideas in my head about printing and permanence. It is a subject and quite possibly I don't want to know the real answers, I just want to write and post. Sometimes I think that I really want to know the answer to a question and think that if people actually read this blog then they may provide a response, like on other bulletin boards, that would answer my question or provide some valuable insight. I don't think so. I've dealt with moderating spam and it sucks like trying to clean out rust from an old car. Most responses on bulletin boards are spam and if I spend all of my time moderating then I might forget what I am writing about. I like the idea of knowing the right way to do stuff, but not so much that I want to waste my time reading a bunch of crap and deleting it before I can get back to what I want to do, which is to ramble on about nothing. If I thought somebody was reading this, then I wouldn't be able to write that above statement. This is like a bathroom wall in that you can post stuff on the internet, in plain site, and most likely nobody but robots will ever really read it.
Most interestingly, I have found that if I write about things, then ads will pop up that are relevant to the stuff I write about and often the ads that show up on my own pages will have products and solutions that I can choose to click on and find the answer to my own problems. It is like my brain is bringing in information from the outside and all I have to do is drop a few words, like refrigerator that also cooks food, or flying car with an 8 track tape player and then next thing you know is that an ad from amazon or ebay will have an item on my page, right in front of me, that shows that very product.
Most interestingly, I have found that if I write about things, then ads will pop up that are relevant to the stuff I write about and often the ads that show up on my own pages will have products and solutions that I can choose to click on and find the answer to my own problems. It is like my brain is bringing in information from the outside and all I have to do is drop a few words, like refrigerator that also cooks food, or flying car with an 8 track tape player and then next thing you know is that an ad from amazon or ebay will have an item on my page, right in front of me, that shows that very product.
Benefits of printing with epoxy
Now that I have condensed my project to simply the process of printing with epoxy, what does it mean and why is it relevant? I keep dwelling on this concept so that I can find a use for the work I have been doing for the last couple of years. I have been doing more research and I can see thousands of used for epoxy casting and an equivalent number of products on the market that allow people to do hi-tech projects like heat resistant epoxy and hi-strength epoxy. It's quite amazing how epoxy is used in rockets, automobiles and jets, especially in combination with other materials like carbon fiber. What this means to little ol' me is still a mystery. My latest project was to screen print a photographic image with black epoxy and fill around the design with epoxy filled with aluminum powder. I have now coated the back with another layer of epoxy and two layers of carbon fiber. Two layers is not a lot when it comes to carbon fiber, but I am trying to be a minimalist and see if the print can how it's shape. I could go a little further and add a layer of vinyl adhesive paper to the back, which helps with future applications, but would limit how the piece could be used in the future.
The first argument for this process would be the durability of the print itself. Most every other printing method that I know about is a coating, beside sculpting. Fresco plaster work is of course an imbedded pigment process and by virtue of this process frescoes have survived in buildings and walls for centuries compared to other printed and painted works on canvas, wood and metal. Plaster itself cannot however survive exposure to outside atmospheric changes and would quickly fail if exposed to water on and off for a period of time, so the frescoes that have survived have been done inside of buildings mostly. The idea of the embedded particle is what I have used from the fresco process while I have updated the materials to epoxies and metallic pigments that are readily available today. The durability of these epoxy frescos aka photo frescoes is from the embedded pigments and weather resistant epoxies.
Porcelain tiles and ceramic items also have proven that they can withstand the test of time given nobody drops a vase or breaks a tile. The high temperature firing of ceramics causes a chemical reaction of the glaze to crystallize on a microscopic level and the color is essentially an inert material inside the piece itself. I'm not an expert on ceramics, but the idea that ancient vases tell the stories of cultures past is as good of an example as I can provide. The fragility of ceramics is a problem that can't be overcome and the images that are put on ceramics are painted or placed on with thin layer or transfer paper, thus making them a coating or applique, not the piece itself. The design could not stand on it's own without the vase or tile carrier and at any moment a bull could come by and ruin the entire thing. I like the idea of the pigment embedded into the ceramic, but once again, for exterior use and extreme weathering you have to pick up the pieces to get something back after years of outside exposure. I propose that these epoxy pieces would be able to withstand impacts of many types, submersion and burial, yet have the original design able to be power washed and scrubbed back into existence.
Cements and mortars are also a good set of materials that I have experimented with and have had some success with. The molded results that I have gotten would withstand significant amounts of exposure. With cement I have mixed the pigments embedded into the cement while it is being set and even tried to print with cement. It could work on a very rough scale, buy the shrinkage of the materials and the final weight of the pieces make them difficult to handle. I can't get the same detail with cement as I can with epoxy. I've coated some cement items I've made with polyester resin and can make a rather thick-skinned panel with cement, but these panels are one wayward lacrosse ball toss away from breaking, unless you make them over 1-2" thick and then they are too heavy to use easily and too heavy to move around. Epoxy fresco prints or panels could be made as strong as cement, for practical purposes, and still be light enough to use. The materials definitely cost more for epoxies, but the thinness would offset some of the cost and a lighter piece requires less structure to hold it up, so theoretically epoxy panels could be a lower or equal cost depending on the final use of the materials.
Metal structures like cars that are painted with urethane paints and specialized coatings are a good example of a durable material in our everyday lives that could stand the test of exposure and be resilient. To find comparisons in the art world I would have to think about metal sculptures. Generally metal sculptures are made with the raw materials and are coated later with paint or materials that keep them from deteriorating. Which means that over time the exterior coatings are the determining factor for strength of the object. Painting on metals with enamel or epoxy isn't a bad idea, but I could also apply an epoxy fresco print, like a sticker, to the metal and get the same effect. The metal is the substrate and although it is durable itself, it usually provides the structure of a piece or is the art itself, regardless of the design that may or may not be painted on top. I like metal as a product for durability but the coatings that go on top of it would in fact be the design coating, unless I can print with hot metal, not even considering the weight factor. The epoxy fresco prints that I am making are using cold casting techniques that mix atomized metal particles into the epoxy which makes it a cold and wet version of printing with metals in a plastic form.
