Coloured Epoxy

[stevehertz]

At last (?) coloured Epoxy that will enable/ease the repair to bakelite and certain plastic cabinets and parts. Dozens of colours. I haven't tried any yet but I intend to. Terra Brown, Jet Black and perhaps Ivory look likely candidates for many different makes and models of Bakelite sets. Plus you can mix them.

https://www.epodex.com/en/product/ep...QaArPDEALw_wcB

[Vintage_RC]

In the past I have successfully coloured ordinary epoxy with spirit based wood stain.

[Lloyd 1985]

Very interesting! I might have to get some to experiment with, the hardest part will be recreating the swirls in walnut / brown, plain brown and black are nice and easy, I've used Polycraft fire retardant potting compound to make black knobs, made some for my A22 which came out really well, I just failed at getting the hole central... My next trials will be filling a hole in the A22, making a replacement knob for the U76 Consort, and some knobs for a Murphy A100.

Regards,
Lloyd

[McMurdo]

when i was a trainee we used to colour araldite (or humbrol equivalent) with artist's epoxy paint, came in little tubes like toothpaste. Didn't affect cure time.

[stevehertz]

I have ordered some in Terra Brown, plus an extra jar of Jet Black pigment paste to mix with it to either darken it if fully mixed in, or part mixed to obtain swirls. I'll report back in due course.

[Uncle Bulgaria]

I've just cast some knobs using unbranded poster paint powdered pigment. My brother said he'd got it for colouring epoxy for which it had been fine, only needing thorough mixing to ensure the particles were well spread. It can be beneficial when mixing two clear substances to pigment one first so as to have some idea of when mixing is complete! I'll report back when the knobs have cured...

[kellys_eye]

Get some printer toner - CMYK - and use the 'tables' to get the ratio of colours to the final result. You can even get white toner - if you don't mind the price.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bulgaria

I've just cast some knobs using unbranded poster paint powdered pigment. My brother said he'd got it for colouring epoxy for which it had been fine, only needing thorough mixing to ensure the particles were well spread. It can be beneficial when mixing two clear substances to pigment one first so as to have some idea of when mixing is complete! I'll report back when the knobs have cured...

What brand epoxy did you use?

[stevehertz]

The kit has arrived. Epoxy, to be mixed with half by weight of hardener, plus two pots of pigment paste, Jet Black and Terra Brown. I'm hoping for better results than Araldite due this stuff's ability to be poured easier. It also says to prime surfaces first with a thin layer of epoxy. We'll see.

[Kentode]

I'm reading this with great interest Steve, as I've got a long standing repair that I keep putting off!

It might be worth a practice run before an actual repair to see if there is any darkening/ lightening of the mix as it cures, as I've experienced with painting Rexine.

Good luck with it.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Kentode

I'm reading this with great interest Steve, as I've got a long standing repair that I keep putting off!

It might be worth a practice run before an actual repair to see if there is any darkening/ lightening of the mix as it cures, as I've experienced with painting Rexine.

Good luck with it.

For sure I'll mix some up in brown and add a bit of black 'swirled' in and see what it looks like for tone compared to the job(s) in hand. I'm not expecting a 'perfect' match, a good honest repair is what I'm looking for. But I can experiment with adding black to adjust the base tone, as well as adding it sporadically afterwards to obtain swirl.

[Uncle Bulgaria]

Here's a result from my efforts above, using '"Glass Cast 10" with black poster paint powder added until it 'looked enough'. The part on the right is the original in each picture. The centre is a different colour because it's been skimmed with some car filler for creating the mould.

It's turned out very well, except for a lack of fill causing part of the skirt to be missing. Try number two is currently setting, where I made sure to fill it in rather more...

[emeritus]

I have coloured Araldite brown using a piece of broken plant pot, ground to a very fine powder in my wife's granite pestle and mortar.

When I was a student doing my vacation training at the STC submarine cables lab in 1968, they used to add titanium oxide to Araldite if they wanted to give a more attractive white colouring to encapsulated items than the natural translucent amber colour. It had no effect on its insulating properties.

Although I haven't tried it, carbon in the form of lamp black could no doubt be used to colour epoxy black, but this might make it electrically conductive. I understand that adding a relatively small proportion of lamp black to a concrete mix makes it sufficiently conductive to effectively earth the legs of overhead electricity transmission line towers.

[John10b]

Thank you Steve for bring this to our attention, it will be interesting to see how you get on. My experience with Epoxy is using it on boats.
John