Recent content by llmk

Today's activity: Cutting silicone "french fries" into tiny little cubes to reuse in the next molds.

At this point, I only have a soft core with the UV cured 1 part resin (that's why I switched to the 2 parts, to see if I can improve the ratio). I think that not only the more powder I put in, the more opaque the material becomes, therefore blocking more UV rays but the powder itself absorbs...

Finding out that perfect ratio is what I am most focused on right now. For the UV resin, with my setup and materials, it is somewhere between 25% and 30%. At 25% the rods seem perfectly cured, at 30% they are getting noticeably softer, past 30% the center of the rod remains gelatinous. For the 2...

I was half expecting the powder to settle down at the bottom but it didn't bother me for the exact reason you've stated. The first thing I did was to cut a couple of dots to see if they were cured at the bottom and they were so I guess it's all good. I'm a bit more bothered by the small air...

The result from yesterday's test batch, it's promising but I need to work on my injection method as many of the dots have a small air bubble down at the base. It's still a work in progress.

Yeah, I like the little trail, it makes demolding them much easier. The next few days will all be about learning to work with this epoxy and finding the saturation point, for sure. I think the epoxy is ok, it is advertised as food-safe (once cured, of course) BPA and VOC-free. It has no smell...

So, I've reached the limits of the UV resin, the glow powder was clearly interfering with the curing process the more I added so I had to change to a 2 parts epoxy and adapt my process. Today was the first test with the new epoxy: Now it's just a matter of waiting 24 hours to see the result...

I will update my progress for sure. Also, the list is a good idea. My second mold is curing right now. I should have enough silicone left to make a couple more. About the other shapes and even items, it is clearly a good idea but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Right now I am focused...

To be honest, I am thinking about it. I actually enjoy making them and I like the idea of making it a small business. But it's still a little bit early. If I am to start selling them, I want to make sure I can offer consistent high-quality products first. As a quick update (I'll go into more...

I do have one of those little lamps but mine is weak, it doesn't work great. The green powder I am using for the "good" dots (final testing before mounting) is made of larger particles and seems to be of much better quality. It charges very well from a simple desk lamp with a 13w warm white LED...

So that confirms what I was expecting. Also, you made me realize something. Up until now, I saw those "mushroom tops" as pure waste and I discarded them as soon as I removed the rods from the mold but now I understand that they can be used as applicators of sorts so I should probably keep them...

They are 3mm in diameter by 6mm in length, I think they are suited for just 1 dot per rod but I'm not sure. That's actually one of the things I want to test, to see how big a difference there is in the dot's luminosity according to their length. I would think a 5mm rod would emit more light and...

Using a needleless syringe to introduce the resin from the bottom of the mold. It's all about being slow and steady. By doing so, the bubbles just float to the surface and the dots come out very uniform in color and luminescence. I'm using UV resin. From my discussions with Bruce, I know that...

Hey guys, I decided this project should have its own thread seeing that it is moving in the right direction and I am getting pretty close to a functional final product. I started by making my own clear silicone mold. After a few failed attempts I managed to make something close to what I...

I still have a few more tests to do, but I think I am very close to the final product. I need to mount them in a real neck now to see how that goes.