Molded objects are a superior form of encapsulating artistic designs into our world and jewelry is the best example of how objects can be made using inert materials that can last a long time. Gold and silver come from the ground to begin with so they have already proven their worth. Worth is the problem though with making jewelry and I can't even begin to imagine making a print with actual gold or silver. I can use particles in my pieces that resemble gold and silver, but in some ways it cheapens the pieces to imitate highly valuable materials. In a sense I look at my photo fresco epoxy pieces as large photographic pieces of jewelry, sort of like a shape on a necklace, but on a larger scale and of less expensive materials. I truly enjoy using some decorative metals in the epoxy like brass, copper and bronze, but due to the cost I have to limit the use of these metals until I know that it would be relevant to the pieces I am making. Currently I use mostly shiny aluminum to imitate the silver in a photographic print and iron oxide for the black. This is subject to change, but the basic idea of black and white photography can be duplicated with these two pigments. Jewelry will last as long as the material takes to break down and with the exception of exposure to uv rays, I think my photo fresco prints would also hold up as well as the pigments due.
Etching and plate photography is interesting, but the thickness of the printing layers is miniscule, although I imagine with some acids things could be made significantly deeper. Printing plates are not my field of expertise, but there is something to be said for the durability of scratches and etching on metal or rock since it would be the equivalent of an molded object, but in a strong durable surface.
The first argument for this process would be the durability of the print itself. Most every other printing method that I know about is a coating, beside sculpting. Fresco plaster work is of course an imbedded pigment process and by virtue of this process frescoes have survived in buildings and walls for centuries compared to other printed and painted works on canvas, wood and metal. Plaster itself cannot however survive exposure to outside atmospheric changes and would quickly fail if exposed to water on and off for a period of time, so the frescoes that have survived have been done inside of buildings mostly. The idea of the embedded particle is what I have used from the fresco process while I have updated the materials to epoxies and metallic pigments that are readily available today. The durability of these epoxy frescos aka photo frescoes is from the embedded pigments and weather resistant epoxies.
Porcelain tiles and ceramic items also have proven that they can withstand the test of time given nobody drops a vase or breaks a tile. The high temperature firing of ceramics causes a chemical reaction of the glaze to crystallize on a microscopic level and the color is essentially an inert material inside the piece itself. I'm not an expert on ceramics, but the idea that ancient vases tell the stories of cultures past is as good of an example as I can provide. The fragility of ceramics is a problem that can't be overcome and the images that are put on ceramics are painted or placed on with thin layer or transfer paper, thus making them a coating or applique, not the piece itself. The design could not stand on it's own without the vase or tile carrier and at any moment a bull could come by and ruin the entire thing. I like the idea of the pigment embedded into the ceramic, but once again, for exterior use and extreme weathering you have to pick up the pieces to get something back after years of outside exposure. I propose that these epoxy pieces would be able to withstand impacts of many types, submersion and burial, yet have the original design able to be power washed and scrubbed back into existence.
Cements and mortars are also a good set of materials that I have experimented with and have had some success with. The molded results that I have gotten would withstand significant amounts of exposure. With cement I have mixed the pigments embedded into the cement while it is being set and even tried to print with cement. It could work on a very rough scale, buy the shrinkage of the materials and the final weight of the pieces make them difficult to handle. I can't get the same detail with cement as I can with epoxy. I've coated some cement items I've made with polyester resin and can make a rather thick-skinned panel with cement, but these panels are one wayward lacrosse ball toss away from breaking, unless you make them over 1-2" thick and then they are too heavy to use easily and too heavy to move around. Epoxy fresco prints or panels could be made as strong as cement, for practical purposes, and still be light enough to use. The materials definitely cost more for epoxies, but the thinness would offset some of the cost and a lighter piece requires less structure to hold it up, so theoretically epoxy panels could be a lower or equal cost depending on the final use of the materials.
Metal structures like cars that are painted with urethane paints and specialized coatings are a good example of a durable material in our everyday lives that could stand the test of exposure and be resilient. To find comparisons in the art world I would have to think about metal sculptures. Generally metal sculptures are made with the raw materials and are coated later with paint or materials that keep them from deteriorating. Which means that over time the exterior coatings are the determining factor for strength of the object. Painting on metals with enamel or epoxy isn't a bad idea, but I could also apply an epoxy fresco print, like a sticker, to the metal and get the same effect. The metal is the substrate and although it is durable itself, it usually provides the structure of a piece or is the art itself, regardless of the design that may or may not be painted on top. I like metal as a product for durability but the coatings that go on top of it would in fact be the design coating, unless I can print with hot metal, not even considering the weight factor. The epoxy fresco prints that I am making are using cold casting techniques that mix atomized metal particles into the epoxy which makes it a cold and wet version of printing with metals in a plastic form.
Molded objects are a superior form of encapsulating artistic designs into our world and jewelry is the best example of how objects can be made using inert materials that can last a long time. Gold and silver come from the ground to begin with so they have already proven their worth. Worth is the problem though with making jewelry and I can't even begin to imagine making a print with actual gold or silver. I can use particles in my pieces that resemble gold and silver, but in some ways it cheapens the pieces to imitate highly valuable materials. In a sense I look at my photo fresco epoxy pieces as large photographic pieces of jewelry, sort of like a shape on a necklace, but on a larger scale and of less expensive materials. I truly enjoy using some decorative metals in the epoxy like brass, copper and bronze, but due to the cost I have to limit the use of these metals until I know that it would be relevant to the pieces I am making. Currently I use mostly shiny aluminum to imitate the silver in a photographic print and iron oxide for the black. This is subject to change, but the basic idea of black and white photography can be duplicated with these two pigments. Jewelry will last as long as the material takes to break down and with the exception of exposure to uv rays, I think my photo fresco prints would also hold up as well as the pigments due.
