Okay! Whew!
My bracelets are out of the molds and I have sanded away a lot of the rough edges!
They are starting to look really great!
I now have a tip to share. It is really important to try not to overfill your molds...like I did in this picture. Sometimes it is unavoidable I know. These areas become a lot of work later when you have to sand them away.
My second big tip. If you really want to learn more about resin I highly recommend Sherri Haab's book/DVD. She does a great job showing you how to make bracelets!
Sherri taught me how to sand away your rough edges by using a series of fine sandpaper. I bought mine in the hardware store and used four different grades of sandpaper...from fine to extra fine. They came as a set. I also wet my sandpaper and worked in my laundry sink. This way I did not create any resin dust.
You can see that the areas I sanded are dull now.
My super fine sandpaper did an amazing job...but I still see some scratches.
Sherri uses carnauba wax as a final polish. I have already stared this and I can see it filling in all my fine lines. I need a little more time to finish polishing these pieces to perfection though. I'll make that step THREE. By the way, buying carnauba wax out of the standard car waxing season means no sale price. This big old can was $25! I couldn't find a small bottle or a smaller can.
Hand polishing will take a little time and some hand strength. I am coveting a machine to do this work for me. However, more than likely you don't have a machine...so I need to see if I can get this all shiny and polished with no tools. (If I was going to make bracelets all the time though...this type of a machine would be in my shopping cart.)
Labels: EasyCast, Jewelry, Molds
