Which resin to make jewelry?
UV LED resin and UV resin are resins that are cured by the action of UV (ultraviolet) rays. They are made up of a single liquid, ready to use, unlike the two-component epoxy resin which is made up of two liquids to be mixed. The curing time of UV resin and UV LED resin is a few minutes, whereas it can take up to 72 hours for two-component epoxy resin.
1. How to use UV resin or UV LED resin?
UV LED resin and UV resin are used with UV LED lamp and UV lamp respectively. They are the same kind of lamps that are used for semi-permanent nail polish.
UV LED resin can be cured by the light of UV LED lamp or UV lamp and sunlight. The curing time differs depending on the light source, the most optimal being the LED UV lamp for resin.
As for UV jewelry resin, it can cure with UV light from a lamp or sunlight, but will not work well with the UV LED lamp.
Please make sure that the lamp power is sufficient for each resin. For LED UV resin, it is best to use a6-10W LED UV lamp. A 36W UV lamp is more suitable for UV resin.
Curing time varies depending on the resin and the lamp used. But generally, it is about a few minutes, even ten minutes for UV resin.
Important clarification: The UV lamp or UV LED lamp will not make your two-component epoxy resin cure faster. On the contrary, you risk yellowing it, as it does not like UV light. UV resin and UV LED resin are different resins from two-component epoxy resin.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of UV resin and UV LED resin?
Advantages
- The main advantage is the extremely fast curing time. Epoxy resin takes 24 to 72 hours to cure, while UV resin and UV LED resin cure in a few minutes.
- They are also much easier to use because they are ready to use. There is no mixing required as opposed to two-component epoxy.
The disadvantages
- They are much more expensive than epoxy resin in terms of quantity/price.
- Theyshrink a lot in the mold.
- They cannot be used in molds that are too deep or too wide, because the resin will not cure at the same rate everywhere and this will create defects, such as waves. Worse, an unsuitable mold will prevent the resin from curing through.
- The mold must be transparent to let the light through.
These are resins designed for UV resin jewelry projects, not decorative projects such as a pot. These resins will allow you to create pendants with inclusions of dried flowers or small components in less than 10 minutes, where epoxy resin will take at least 4 days. Because the inclusions are made in a minimum of 2 pours to prevent the flower from floating on the surface.
Since a very small amount of resin is needed to make a piece of jewelry, the price will be less impactful on this type of project.
They also allow you to make projects that require a quick set like shakers, or to cover a polymer pendant quickly and without drips to protect it. You can also use it on a photo or fabric in the case of ring design.
3. Prepare your workspace for making resin
- For your safety, wear gloves, an organic gas mask or, failing that, even if the mask is preferable, ventilate your room, protective glasses. Unlike two-component epoxy kits, fast-curing UV resin and UV LED resin do not come with gloves, so consider buying some! Liquid resin can be irritating when in contact with the skin. However, once cured, it is no longer irritating.
- Keep young children and pets away.
- Remove jewelry and put on craft clothes.
- Protect your work surface with a silicone mat. You can remove resin from a surface with household alcohol. However, it is impossible to remove from a wooden table once it has hardened.
- Do not do this activity in the sunlight, but rather in the shade. Indeed, in case of great light, the resin will harden very quickly, even without a lamp.
4. Differences between UV resin, UV LED star drop, sun drop and moon drop
At the time of making this video, there are 1 type of UV curing resin and 3 types of UV LED curing resin (Star Drop, Sun Drop and Moon Drop) sold on our website. They have slight differences, more or less subtle. They are resins of the Japanese brand Padico, specialized in the creation and sale of products for creative hobbies.
- The Padico UV resin was the first to be available at Beads & Co. Its curing time is longer than the LED UV resin: 2 to 10 minutes. It is ideal if you have a non-LED UV lamp or if you want to cure slowly in the sun. In this case, it can take up to 1 hour anyway. It has excellent transparency.
- Star Drop is the most crystal clear and fastest curing Padico UV LED resin. However, it shrinks in the mold, which creates a concave effect on the edges of the mold. This makes it even less suitable for large molds.
- Sun Drop is the slowest curing Padico UV LED resin. It is a little less crystal clear, but it is less expensive than the other three resins.
- Padico Moon Drop UV LED resin overcomes the shrinkage problem of Star Drop, but it is a little slower to cure as well. It is also very crystal.
Personally, for a small pendant with dried flowers included, I recommend using the Star Drop. The Sun Drop will be perfect with UV LED resin dyes. Finally, the Moon Drop is suitable for creating large pendants or for making beads in molds.
How to avoid bubbles in your UV resin or UV LED resin?
First of all, avoid shaking your bottle.
If you are mixing colors, place your resin in the light-tight cases about 30 minutes before pouring it into your mold. These cases allow you to keep your UV resin and UV LED resin colored for several weeks.
During a live on our social networks where she was invited, the creator Oh la coquette advised you to place your bottle and your mold on an electric heating mat specially made to condition the resin. Another surface with a very soft heat can be used. For example, a hot water bottle.
The bubbles rise and explode with the heat. You can also pass the flame of a gas-lighter over the surface very quickly.