Etching and plate photography is interesting, but the thickness of the printing layers is miniscule, although I imagine with some acids things could be made significantly deeper. Printing plates are not my field of expertise, but there is something to be said for the durability of scratches and etching on metal or rock since it would be the equivalent of an molded object, but in a strong durable surface.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
There is no fresco like a photo fresco
That's right, a unique combination of printing and casting makes photo fresco a special breed of fresco. Today I patched a little here and I poked a little there, just enough so that I felt like I was moving ahead. I dropped a little carbon fiber behind the first truly epoxy photo fresco print with in order to stiffen it up so that it can be flat, light and straight. I checked my Mayan calendar print and it was astounding, beyond my wildest expectations. I mixed up a batch of bronze filled epoxy and laid a thick coat to the entire ring that I am hoping I can rough up and apply a little acid to it to make it patina. I may just put some silicon on it and make a mold, because that piece looks dope. I also test printed the brass epoxy mixture on some magnet sheets with no success. Finally I did a 3-color transfer print and created Slap Tags, a removable sticker that has a secondary use of being a transfer to clothing if so inclined.
Today was a hodge podge of projects including cleaning out a few screens and seeing if I could get some dried ink out and remove the emulsion. The results of that procedure were better than I thought. My next big job is to pull out some old artwork and create more designs for Slap Tags that can be made for an extremely cheap price, just transfer paper and ink. I can't find this one roll of transfer paper that I purchased, so that I can do larger format prints, but I have a bunch of 12" X 12" cut paper that works well. I also tried an epoxy print made on water slide decal paper and had given up on it working, then when I turned around it slid right off the backing. I put the piece on a magnet sheet, but I don't think the thickness of the epoxy is a good match for the water slide paper which deserves extremely thin mediums. I did get captivated by the wide range of magnet materials and am working on finding the best material for printing directly onto magnets for car emblems and magnet art. I learned that 30 mil is the minimum for applying to cars, less than that will blow off.
Today was a hodge podge of projects including cleaning out a few screens and seeing if I could get some dried ink out and remove the emulsion. The results of that procedure were better than I thought. My next big job is to pull out some old artwork and create more designs for Slap Tags that can be made for an extremely cheap price, just transfer paper and ink. I can't find this one roll of transfer paper that I purchased, so that I can do larger format prints, but I have a bunch of 12" X 12" cut paper that works well. I also tried an epoxy print made on water slide decal paper and had given up on it working, then when I turned around it slid right off the backing. I put the piece on a magnet sheet, but I don't think the thickness of the epoxy is a good match for the water slide paper which deserves extremely thin mediums. I did get captivated by the wide range of magnet materials and am working on finding the best material for printing directly onto magnets for car emblems and magnet art. I learned that 30 mil is the minimum for applying to cars, less than that will blow off.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Less is more
I chopped up some magnets from my patent pending technique of epoxy relief casting and I am still impressed. Delusions abound, but my feeling is that the thinness of my epoxy layer, the strength of the substrate, the easiness of the methods and the potential for complex design elements are not currently represented in other products on the market. I have to admit that if I had a laser cutter, etching equipment, rubber mold making skills or simply a lot of money, then I could create something better. I am sneezing a bunch when I am writing this so I must be stretching the truth. I am not a huge factory, but I can take a photographic image and manipulate it using basic screen printing and casting techniques to transform it into a relief. The relief is only a decorative element of the process, yet without the decorative elements I don't think I am interested in making these pieces.
The less is more concept says that lighter and tighter construction means less mass, but in the end, because there is less mass, then there is less need for stronger construction. A super-light plane does not require a large massive engine and the bigger the engine, then a larger wingspan is required, and so on. To get used to a lighter and tighter structure one would have to be inside it and feel the difference. I can only use sailboats as a comparable structure for how homes could be built with lighter and tighter materials. I love the water and being on a boat in the water is great, but I've also wanted to dig a hole in my backyard and bury a completely manufactured boat so that I could climb down in it and play fort. Would the resins and materials survive, or should the boat be coated with a fungus proof barrier coating before I bury it?
The less is more concept says that lighter and tighter construction means less mass, but in the end, because there is less mass, then there is less need for stronger construction. A super-light plane does not require a large massive engine and the bigger the engine, then a larger wingspan is required, and so on. To get used to a lighter and tighter structure one would have to be inside it and feel the difference. I can only use sailboats as a comparable structure for how homes could be built with lighter and tighter materials. I love the water and being on a boat in the water is great, but I've also wanted to dig a hole in my backyard and bury a completely manufactured boat so that I could climb down in it and play fort. Would the resins and materials survive, or should the boat be coated with a fungus proof barrier coating before I bury it?
Am I making any sense here? Whatever!
The circles of logic are so large that the world may as well be flat. Each time I think I have found a new horizon I am back where I started, but with a little more logic in my quest. The quest is currently revolving around screen printing and molding with epoxy versus some other materials. For years I have worked on different methods of making durable printed pieces that could be used or left outdoors and not deteriorate, assuming that we are heading for a great disaster and that all things will eventually end up buried. Much of my work started with plasters, cements and polyester resins that I printed either digitally or with screen printing. I have a bunch of old screens and am always trying to find a use for them, but as I keep needing new screens to experiment with my inventory of old screens just keeps growing. The most durable material that I have been working with, that is also the most frustrating material due to the time it takes to set up, is epoxy. I have gone full circle now and that instead of using epoxy as the method of supporting and bonding my other materials to each other I have been printing with epoxy and reducing my need for other materials, except for the mold making processes.
