Hackaday: Resin casting lets you produce parts that would be otherwise impossible to make without a full CNC and injection molding set-up. It costs about as much as a 3d printer, 300 to 600 US dollars, to get a good set-up going. This is for raw material, resin, dye, pressure chamber, and an optional vacuum degassing set-up.
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Well, I learned a bit about resin casting over the past day the hard way! The world is sending me a metamessage by having me come across this PTM article right now. Yesterday, I was using some polyester casting resin for a design project and I happened to inhale some of the toxic fumes during the process. I began to feel very lightheaded and disoriented after being exposed to the resin for about 10 minutes or so and called EMS just as a safety measure. They checked me out and said that I should go to the ER just to clear with Poison Control that I was alright. I did exactly that and I'm completely fine now but darn! I was not trying to go to the Emergency Room on the first Wednesday off I've had in a while. Anyway, I now know much better and understand more of the safety protocols that come with working with certain types of resin. I was using a polyester based resin and they carry highly toxic fumes that directly affect the central nervous system and can make you feel intoxicated. The types of resin that we used in the Props stagecraft mini are NOT polyester resins which I'm very glad about, ahha. If I'm correct, we used epoxy resins in Props and while those are double the price of polyester resins, they are the least smelly (especially cause we were using Smooth-On products). Lesson learned!
I love seeing the methods I learned to create things for the stage being used in other areas. I know people say nothing is built for the theatre, and that we take from other areas, but maybe something is finally being taken from us! How exciting. I learned this method during my pre college experience here with molding, and I was very impressed but I would have never thought to incorporate it in my life like this. It does seem a bit strange to buy pressure casting chamber, Platicine, and an electronic precision scale, but I suppose maybe this is cheaper than buying a whole new winter coat altogether. And of course over time these materials could pay for themselves. For me, I walk away from this article not confident I can fix all buttons and never have to buy a new coat again, but instead I have more of a mentality that work and life don’t have to be so separate. Sometimes it will pay off to incorporate the skills that I’m learning here into my real life, from home repairs, to stripped cables, to broken buttons. I need to start approaching some battles like a theatre technician and see how far I get.
I opened this article hoping that it would cover the safety procedures and precautions one should take when using resin. Unfortunately, I learned how to make spare buttons instead. Ever since Michele's accident, I've been more aware of the chemicals I am using in my projects. It's kind of terrifying how many dangerous products we use in our lives here. Rubber cement, Barge, MDF, spray paint, even solder. They all have the ability to harm us. Maybe we won't all pass out or have to call EMS after 10 minutes of work, but these chemicals have the potential to cause problems much later down the line. They can increase your risk for cancer, cause brain damage, or increase the risk of birth defects in your children. It's nice to know that I can fix a button on my favorite coat, or replicate a key for props. These are great skills to have, and sure, I can apply these skills to my outside life. I'm just going to be much more careful with my materials and how I use them than I was before. An until I know more, resin will remain on the list of materials to avoid using, and, when I use resin or similar materials, I will take every precaution possible. I imagine the spray booth and I will become great friends over the next 3 years.
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