Swung by Hobby Lobby today and found something I've had an ongoing search on for some time now...

Clear Epoxy!

Bought a couple of solid colors (pearl and black) and translucent colors (amber and blue) to mix into it.

Y'all stand by for crabs and spoons!

That sounds like a lot of fun...can't wait to see the results!

I'll take the bait. How can it be clear when it comes in solid colors?

thanks, robin.

there are also a few streamer patterns i'll probably tie now that i had put off until i found this stuff in just the right combinations.

fyi, i found it in the jewelry-making section of hobby lobby. it's not fast-drying: 1-2 hours to set, 24 hours to soft cure, 72 hours to total cure. it is sandable and carvable when totally cured...ie, jewelry-grade poly-epoxy. costs $12.99/8 oz plus $4.99 for each color additive. they have a packet of mixing cups, paddles, brushes that's way overpriced at $8.99. i'm thinking about getting some gold and silver flake glitter to add to some clear spoons, too.

That's how I make my spoons, wire frame or mono and clear epoxy with glitter mixed in.

Aha! Call me slow. I missed the "to mix into it," even in Robin's reply.

well, I for one am looking forward to the photos of the spoon flies!

Sounds like a great project. A little off the thread direction, but I bought some feathers there just yesterday. I needed some Ostrich herl for a Brooks Stonefly pattern: episode 213: http://kwsu.org/Offers/FlyTying.aspx They had ostrich feathers at 50% off and I could select the ones that I wanted instead of just ordering ones off of the internet and not seeing what I was getting. I look around in there on a regular basis. I really don't know what I am shopping for when I go in most of the time, but I find something that a light bulb goes on and I say, "I can make this out of that" and life is good. Love the hobby stores including Michaels.

Me as well, and any colors can be added to the hardened spoon via ye olde sharpie.


Interesting chemistry aside: I found that adding fine glitter to the 5 minute epoxy makes the cure time vastly accelerate, it turns opaque and is nearly unworkable... but I did get a couple unique spoon flies done with this technique. I throw that out there for those of y'all who sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and say oh man... that just might work!

Not that we know anyone like that.

Perhaps the glitter slows heat dissapation, accelerating the cure.

There is a fairly new rod finish which is activated by heat.

(in my best ancient buddhist monk voice)

the wise man always reads sentences until he runs into the punctuation mark. only in this way can he be certain not to ask embarassing questions in public. as for being "slow" ...

when you can snatch the pebble from my hand, your training here will be complete, grasshopper.

When I hear someone talking about clear vs a color, I think of a chemistry TA I had in undergrad who taught us the difference between clear and colorless. Coca Cola is clear, yet brown in color. Milk is white and opaque.

The epoxy gets quite hot, almost to the point of burning skin, so I would have to agree with your assessment.