This being said I have to wonder what is the least I can get away with and every time I think I have reached a minimal amount of materials, I find that I can go thinner. Patience is not my virtue, but to get stronger thinner layers that are durable, I have to wait longer and let my prints and castings set properly, even as much as a week before I tear them out of their molds or cut them into different shapes. I am imagining a world of lightness and although I am not used to super thin veneers being the only thing between me and the world, there are some advantages including the economics.
How thick would I need to build an epoxy and carbon fiber shell to get the same strength that you get from a layer of 2 X 4 's and 3/8 inch plywood? Or if that is overkill, how about 1 X 2 inch frames with 1/4 inch plywood which would be the equivalent of some small boats I used to built as a young man in Sausalito? My fiberglass boat seems to be a good quarter inch or at least 3/16th inch thick. Assuming epoxy is stronger than polyester resin and carbon fiber is stronger than fiberglass then 1/32 to 1/16th of an inch thick would be an accomplishment. I have made a few epoxy resin pieces that seem to be less than 1/32nd of an inch and without any carbon fiber they seem pretty strong and decorative. I am thinking that if I combine a 2 thin veneers, two layers of carbon fiber and a printed layer of epoxy I can create a very strong surface with a water resistant exterior that might be as strong as a tortoise shell.
This hypothesis is still possibly more than I can chew since paying my bills and doing my day job is and should be the most important thing I work on. How then can I use these techniques and materials to build a better mousetrap, i.e. something I can actually sell that people need without redesigning the universe. Coffee mugs, trucker hats and t-shirts are my business, but this includes a rather large swath of other potential products that are kitschy and marketable from the angle of a fun gift. Why is epoxy better or useful as compared to the tried and proven techniques that already exist?
Machining cost are low with epoxy for one. Durability is a plus with epoxy. Availability of epoxy is relevant. Cost of epoxy is quite low.
This being said I have to wonder what is the least I can get away with and every time I think I have reached a minimal amount of materials, I find that I can go thinner. Patience is not my virtue, but to get stronger thinner layers that are durable, I have to wait longer and let my prints and castings set properly, even as much as a week before I tear them out of their molds or cut them into different shapes. I am imagining a world of lightness and although I am not used to super thin veneers being the only thing between me and the world, there are some advantages including the economics.
How thick would I need to build an epoxy and carbon fiber shell to get the same strength that you get from a layer of 2 X 4 's and 3/8 inch plywood? Or if that is overkill, how about 1 X 2 inch frames with 1/4 inch plywood which would be the equivalent of some small boats I used to built as a young man in Sausalito? My fiberglass boat seems to be a good quarter inch or at least 3/16th inch thick. Assuming epoxy is stronger than polyester resin and carbon fiber is stronger than fiberglass then 1/32 to 1/16th of an inch thick would be an accomplishment. I have made a few epoxy resin pieces that seem to be less than 1/32nd of an inch and without any carbon fiber they seem pretty strong and decorative. I am thinking that if I combine a 2 thin veneers, two layers of carbon fiber and a printed layer of epoxy I can create a very strong surface with a water resistant exterior that might be as strong as a tortoise shell.
This hypothesis is still possibly more than I can chew since paying my bills and doing my day job is and should be the most important thing I work on. How then can I use these techniques and materials to build a better mousetrap, i.e. something I can actually sell that people need without redesigning the universe. Coffee mugs, trucker hats and t-shirts are my business, but this includes a rather large swath of other potential products that are kitschy and marketable from the angle of a fun gift. Why is epoxy better or useful as compared to the tried and proven techniques that already exist?
Machining cost are low with epoxy for one. Durability is a plus with epoxy. Availability of epoxy is relevant. Cost of epoxy is quite low.
Vinyl Shingles and Epoxy versus Polyester Resin
The closest thing I found to epoxy shingles was vinyl shingles that were formed like cedar shingles. The grooves were similar to what I was thinking in terms of creating lines for water to run down. In doing some research about epoxy versus polyester the main points were that epoxy absorbs less water than polyester resins when it comes to long term submersion. The cost of the epoxy is significantly more than the polyester resins and it seems that most boats are initially made out of polyester resin versus epoxy resin for that reason. In thinking about vinyl shingles I can see that it would be a more affordable version of the epoxy and since the structural strength of the shingles is not important the use of epoxy shingles may be a bit overboard, literally.
I still find myself thinking about how I would use epoxy and as a medium it is mentioned in all types of high tech construction methods from jets to boat hulls, albeit with the simultaneous use of special core materials, carbon fibers and other strengthening materials including wood. One factor in my ideal project would be that the frames may in fact be the shingle and the structure itself, which will call for a stronger material than vinyl. Vinyl is very resistant to weathering because water does not seem to bother it, but long term exposure to uv may break it down more than epoxy. All materials benefit from a coating of some sort, but I am still imagining a construction method that does not need anything more than what the structure is made out of.
I went into my backyard and picked up prior experiments with frame shingles and epoxy layers that I had made then left out to weather. Some hardened to be stiffer than I thought they should be and were subject to cracking. It appears that if a thin layer of epoxy is applied properly it would provide a great barrier to weather by itself and with as thin a covering as possible. The best feature of my curved framed wall is that I can pick it up myself and move it around to use it somewhere else to block wind and if the frames had an epoxy sheeting on them I don't think it would add as much weight as if I covered the structure with wood. Most of the strength in the structure is from the frames that I have attached to each other, so the wood is a benefit for strength, but not a requirement.
