WHAT ARE THE MIXING AND POURING TIPS FOR THE RIO FLOW KIT?
PREPARING
We always recommend using PPE such as a face mask, nitrile gloves, safety glasses for protection and working in a ventilated room when working with Resin. This is standard with any kind of resin.
PRE-HEATING INSTRUCTIONS:
RIO FLOW is our purest resin which makes it super transparent and easy to use. This technical feature makes it very sensitive to cold temperatures which in some cases, it may cause some white flakes to form at the bottom of the RESIN (PART A) jug. But don't worry, this is easy to fix before you use it.
If you find some flakes, you can warm up the Resin part BEFORE mixing it with the Hardener by placing the resin in your mixing cup on hot water 30-40C (86-104F) for about 30 min. After that you can stir and should see that the flakes have disappeared.
You can also do this with the whole jug by half-submerging the closed RESIN PART A bottle in hot water on a bucket or bathtub inside the plastic bag it came in. After that your resin should not present the flakes anymore and they will NOT form again.
MIXING
Before mixing, pour both the RIO FLOW RESIN “A” / RIO FLOW HARDENER “B” in different containers. Remember the mixing ratio quantity will be of 3:1 (3 of Resin and 1 of hardener).
*Room temp. ideally should be around 21C/70F
*Mix both Resin A and B into one container (use a vessel that is wide), pour resin first, then hardener and stir slowly the portions of RIO FLOW RESIN A and RIO FLOW HARDENER B using a spatula for a couple of minutes.
*Mix for 5-7 min MAX
*Do not use power mixers
*Stir gently as if it was tea, not pancakes batter
*When adding colors or pigments, stir them using a spatula until you have a constant uniform color.
*Add pigments at the end of mixing and don’t over mix, pigments in general speed up the curing process.For Rio Flow Kit we recommend pouring a maximum of 1.5 Inches per application until it cures. Once after curing if you wish to add another layer on top, you can do so.
POUR
Before pouring the RIO FLOW resin, we advise leaving the resin from 30 minutes to 8 Hours so all bubbles will be released as you see fit. It is recommended to place the mix in a clean container and lightly stir it to ensure that the mix is uniform, particularly from the mix that was in contact with the surface of the mixing container.
Pour the mix at a single point and avoid spreading it over the entire surface in order to allow the product to displace air as it flows. Using a heat gun can also help you to remove undesired bubbles once you’ve finished pouring.
This resin can be applied in castings with a recommended thickness of 1.5 inch., in order to ensure adequate leveling and avoid overheating that may result in pours thicker than 2.5” and causing possible wood deformation and entrapment of bubbles.
CURING
To ensure good adhesion between castings and avoid contraction, it’s recommended to perform the next pour in 24 hrs. Repeat until the required thickness is achieved. If you wish to further polish your piece, it is recommended to do so 48 hrs. after the last pour.
Additionally we suggest you to refer to our Video Tutorials for more in-depth tips and knowledge.
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