Ah, the psychological, emotional roller coaster that is ‘the resin cure’. You’ve poured your gloriously coloured masterpiece, and now it’s a waiting game … you wait … and wait … and wait, and wait some more.
It’s a journey, and as with all journeys there are the inevitable moments you’ll endure.
Denial .. ‘12 hours, totally done, no problems’
The manufacturer’s instructions say 24 to 48 hours for a full cure, but what do they know? You’re a special case, right? Maybe if you keep the room warm enough or give your best ‘Paddington Bear’ stare, it’ll be rock solid before you know it. You give it a gentle poke and ….you leave a fresh fingerprint as it’s still wet … damn you resin!
Desperation… ‘Maybe if I put a heater on it, it’ll cure faster?’
As the deadline to having your commission ready draws ever steadily closer, any/all logic officially leaves the building. Google becomes your best buddy as you maniacally start Googling ‘what to do to speed up resin curing’ … you plunge into the depths of some very questionable advice. Some genius suggests warming with a blowtorch, another swears by using a hot air gun …. maybe desperation is officially setting in.
Temper, temper … ‘why the f@*k is this taking so f@*king long!!’
The resin still looks wet. You glare at it, and are convinced it eyeballs you back. At this point, you blame absolutely everything, the weather, the humidity, the decision not to wear your lucky underpants. Your workshop becomes a no-go zone, a zone of profanity, a zone of tantrums that would put a 2-year old on a sugar rush to shame as you loudly declare that this epoxy resin sh*t is the worst stuff on the planet and by all that’s holy you will never use it again!
Despair … ‘This is my life now. Just me and this never-drying sticky pile of crap.’
You give up, it’s never gonna cure. You stop checking it every 10 minutes and resign yourself to the idea that this piece will never come out of the form. Maybe it’s time for a less stressful career – Extreme ironing? Shark wrestling? competitive duck herding?
Acceptance & Joy … ‘By the power of Grey Skull … it’s cured, it’s cured!!’
Then, one day, when you least expect it, you touch it and it’s hard (we’re talking about the resin people!). The resin has cured, it is solid, it is no longer a hot sticky mess (please, the minds of some people). You let out a squeal of delight, you do a victory dance, you run around doing your best Ruprecht impression, waving your arms and yelling ‘Oklahoma, Oklahoma!’ … and then you immediately start planning your next project, in a moment of pure rapture you completely forget all the pain you just went through. And just like that, the cycle begins again.
So, consider this your official warning: working with resin can be an emotional journey, but would I change it? Not a freaking chance! I’ve got so many more projects, many more days of chaos, and many more moments of absolute madness to look forward to.
The larger pieces such as the Serving/grazing boards or wall clocks can sometimes be the biggest cause of the emotional roller coaster – let me have your ideas and help take me one step closer to losing my marbles!!