Today I did my most accurate print with epoxy yet. I mixed an iron oxide black pigment into a 2-1 clear epoxy with some filler until I had a very dry feeling paste. I wasn't sure it would print, but I got it to go through a 110 mesh screen and printed on a suspended layer until I built up a print that looked like 1/32nd to 1/16th of an inch thick. The print was the cleanest I have made so far and a line thickness that is about the same 1/32nd on an inch seems to be about the right thickness for printing. My big question is whether or not the suspended print can hold it's shape will drying and if there is too much pigment in the material that it may weaken the epoxy itself. There would be an additional layer of epoxy around this print once it dries, so the idea of the material holding it's shape is the the more important test.
I made some epoxy prints the other day that I let dry longer than I usually do and they held their shape much better than my previous experiments had. I can only assume that if I put a layer of carbon fiber or fiberglass behind these printed layers that I will get a stiff surface that will be even stronger in the sense of holding it's shape under varying conditions of heat and cold. My next job is going to be researching the benefits of printing with epoxy and if it is commonly done. Enamel is a common printing material, but I haven't researched epoxy printing yet.
I still find myself thinking about how I would use epoxy and as a medium it is mentioned in all types of high tech construction methods from jets to boat hulls, albeit with the simultaneous use of special core materials, carbon fibers and other strengthening materials including wood. One factor in my ideal project would be that the frames may in fact be the shingle and the structure itself, which will call for a stronger material than vinyl. Vinyl is very resistant to weathering because water does not seem to bother it, but long term exposure to uv may break it down more than epoxy. All materials benefit from a coating of some sort, but I am still imagining a construction method that does not need anything more than what the structure is made out of.
I went into my backyard and picked up prior experiments with frame shingles and epoxy layers that I had made then left out to weather. Some hardened to be stiffer than I thought they should be and were subject to cracking. It appears that if a thin layer of epoxy is applied properly it would provide a great barrier to weather by itself and with as thin a covering as possible. The best feature of my curved framed wall is that I can pick it up myself and move it around to use it somewhere else to block wind and if the frames had an epoxy sheeting on them I don't think it would add as much weight as if I covered the structure with wood. Most of the strength in the structure is from the frames that I have attached to each other, so the wood is a benefit for strength, but not a requirement.
Today I did my most accurate print with epoxy yet. I mixed an iron oxide black pigment into a 2-1 clear epoxy with some filler until I had a very dry feeling paste. I wasn't sure it would print, but I got it to go through a 110 mesh screen and printed on a suspended layer until I built up a print that looked like 1/32nd to 1/16th of an inch thick. The print was the cleanest I have made so far and a line thickness that is about the same 1/32nd on an inch seems to be about the right thickness for printing. My big question is whether or not the suspended print can hold it's shape will drying and if there is too much pigment in the material that it may weaken the epoxy itself. There would be an additional layer of epoxy around this print once it dries, so the idea of the material holding it's shape is the the more important test.
I made some epoxy prints the other day that I let dry longer than I usually do and they held their shape much better than my previous experiments had. I can only assume that if I put a layer of carbon fiber or fiberglass behind these printed layers that I will get a stiff surface that will be even stronger in the sense of holding it's shape under varying conditions of heat and cold. My next job is going to be researching the benefits of printing with epoxy and if it is commonly done. Enamel is a common printing material, but I haven't researched epoxy printing yet.
Shingles are the Shit! $8/sq foot
I took a quick scan of the internet and did not find epoxy shingles, or even very much on epoxy tiles, although there is a lot on epoxy coatings and epoxy grout. Even some epoxy stickers, which I will have to go back and investigate later. The shingle thing isn't really done yet, from what I can tell. I went ahead and registered epoxyshingle and epoxyshingles.com, just to log in the idea on the internet in an unofficial time stamp sort of way. The other revelation is that shingles cost between $5 and $10 per square foot to purchase, which may include the overlapping surface area, but I am not sure. Assuming my basic cost on epoxy is $0.50 per ounce, not counting pigments or labor, then I can make a square foot of epoxy shingle for about 12 ounces of material, more or less. The economy of scale could bring this down a bit, but the pricing model is in the ballpark for my materials cost and potentially even competitive. Whereas competing with the price of plywood with epoxy is almost impossible, especially on the economy of scale.
The goal now is to think of a shingle type of design that I can make that could possibly be used on a small scale as a decoration and potentially on a larger scale as a functional protective covering for a house or boat. I like the idea of a shingle in that if you have a frame or surface that you want to seal you could use epoxy and bond them as a strong flexible exterior and make a homogenous structure where the shingles are permanently sealed against the surface and sealed to each other. Most other materials would have to use a different material or mechanical bonds to make them connect and all of those could weaken over time quicker than the bonds of epoxy on epoxy would break down.
I was wrong about the price of shingles, the $8/sq foot might be the price installed, or the price of a square, which may be 10' X 10' for a square. The average lifespan is 25 to 30 years for an asphalt shingle system and I have no idea how to test what the lifespan would be for an epoxy shingle. I'll look into how long epoxy coatings will last see what that uncovers.
The goal now is to think of a shingle type of design that I can make that could possibly be used on a small scale as a decoration and potentially on a larger scale as a functional protective covering for a house or boat. I like the idea of a shingle in that if you have a frame or surface that you want to seal you could use epoxy and bond them as a strong flexible exterior and make a homogenous structure where the shingles are permanently sealed against the surface and sealed to each other. Most other materials would have to use a different material or mechanical bonds to make them connect and all of those could weaken over time quicker than the bonds of epoxy on epoxy would break down.
I was wrong about the price of shingles, the $8/sq foot might be the price installed, or the price of a square, which may be 10' X 10' for a square. The average lifespan is 25 to 30 years for an asphalt shingle system and I have no idea how to test what the lifespan would be for an epoxy shingle. I'll look into how long epoxy coatings will last see what that uncovers.
Epoxy Shingles and Tiles - Solution or bigger problem?
