The Art and Craft of Resin and Acrylic Ashtrays: A Comprehensive Guide

In the case of this blog entry I would like to walk my readers into the process of the making of any of my ashtray products. During the past years, resin has become a very common material for handmade products, as it is very easy to make and very practical. Here I give you a list of possible things that you can make out of resin: necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, wall art, sculptures, bookmarks, ashtrays, tables, trays, cutting boards, bowls, keychains, magnets, ornaments, dollhouse accessories, and way more. Almost anything can be done with resin, that is why the industry is growing super fast, and people are liking the process of doing it at home and their cool final results.

Moreover, in the case of It’s a Perfect Match Ashtrays, I start my process by visiting any arts and craft shop to buy my acrylic sheets. In my case I visit Michaels store as they offer a lot of acrylic colors in order to make your design as fun as possible. This acrylic is the base of my ashtrays designs, as it is way easier to make a cool design than with liquid resin. My next step is visiting my campus Fab Lab where I can find and use the acrylic laser cut machine. This machine is powered by laser and connected to computers where I can upload my Illustrator design and direct it to the machine, order where it should cut and get my final result. This is super convenient as the machine is very precise, and depending on how big the design is it lasts very little cutting it. Once I upload all of my designs in the computer, order the machine to start cutting and getting all of my acrylic pieces, I go back home and start the real work.

Now, the next step once I have my acrylic pieces is to make the resin mixture; I bought my resin kit from Amazon where the instructions of the making are very clear. I recommend going to an outside part in order to not be constantly inhaling the resin’s smell, as it can be very toxic if done for a long time. Moreover, I begin mixing my Take into consideration you can add anything to pop up the mixture, what I mean by that is maybe you can add some acrylic paint to dye the color of the mixture, or sprinkles to give a touch of sparkly to your final product. The options are endless and feel free to décor your mixture with whatever you have in your house. Moreover,

The next step once I have my resin mixture prepared is to get my ashtray molds and accommodate them carefully with my acrylic designs. As I fill the ashtrays get filled with the resin being backwards, I have to place the acrylic design looking forward; to make it more clear the end/bottom of the ashtray will be facing up when filling the mold. Therefore, the acrylic has to be carefully placed in the same way. As my resin kit came with wood sticks, I use that to help me position the acrylic pieces once I finished filling it up. Once everything is done, I move my tray into a place where I know the designs will not be bothered or touched by any other activity in the apartment. Resin can take many days to dry, therefore be ready to wait and be patient to get your final result. It might take 3 days up to a week to be fully dried, nevertheless, it will always depend on the size of your ashtray and amount of resin used.

After some days have passed, you can check is the ashtray is fully dried with your wooden stick, or you can try holding it and testing how hard the consistency is feeling and looking. I carefully remove it out of the mold and done! I place it wherever I want to decorate my room or living room. After weeks of perfectioning my technique of designing them, I decided that giving these ashtrays to my friends could be a unique gift for them but sometimes even better I invite them to do them with me. Making products out of resin is a great plan for friends in order to do something different and allow each of them design their cool product with their favorite colors. Take this idea into consideration for your next gathering with friends, maybe you can make lunch and after finish with an artsy session of resin ideas.

Now, after talking about all the procedure in order to make the resin and acrylic ashtrays, it is important to understand what type of resins exist which one to get for these types of products and all of the safety measures and guidance to take into consideration while doing this.

In the case of types of resins, there are many here are some of them: Polyester Resins, Phenolic Resins, Alkyd Resins, Polyamide Resins, Polyurethane Resins, Silicone Resins, and, Epoxy Resins. All of these have different compounds and differ according to what your final goal is, while some of them are very flexible others are hard as a rock. It depends on what you want to build to choose the right type of resin. But in the case of ashtrays, the right one to use if Epoxy Resin; this is because according to an article written by ThomasNet “they have excellent chemical and heat resistance and strong adhesion properties. They are used for laminates, adhesives, flooring, linings, propellers, and surface coatings.” This is great as it is basically all we are looking for while making ashtrays: a great heat resistance and strong adhesion properties for our acrylic designs.

Regarding the safety measures, I wanted to dedicate a specific section on this blog entry as it is very important to be precautious and careful while working with resin. Even though it might sound easy to make anything out of resin we need to take into consideration the following steps: in the first case, designate a clear area in your home to work with on your designs. This has to be an area where you can work relaxed, nothing will be compromised and especially where you have a lot of space to be creative. Once you decided where to work, keep all hazardous materials away from where you will be working, position all of your equipment and resin kit and designate a place for each of them. As mentioned before, take into consideration a good ventilation area in order to avoid inhaling large amounts of resin as possible; next is eyes, clothes and hands protection. You will need to use gloves, usually every resin kit comes with gloves, eye protection can be any glasses you have at home, and last but not least, a smock to protect your clothing. With this in mind, avoid any contact with the resin; but in the case you do become in contact with, remember that liquid resin is not water-soluble, therefore you have to use a waterless skin cleanser to remove it from your skin. But if it is hardened resin, you can wash it with soap and warm water to remove it from your skin. With all of this being said, I hope you understand the importance of having a safe environment while working with resin but also have fun and let your creativity explore all the possibilities when it comes to creation with resin.