coloring epoxy

[Redwings1 0]

Getting in to tying more saltwater patterns both for the practice and in preparation for a trip in May to Florida. One thing I am noticing is that many of the shrimp patterns are a tannish epoxy. Is there some additive that I mix in to the epoxy to color it? Will the epoxy take marker? I am sure I could figure it out in time, but with a resource like this maybe one of you can cut my learning curve a bit

[Swe-Classics 0]

I don't use epoxy that much couse it's really toxic. However there is pigment specifically for epoxies and resins at hobby shops you can also get pearl and white.

 

Make sure to use powder or oilbased pigments since water change the chartacter of the epoxy.

 

Use one component mixing the color and when you got the right one mix the second one.

 

Good luck and happy trying, also make sure you sitting in a good ventilated room.

 

Jonas

[Harold Ray 0]

This is a question I was going to post!

 

I mixed some epoxy for Clousers the other night and used a couple of drops of red fingernail polish to see what would happen. The mixture mixed well it seems but slowed drying a little. Even after drying, there was a slightly different feel, but the heads were not sticky. I coated them with Hard as Nails after drying and let it dry. I liked the way they turned out; it was the first time I used epoxy. I anticipate using it more now though, because I liked the way it worked.

 

I wondered what else could be used for coloring; I'm also going to add glitter to the epoxy mixtures, too, to add brightness, flash and shine.

 

Epoxy is toxic, but I would imagine mixed in small quantities, and drop or two, to several at the most, because of its drying and setting characteristics, fumes shouldn't be a problem. Am I wrong? Once dry I imagine we're okay.

 

I would appreciate any knowledge anyone has on epoxy use and flytying.

 

Ray

[Guest]

I have added Glitters powders and tungston to epoxy. Anything that you add to it changes the way it dries and the hardness?of it after it is dry. I have had goo success? tinting it with regular cheap kids markers.

All you have to do is color a patch on wax paper and then mix both parts of the resin over the marker patch. It will pick up hte color from the marker as it will not absord into the wax paper. Crayola seems to work great. It wont totaly color the epoxy but it will tint it (use more marker and get more tint to a certain extent. Tungston will make the epoxy black but very brittle, and the glitters and powders also make the epoxy a little more brittle. to Combat this I coat the head with hard as hull or hard as nails and then coat with Devil Sauce, or softex. Devil Sauce dries much clearer than softex. It has a shinier finish than softex. that way if you flub a back cast and hit say, a rock, a jetty , a shell , the side of the boat etc you wont loose a fly as quickly as if not coated. Sorry for the rambeling

 

Jim

[Guest]

Mike,

 

Get yourself some pearl and/or some pearl/gold nail polish. Those make an ideal foundation for either coloring with a Sharpie or epoxy on the finished product.

 

Make sure you tie some of these

 

 

That was probably one of my most productive flies in Mingo. Pretty easy tie. The head/collar is folded bucktail (2-tone) and epoxied with painted eyes.

 

 

Here's a couple other ideas for ya. That chartreuse Borcher looking thing worked quite well during the low-light hours on a variety of fish.

 

[Redwings1 0]

Cool, thanks Ralf.

[Gray Wolf 0]

Hello all!!

 

my 2 cents,,

 

take some Ritt dye of your color choice. powder only.

put it in a plastic cup. a little go's a long way. wet it with alcohol until you have a slurry. add it slowly to the epoxy till you see the color you want.

go easy on the alcohol it is a solvent for epoxy.

I have found that it slows the epoxy set time down a little.

after your epoxy is mixed just add the color with a small instrament.

go slow the colors are strong.

 

 

[Harold Ray 0]

Thanks, G.W. I'll buy some tomorrow.

 

Ray

[Swe-Classics 0]

the epoxy is only poison while drying or or in powder form (dust) you can get really allergic and that agains food, milk and almost everything if unlucky so use it carefully and ventilate the room.

[Buzzby 0]

Consider that epoxies are resins and, as such, require a resin colorant that won't affect drying time or finished surface. Craft stores and Micro Mark (mail order) sell resin colorants.

[paul clydesdale 0]

been experimenting with epoxies and colourings recently and have found a really good way of getting lots of cool colours.my wife works in the cosmetic industry and has loads of different types of eye make up many of which come in a soft powder form.add a little 2 the epoxy when mixing,the results are fantastic. try and get ur hands on "iridecent" white, its the DOGS.

[Kenneth K 0]

i don't know about epoxy, but on a similar subject i've found that hard as nails colored with rit dye works good. i've tried some different fingernail polishes but none seem to dry as hard as sally's HAN. another thing i do with the clear HAN is get some ultra fine glitter from the craft store and funnel it in the bottle. shake well and you have a great sparkle coat for your saltwater flies. instead of messing with the epoxy i'll build up a thread base and then do 4 or 5 coats of HAN.

 

... k

[Guest]

Some really good answers here-

 

Acetone is an epoxy thinner as can alcohol be. Resin (colorant) dyes are pretty much on par with universal colorants, the type used to color paint. My own experience with using nail polish is to apply the polish itself to the epoxied surface, whether the polish is thinned a little to make it more transparent or not, it provides a more protective coating for the epoxy which will "yellow" over time no matter what. Or, application method #2, to thin the "extended time" or "two-hour" - or whatever you want to call slow-set or long-set epoxy - with (additive) colorant (your choice, just not water-based) and a little acetone and coat the established head with the colored coat, then apply a final coat or two of something in the Sally Hansen clear Hard-As-Nails category.

 

Up to today I'd not heard of this Devil Sauce Bassturd speaks of- I'm curious to learn more.

 

The mention of epoxy yellowing over time and its use in tying flies goes back a number of years to sites like Reel-Time FlyFishSaltwaters and FlyFishingForum.com among others. Bassturd and I are well acquainted with those sites and the discussions.

 

From my contact with a fellow who works for Devcon and, included in those same alternative web threads, the information goes something like this:

 

Quick-set does yellow (as we all know) and gets worse looking with time - oh, and by the way - it isn't waterproof, contrary to conventional logic. This has been proven and disproven by many of us and its

use.

 

"What the hell is Dave talking about, quick-set isn't waterproof?"

 

Nope. At least not to my knowledge TO DATE - and, not without an outer coating of something that is. The component balance of quick-set is more hardener than resin obviously, and the resin is the more durable of the two. Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide isn't real stable and its increased volume in five-minute product doesn't lend itself to strength. It's kinda like concrete- depending on the mix, it can be whatever- 3K psf, 5Kpsf, quik-set, etc., and strength varies. Two-hour (or more, setting time, depending) "extended-time" or whatever you want to call it epoxy has more resin, more stability and although it will yellow if left to the sun is way more water-resistant, to the point of being "waterproof."

 

Now, take something like West Systems products used in the boat-building trades. If you don't protect even that stuff with some kind of coating or stabilizer resistant to UVA, UVB, UVWHATEVER then it deteriorates and loses its effectiveness over time. So, when playing with chemicals...

 

Okay, Dave- you can shut up now

[Fly Tyer Guy 0]

Prisma Color Markers are the best color for epoxy I have ever found