The frames I have been making with epoxy designs are easily used as large tiles. I have made some small tiles, but their usefulness isn't obvious besides for decorative coasters. The car emblems that I have made are also like small tiles and are very versatile in that they can moved around on a metal surface. I just gave my son a bag of those so that he could cover his car with them and I can't wait until I see what happens with them. Epoxy tiles are not a bad idea, but if you tried to seal a surface with them it would get down to the seams and how well the seams are packed with some type of good that could weaken or support the entire surface.
My latest experiments with printing epoxy has resulted in printed skins, or gels of epoxy with a design in them. If I rethink the layout of these epoxy gels, I can easily see how I could make them into shingles and even decorative shingles. The difference of a shingle versus a tile is the way they are applied and a shingle has an overlapping design that keeps moisture from getting under the surface by simply layering the shingles. The thinness of the shingle is what allows this to work, although there are the Spanish style roofs that use large curved clay shingles as a sort of drainage system on a roof. These types of roofs look great, but they also look heavy and potentially fragile if you didn't know how to walk on them. In fact the drainage system that the overlapping Spanish style shingles create could be imitated in a micro-scale with epoxy shingles, sort of like a lenticular design of hills and valleys molded into the shingles themselves.
Would the flexibility of using epoxy shingles, that could even be mounted to plywood permanently with an epoxy coating, be a good solution to making an exterior shell on a structure that would keep water out?
My latest experiments with printing epoxy has resulted in printed skins, or gels of epoxy with a design in them. If I rethink the layout of these epoxy gels, I can easily see how I could make them into shingles and even decorative shingles. The difference of a shingle versus a tile is the way they are applied and a shingle has an overlapping design that keeps moisture from getting under the surface by simply layering the shingles. The thinness of the shingle is what allows this to work, although there are the Spanish style roofs that use large curved clay shingles as a sort of drainage system on a roof. These types of roofs look great, but they also look heavy and potentially fragile if you didn't know how to walk on them. In fact the drainage system that the overlapping Spanish style shingles create could be imitated in a micro-scale with epoxy shingles, sort of like a lenticular design of hills and valleys molded into the shingles themselves.
Would the flexibility of using epoxy shingles, that could even be mounted to plywood permanently with an epoxy coating, be a good solution to making an exterior shell on a structure that would keep water out?
Screen Printing with Epoxy - Achieved
I have recently up my skills on screen printing with 2-part epoxy, including cleaning out my screens for reuse. Now that the challenge is over I need to evaluate the practicality and usefulness of this skill and the use of epoxy as a medium. I like the potential durability of epoxy and my evaluation of where the strength comes from may be the ability of the material to shrink and expand, or stretch, without breaking. Also the long set times allow it to seep into tight spaces and form intricate bonds with the surfaces that it is applied to. As an exterior coating I keep questioning the practicality because it does seem to shrink and expand a lot, as well as, absorb the heat from exposure to the sun. This would make epoxy a hot material to step on or touch in bright sunshine and although it can be reinforced for strength, why should I expose epoxy to severe changes unless there is a definite advantage besides weight.
The advantage of epoxy may be it's ability to resist absorption of water, like polyester resins. Although wood can be coated with paints, depending on the paint it may absorb water. Cements may have this same issue, so the coating on porous materials is what will save them the problem of having water inside their composition and the coating of an object is where bonding issues with different materials are compounded. Other materials to consider are aluminum, steel, glass and acrylics. Still everything has some problem if there is any economy included in the process a piece of wood with a frame is probably the most accommodating type of materials to build something with. Cement is cheap, but the weight of the materials just multiply a new set of problems and shrinkage in cement is always an issue. Glass breaks, steel rust. Aluminum is a good material, lightweight, but by itself it needs to be connected and the connections are where I have a problem, especially on the surface with glues. Still aluminum at the top surface is a good material, but it is best used as the frame in my view. Wood can rot, but if it is sealed then it has the best bang for your buck.
In trying to compete with wood as a material for building, I have been drawn more and more to epoxy. I like that I can imitate a lot of the characteristics of wood, literally down to molding in the grain and coloring with epoxy. My most successful structure so far is a combination of aluminum frames with plywood covering that held the structure together. I used the wood on the exterior and now that I can screen print designs with epoxy I am trying to consider if I should make a structure out of printed screens, or simply print with epoxy onto the wood. The decorative elements of printing on the wood could be loss on the interior of a structure, unless you are inside, but the exposure of printing on the exterior with epoxy will wear down the design element for no real reason. A combination of these techniques may need to be explored.
Currently I am looking for a paste like epoxy that may be easier to print with. I've been mixing my own epoxy and the large amount of pigments that I have to add to my epoxy to make it thick enough to print with is a bit of a pain. However, I like the final texture and the graininess that the final product has, versus some specialized printing epoxies that I have tried that are too gel like and rubbery.
The advantage of epoxy may be it's ability to resist absorption of water, like polyester resins. Although wood can be coated with paints, depending on the paint it may absorb water. Cements may have this same issue, so the coating on porous materials is what will save them the problem of having water inside their composition and the coating of an object is where bonding issues with different materials are compounded. Other materials to consider are aluminum, steel, glass and acrylics. Still everything has some problem if there is any economy included in the process a piece of wood with a frame is probably the most accommodating type of materials to build something with. Cement is cheap, but the weight of the materials just multiply a new set of problems and shrinkage in cement is always an issue. Glass breaks, steel rust. Aluminum is a good material, lightweight, but by itself it needs to be connected and the connections are where I have a problem, especially on the surface with glues. Still aluminum at the top surface is a good material, but it is best used as the frame in my view. Wood can rot, but if it is sealed then it has the best bang for your buck.
