Our Top Tips for Resin Doming
Today's blog is all about Resin Doming. We will answer some frequently asked questions (the first one being) What is resin doming? : ) plus the best resin to use and some top tips from resin artist Alan from @alan_theartfulbear all about doming resin jewellery. So let's get started...
What is Resin Doming?
Resin doming is a technique where the resin sits neatly in a dome shape on the surface of your artwork and does not run over the sides. This technique is commonly used in jewellery and pendants (you may have seen images of jewellery with a raised, domed appearance) or doming can be top coating resin artwork to give a crystal clear finish and a curved shape at the edge of artwork where the resin sits neatly without spilling over the side.
To dome resin wall art, ensure your artwork is completely flat as the resin will self level, start by pouring slowly in the centre of the work and gently nudge the resin to the edge with a spreader, lolly stick or similar an edge at a time. You may want to tape the edges when you first begin doming and eventually as you perfect the technique you will not require tape.
Resin Doming is a technique that requires practise, but selecting the best resin is key.
Which resin should you use?
The best resin for doming is a resin that has a thick viscosity and good surface tension. Viscosity refers to the thickness of the resin. A resin with low viscosity is a thinner resin and high viscosity resins have a thick consistency. Surface tension refers to the strength of the resins surface to ensure it can hold a doming shape.
Apex Resin® One Coat has the highest viscosity on the market (think of treacle or a syrup consistency) and it was designed for coating and doming. With high surface tension and durability, plus a fast cure time of 2 hours, it is perfect for resin doming, jewellery and top coating!
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Top Tips for Resin Doming
Thank you so much to @alan_theartfulbear for his top tips below:
I have started using the Apex Resin One Coat for my resin jewellery and I find it works perfectly, specifically for doming pendants.
Preparation
In my experience, most of the success of your resin artwork, comes from your prep beforehand. You want to ensure your resin is warmed up before use. You can use a warm water bath or lately I find having it close to a safe heat source like a radiator helps also. This also ensures for me that my room is at a good temperature to pour and minimises the changes in temperature which can cause issues.
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I search for pendant bases that usually have a tray base. This means they have the slightest edge on them. I like to work with these as it helps with doming, and also ensures you are not wasting resin. I always mix my resin following the instructions and make sure to mix well for 3 minutes (Lately, longer with the colder weather to ensure the resin is fully mixed). I then transfer the mix into a clean cup and mix again to make sure no unmixed parts end up in my jewellery.
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Pouring
Now we are ready to pour. This is where the fun begins. I usually separate my resin into multiple smaller paper cups and mix in my chosen glitter colours. I like to get as many pendants done as possible in the working time. Also because One Coat is a thicker resin, it wont flow too fast which gives you more control pouring onto small surfaces.
If you are feeling confident, you can pour directly onto the pendant base from the cup, but you need to make sure not to over pour. Even though the pendant has an edge, the resin will overflow with even a few too many mls. If you are starting out I would advice to scoop some resin onto a lollipop stick and slowly drip it onto the pendant base. This takes longer, but you have more control over the resin.
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The key is finding the sweet spot just before its too much resin, that allows you to create the doming effect. And believe me when I say be prepared to mess up some pendants while you figure this out. I've lost count of how many I've messed up, but this is all part of the learning process so don't let this stress you out. Make sure to cover your pendants so no dust (or dog hair in my case), lands on your pieces as they cure.
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Final Tips
Apex One Coat can be touch dry within a few hours, however because it's so cold lately, I usually leave my pendants to sit for a couple of days to make sure they have fully cured. Then I add chains to them and put them in nice presentation boxes.
Alan
Thank you so much Alan for those top tips!
4 comments
Hi Anlie, if you are using a UV resin to make your jewellery then you would need to either cure this under a nail lamp or in direct sunlight. if you are using an Epoxy Resin like our Apex Resin Fast Cure, then this will cure itself and is touch dry in 4 hours (fully cured in 24 hours) if you are a beginner then we have some jewellery starter kits with our fast cure resin and full instructions that will teach you the basics or you we have a one to one tuition class where you work over zoom with our resin teacher and she can teach you this. Here is the link for the tuition class https://just4youonlineuk.com/collections/resin-art-classes and the link for the starter kits is here https://just4youonlineuk.com/collections/resin-starter-kits hope this helps
Please I am new to resis and want to make earings. Do I need molds and do I need a nail lamp to dry or dry it in 2 hours by it self?
Hi Susan. thanks for your question. This sounds a fantastic project and our One Coat resin would be perfect for this! We have sent you an email so we can find out more about the result you want to achieve and guide you with how to do this. Laura x