ONYX SLOW and FAST
Black and fast curing resin
My first resin was Smooth-On ONYX fast and slow.
This resin comes als deep black liquid and has two curing durations. Both parts are mixed by volume 1:1. ONYX can’t be colored with tints, white also doesn’t work here.
So no gray liquid can be obtained.
ONYX FAST is really fast. One doesn’t have much time to mix both parts together, the liquid starts to get thicker after 30 seconds. So, mixing pretty fast and pouring must be practiced.
Better put everything in place before starting with mixing.
ONYX SLOW cures slower and is has a longer curing time. 90 minutes of curing time it says.
But I always wait over night to get the sturdy hard plastic. SLOW starts curing after a minute or so.
Be sure to work fast here, too.
Where FAST can only be used for small parts because of the short curing time, SLOW can be used for bigger castings. I used SLOW for my Ebony Dagger castings.
If you want to add fillers to ONYX, be prepared because it will get bubbles.
I tried to add aluminum filler to get a metallic effect, but SLOW is difficult with that. FAST is easier to work with fillers and doesn’t get bubbles while curing.
Also after you got your liquids shipped to you, wait one day until you work with ONYX or other resins.
Let it settle down and work in a room with more or less 23° Celsius degrees. Better not less.
Make absolutely sure you pre-mix both liquids as it says in the datasheet.
The worst thing you can get is an oily coat on your cast and half cured surfaces. The cast is ruined for sure.
So pre-mix the hell out of those liquids.
Trial and error is essential if you want to start with this hobby.
The more you work with certain liquids, the more you know what to do and what not. It can get expensive really fast if you don’t learn how to handle them.