In trying to compete with wood as a material for building, I have been drawn more and more to epoxy. I like that I can imitate a lot of the characteristics of wood, literally down to molding in the grain and coloring with epoxy. My most successful structure so far is a combination of aluminum frames with plywood covering that held the structure together. I used the wood on the exterior and now that I can screen print designs with epoxy I am trying to consider if I should make a structure out of printed screens, or simply print with epoxy onto the wood. The decorative elements of printing on the wood could be loss on the interior of a structure, unless you are inside, but the exposure of printing on the exterior with epoxy will wear down the design element for no real reason. A combination of these techniques may need to be explored.
Currently I am looking for a paste like epoxy that may be easier to print with. I've been mixing my own epoxy and the large amount of pigments that I have to add to my epoxy to make it thick enough to print with is a bit of a pain. However, I like the final texture and the graininess that the final product has, versus some specialized printing epoxies that I have tried that are too gel like and rubbery.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Setting Epoxy is like Babysitting
Epoxy has become my material of choice for a variety of reasons previously discussed, but every time I try epoxy on something new I end up with a drawn out process that feels more like babysitting than manufacturing. I recently coated some coffee mugs with a like covering of epoxy on the exterior to cover a decal that I had placed on the front of the mug. Everything looked good at first, but every hour I had to get up and make sure that the epoxy wasn't dripping. It's taken 12 hours of back and forth to get these coffee mugs almost dry, but I am exhausted at the end of this and even if it works I won't be encouraged to use this method without setting up a complete system to handle the drying of the epoxy. There are better ways to make coffee mugs, but I like the idea of a sloppily painted on epoxy coating that will yellow over time versus the clean professionally made high quality dishwasher safe mugs that you see in Starbucks and such. More crafty, more better.
Same thing goes with some other prints that I have done trying to merge epoxy with acrylic or vinyl, the uneven surface from using water based materials on paper make it difficult for the epoxy to spread smoothly and I keep having to build up the surfaces with more and more epoxy to get a smooth surface. I have gotten in the habit of just letting the stuff settle and coming back the next day to see if it has turned into a monster or a flower, sort of like locking the kid you are babysitting in the room and just peeking in later to see if the child has gone to sleep.
The successes that I have achieved keep bringing me back to the table with a wider range of products that I had last week, but I am still not confident I could sell them professionally. Like I said, more craft than quality for now. Coffee Mugs are back, window decals might work, regular stickers and water slide decals that would be fun for seven day candle designs, as well as, the punk rock magnetic and sticker lettering that can be used to spell out stuff on your refrigerator or car. It doesn't sound like much, but that's how I make my money and the more stuff I can make then the less stuff I have to buy from others for my retail store. It's a sign of the times when I can't stock my shelves with merchandise from other vendors, because most of it is carried by every other cool store on earth.
I used to do trade shows and sell to a larger market, like the Gift Shows and the clothing trade shows like Magic and Action Sports Retailers. The cost of exhibiting was huge and the time it took to haul shit back and forth to Vegas, New York, France and even Japan was a risk that seemed like it was worth it and it possibly was. Then I got tired of driving and the shows seemed like a repeat of each other, so I stopped that type of business and went more towards retail with my Los Angeles store called Y-Que Trading Post. Things have been up and down over the years and there is no guarantee that the retail gift store can survive, especially if I only sell the same things that other stores sell. This is where making goofy things comes in handy in order to have some merchandise that is unique. Unique may not pay the rent, but eventually one of these items that I am working on will kick in enough sales to make it worth the while of staying up all night and watching epoxy set.
Same thing goes with some other prints that I have done trying to merge epoxy with acrylic or vinyl, the uneven surface from using water based materials on paper make it difficult for the epoxy to spread smoothly and I keep having to build up the surfaces with more and more epoxy to get a smooth surface. I have gotten in the habit of just letting the stuff settle and coming back the next day to see if it has turned into a monster or a flower, sort of like locking the kid you are babysitting in the room and just peeking in later to see if the child has gone to sleep.
The successes that I have achieved keep bringing me back to the table with a wider range of products that I had last week, but I am still not confident I could sell them professionally. Like I said, more craft than quality for now. Coffee Mugs are back, window decals might work, regular stickers and water slide decals that would be fun for seven day candle designs, as well as, the punk rock magnetic and sticker lettering that can be used to spell out stuff on your refrigerator or car. It doesn't sound like much, but that's how I make my money and the more stuff I can make then the less stuff I have to buy from others for my retail store. It's a sign of the times when I can't stock my shelves with merchandise from other vendors, because most of it is carried by every other cool store on earth.
I used to do trade shows and sell to a larger market, like the Gift Shows and the clothing trade shows like Magic and Action Sports Retailers. The cost of exhibiting was huge and the time it took to haul shit back and forth to Vegas, New York, France and even Japan was a risk that seemed like it was worth it and it possibly was. Then I got tired of driving and the shows seemed like a repeat of each other, so I stopped that type of business and went more towards retail with my Los Angeles store called Y-Que Trading Post. Things have been up and down over the years and there is no guarantee that the retail gift store can survive, especially if I only sell the same things that other stores sell. This is where making goofy things comes in handy in order to have some merchandise that is unique. Unique may not pay the rent, but eventually one of these items that I am working on will kick in enough sales to make it worth the while of staying up all night and watching epoxy set.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Never finishing my experiments allows me to keep testing
over and over I go with thinner and lighter ways to use the same materials. I am back to using water slide decal paper with epoxy and enamel and I am pretty happy with the results. I've put a couple of decals on the back of my car and am waiting to see how long they last. I've already lost one, so I am not encouraged by the epoxy decals since they may bend too much to keep a bond long enough for the glue on the back of the decal paper to dry, but I am not giving up. I did a couple of experiments using ink jet paper and color designs until I got one of those to work and I put it on a coffee cup to see how long that will last. Also some plastisol prints show promise, but I am not sure the glue will work with the vinyl based inks; time will tell how long the punk rock lettering will last.
