Due to time constraints and the fact that I still can't wrap (no pun intended) my head around the idea that you can make a fish or a flag out of thread, I tend to lean toward marbling as a suitable, fast, attractive decoration. I mix the pigment and, as is often indicated in marbling tutorials, wait a bit so the epoxy holding the pigment is not so thin that colors blend too much. Then I do the whole drag and swirl routine until I feel like I've just tie-died a T-shirt back in 1969. I don't apply any heat when finished so the colors don't blend together. The result is a relatively bumpy finish.

The challenge is obvious; put a perfectly smooth finish coat (or two or three) on a bumpy, lumpy marbled base. I can't seem to get it right. There's a trick in there somewhere that I am completely missing.

Help.

Hello Jim.

I put the marble down and the next day I put a medium thick clear coat on, wait two day's then sand it into a nice round then add whatever thickness I want.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I always add a second coat of hi-build epoxy after the pigment added coat has fully dried. Occasionally it may require a third coat to really get the area smooth(non-lumpy) to the touch. If I am adding a sticker or some type of wrap on top of the marbled area I add 2 more coats of low-build.

My process is that I put down the base coat with color (sometimes I'll paint a matte/black blank another color before the basecoat). I also use a disposable $.99 paint pallete, and go ahead and mix my marbling colors with epoxy. Then I wait a little over an hour before I start adding the top colors; Kenneth Price suggested to me to give it some time to set up, and I found I like an hour or so the best. With just the basecoat down, you can heat it up some and move it around to get it level. Then I start adding my other colors and doing my marbling an hour later. The next day, add your threads to the ends if desired, and add two more coats.

This is one of the recent ones I did. I painted metallic blue on the blank, then when it dried, I added a basecoat of metallic blue. This prevented the white from showing through the basecoat. My top colors were two different blues and white. Once it all dried, I added the thread, and two more coats of epoxy. [www.rodbuilding.org]


*my basement is high 60's or low 70s so 1 hour seems to be a good wait time for me. If it was warmer, it would be less time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2012 10:40PM by Jeremy Reed.

Hi Jeremy,
That's a great job. I'm going to have a crack at it shortly so thanks for the advice.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Jim,

Dont wait as long before starting your marbling effort. This way it has a little more time to "lay down". Then add a nice heavy coat of lite build over it the next day and let that sit and lay down. Smooth as silk.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

DR

I have been doing a bunch of marbling and I actually prefer the flowing and clouding you get when you use heat. You can move some parts more than others and create waves and lines much like the patterns in Cipollino marble. Just my preference I guess...

Oh, the finish turns out perfectly flat too. One top coat and you're good to go.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2012 03:59PM by Craig Mullins.

Nice work Jeremy, Duane too.. You guys are making this sound way easier than I find it to be. I found a really nice pearl pigment but it's slightly translucent and it takes a lot to get any opacity. Do you think maybe it's thickening the epoxy to the point where I'm getting some higher than average peaks and valleys? It sets up nicely, but maybe I'm using too much. Tried mixing with a little bit of Testors and it worked fine. Maybe more Testors and less pearl would help. Tried turning at higher speeds (was at 6 or 8 rpm's) while applying but that didn't seem to help either.

Make sure the pigment you add is mostly solid and use only enough to get the opacity you want. Adding any sort of liquid to the epoxy is going to change its properties to some extent, well so does the solid, but not nearly as much as any liquid solvent you get in there.

.................

Painting under first sounds like the Trick to get true colors

No problems with the epoxy setting up and I'm using a base coat. It's not the "under" work, it's the "over" work that's getting me. I'll try working sooner (although I've never waited an hour like Jeremy), a little heat, less pearl and then sandpaper if it's still not right!

After you do all the work

Let it sit overnight

Then start the top coats let each one dry -- to the touch before adding another coat


Patience

Bill - willierods.com

Gents,
See Mike Barkley's Library post.
Pigments only, no draining of solvents! All other advice given still applies.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain
John in Wethersfield, CT

Thanks for the compliments. I'm just now getting it to work the way I like it. The first few ones not so good. On mine, I am using testors paints. I use a little wooden pick to scrap the pigment from the bottom of the little jar. On some colors such as metal flake colors, I've found that shaking it up first helps to get a truer color. I like my marbling where the lines are more defined as opposed to blending, so that's why I wait about an hour or so before adding the top colors. I put a dot down, then I use a little pick and make starfish with each dot I put on the basecoat. Sometimes I'll hit it with a little heat with the heat gun after I get it all done, just to smooth it out a little. I'm also usually using Billy's suggested mix of finish, mixing Threadmaster and ProKote. I haven't had the chance to use pigments yet so I know nothing about them.

This is the little palette I use to mix up the top coat colors. [www.joann.com]

What's remaining in the little pods can be used as winding checks once they dry.

I forgot to add, my basement is usually 70 degrees or sometimes less, that is why I'm able to wait on hour or so.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2012 06:47PM by Jeremy Reed.