How to harden resins ?

When considering using epoxy resin for the first time, it is essential to understand how epoxy resins work. Unlike paints, they are products whose hardening is all the more rapid as the thickness is important. The hardening of a resin will be all the more quickly as the layer is thick.

Conversely, drying, which is also called polymerization, can become extremely slow and problematic if the layer applied or poured is not thick enough. It is simply the "mass" effect that generates the heat emission effect, which accelerates the reaction between the catalyst and the resin.

The epoxy resin curing procedure

Many users have found themselves, without understanding why, with products mixed correctly, but which remain sticky and soft after 1 or 2 days of drying.
To obtain a fast reaction and a result of hardness impeccable, it is above all very important to carefully select the type of product that suits your project : you do not take a product reserved for very thick casting, to make a layer of 2 millimeters! It won't dry for at least a week...

Conversely, if you use a fast-curing epoxy resin to make a 5 or 10 cm casting, watch out for damage! Not to mention the danger and the risk of fire, the drying of the epoxy resin will create overheating, a rise in temperature, which can reach more than 250°C with the emission of smoke, blackening, and crackling! Therefore, to obtain a good hardening of epoxy resins, it is necessary to foresee all the parameters.

Exothermy or escape of heat

Our advice is to provide a minimum thickness to obtain rapid hardening and thus avoid leaks or drips.
For example, for an epoxy resin for varnishing and glazing, do not consider making layers less than 2 or 3 mm, and not to exceed 1 cm for wide castings, or 2 to 3 cm for vertical fillings (the heat can be evacuated on the sides). For casting resins, it is possible to work on thicknesses of 2 to 5 cm in one go, or up to 10 or 15 cm for vertical fillings.

Temperature conditions

As this is hardening by chemical reaction (it is not evaporation or cooking), the temperature of the room where you are working will play an important role in the drying time. Cold slows down, while hot speeds up molecular reactions.

How to make an epoxy resin floor ?
How to make and varnish fishing lures with epoxy resin
How to make a river table with epoxy resin ?
How to make fishing lures jewelry with epoxy resin ?