My best success came from a thin print with a combination of acrylic and epoxy that I stuck on my window and it held great. I was even able to roll down the window and the decal did not come off and I didn't have to use any glue. It just stuck to the window and held on and is removable like those clingy type decals, but even thinner. The cool thing about the image is that it has two colors and you can see the image on both sides, which is different than most clear decals that I've seen.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Making Epoxy Veneers - Lightweight, printable and transferable to other surfaces
Over the past month I have progressed back into printing and bonding thin printed layers to epoxy and then using the epoxy as an applique or veneer, I have then been applying it to other items like canvas and magnet sheets. The assortment of products that I have made are mostly simple stuff like refrigerator magnets and stickers for cars. Some of these have a relief or raised surface and I have achieved two color printing in such a way that I can pop the pieces out of the molds and just attach a magnet or sticker to the back with epoxy. Cutting the finished pieces for my sheet made items is the bitch of the job, but otherwise I've gotten pretty good resolution and decent quality finishes that can be varied between glossy and matte. I've done a lot of testing with urethane, but it does not seem to have the same wide range of applications as epoxy in that it is hard to bond anything to the urethane and continue the layering process.
My recent discovery in the process of gentrifying my substrates was to start using canvas again and coating canvas with epoxy then applying a sticky back to the canvas so that I could attach things to the top surface of the canvas and already have the adhesive backing on the canvas for attaching to a magnet or for just using as a sticker. This brought patches back into the mix as another product, but still the broader use of canvas as a material for covering things made me think of the bigger picture and other uses for epoxy coated canvas as in boat construction and or wall coverings.
The events of last year brought major disasters to my backyard with walls strewn about and brick fresco panels warped and bent due to the effects of weathering, puddling and general climatic changes over winter. What gets me with this is that the failures and successes of weathering always point to the next stage of development for where I should go. The lightweight curved roof out of screens was a good concept and have been able to be moved around and used as portable walls. The brick panels warped but many of them did not crack and thus it made me think of a plasticized concrete or epoxized plaster. The benefit of this is that it would not transmit heat in the same way that epoxy does and may keep heat from permeating a surface. The abstract shapes that were developed in the previously flat materials were like turtle shells with inverted concaves and smooth warping in random directions. I love these effects, but can only think about ways to keep that from happening since I can't control the warping directions, however, the idea that the plaster and otherwise solid materials can stretch and warp is a great one, albeit useless in practical terms.
I know I can have a use for this, but my epoxy veneers have me thinking I can solve the warping problem without adding thicker and heavier layers, which is the obvious method for stopping the warping. Sure I could add a little carbon fiber or fiberglass and strengthen the backside, but at a cost of materials and complexity. Who needs that type of work anyway? Not me, that's for sure. I just want stuff that just sets and stays that way without any fancy footwork. Epoxy veneers will do the trick, I think. If I apply an epoxy veneer to the surface of a screen, instead of setting it in a mold, then the screen and the epoxy can work to deflect any weathering from the exterior, which additional layers can be adhered to the epoxy on the inside as needed, with canvas or plaster being used to create a warmth or to inhibit the flow of heat to the interior. Epoxy can be sealed on seams and thickened with each layer accepting another layer of the same material. Epoxy and epoxy veneers are a useful tool for building a thin, durable and potentially stable structure that can be merged into other materials that will allow them to move and stretch with variable weather and extreme conditions of hot and cold. Also UV resistance can be built in by the pigmentation of the epoxy when casting which keeps the exposed layers from breaking down with exposure to the sun and uv rays.
My recent discovery in the process of gentrifying my substrates was to start using canvas again and coating canvas with epoxy then applying a sticky back to the canvas so that I could attach things to the top surface of the canvas and already have the adhesive backing on the canvas for attaching to a magnet or for just using as a sticker. This brought patches back into the mix as another product, but still the broader use of canvas as a material for covering things made me think of the bigger picture and other uses for epoxy coated canvas as in boat construction and or wall coverings.
The events of last year brought major disasters to my backyard with walls strewn about and brick fresco panels warped and bent due to the effects of weathering, puddling and general climatic changes over winter. What gets me with this is that the failures and successes of weathering always point to the next stage of development for where I should go. The lightweight curved roof out of screens was a good concept and have been able to be moved around and used as portable walls. The brick panels warped but many of them did not crack and thus it made me think of a plasticized concrete or epoxized plaster. The benefit of this is that it would not transmit heat in the same way that epoxy does and may keep heat from permeating a surface. The abstract shapes that were developed in the previously flat materials were like turtle shells with inverted concaves and smooth warping in random directions. I love these effects, but can only think about ways to keep that from happening since I can't control the warping directions, however, the idea that the plaster and otherwise solid materials can stretch and warp is a great one, albeit useless in practical terms.
I know I can have a use for this, but my epoxy veneers have me thinking I can solve the warping problem without adding thicker and heavier layers, which is the obvious method for stopping the warping. Sure I could add a little carbon fiber or fiberglass and strengthen the backside, but at a cost of materials and complexity. Who needs that type of work anyway? Not me, that's for sure. I just want stuff that just sets and stays that way without any fancy footwork. Epoxy veneers will do the trick, I think. If I apply an epoxy veneer to the surface of a screen, instead of setting it in a mold, then the screen and the epoxy can work to deflect any weathering from the exterior, which additional layers can be adhered to the epoxy on the inside as needed, with canvas or plaster being used to create a warmth or to inhibit the flow of heat to the interior. Epoxy can be sealed on seams and thickened with each layer accepting another layer of the same material. Epoxy and epoxy veneers are a useful tool for building a thin, durable and potentially stable structure that can be merged into other materials that will allow them to move and stretch with variable weather and extreme conditions of hot and cold. Also UV resistance can be built in by the pigmentation of the epoxy when casting which keeps the exposed layers from breaking down with exposure to the sun and uv rays.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)