Hello everyone!
After being tempted for ages by the lovely pieces I see at craft fairs, I have decided to try making resin jewellery for the first time. I did some research and bought an Epoxy resin kit, it says that after casting I need to make it at, and then keep it at, 25°C for 24 hours or it won’t work properly. My house is not that warm generally, it is around 20°C. I have an airing cupboard that gets warmer than that, but only when the boiler is on, which isn’t all the time. Would that be ok? Or is there some obvious trick I am missing out on? Any help or tips would be much appreciated. Thank you 
Hi,
Resin can be a tricky to get right and tempremental! Depending on the type and brand it will be a case of trial and error at first.
(Trust me - I have spent £££ on various resins and still end up with unusable pieces)
Room temp ‘could’ be okay to complete the curing process. Trial a few small pieces and see what happens. place them in different locations to find what works best.
General tips:
Utensils and mixing cups should be absolutely dry before use.
Buy more mixing and measuring cups than you think you need - Mix in one transfer to a clean cup for pouring. This takes out the risk of un mixed resins inhibiting curing.
Bubbles are the bane of resin casters! mix but dont beat!
It can be frustrating at first but well worth persevering with. Have fun with it.
I have one of those uv lamps for curing, only takes a minute and works well. Not got around to making to sell atm, apart from the faux water in my floral arrangements.
I work with resin a lot. I make another line of creative things not to do with glass.
It’s notoriously temperamental depending on which make you use. The best resin I’ve ever used so far is called Sig Wong resin from Amazon. It’s far less tricky than other resins and sets rock hard over night.
Get yourself a half or full face respirator…that’s vital as resin fumes are toxic, even the so called non toxic variety. Over time resin fumes damage the lungs. Always wear gloves.
For jewellery you probably won’t need it, but I often do deep pours so use a small fan to cool the resin as it sets. When resin gets too hot, it can volcano or separate away from your glass or mould. It behaves better if cooler.
I use plastic or paper cups for my mixing then I can just bin them. Plastic spatulas or sticks create less bubbles then wooden ones.
Thank you so much for all your replies, this is very helpful and much appreciated. @Caroleecrafts I don’t have a UV lamp, would a normal lamp work or should I invest in a proper one?
You can purchase UV torches, which is what I use when I use UV resin. You need a UV lamp or bulbs.
Thank you, I will look into that.