Help with dried Roses

[Gene Hobbs]

Hello Everyone
Does anyone know of a company that can cast an item in acrylic. I have a customer who's nepew died and kept a couple of the roses from the casket. She has dried them out. Now she wants them cast into some type of case. I guess it would be some type of mold then poured in over the rose and dried solid.

I'm lost
Thanks in advance
Gene

[Joe Pelonio]

You could do it yourself with a resin casting kit from places like Tap Plastics.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/category.php?bid=33&

Though with such a keepsake I suppose a professional would be safer. I know there are places that cast baby items, try searching for "keepsake casting."

[Dave Johnson29]

You could do it yourself with a resin casting kit

Many years back I did quite a bit of clear resin encapsulation and the biggest problem is getting all the air bubbles out before it sets.

I agree with Joe, for something like this a professional will have the vacuum equipment to remove the bubbles.

Other than that it is a very simple process, mix, pour, wait. :)

[Alexa Ristow]

Hi

You do need to be careful of a few things if you are going to do it yourself

The roses need to be really dry otherwise the moisture can interfere with the setting process.
Certain types of resin will not react well to "natural" items like flowers and it may be a good idea to test a small one first as you really don't want to take the risk of spoiling this very precious item! Not to be negative but letting a professional do it may be a good idea as they would probably have done flowers before!
Good Luck

[Darryl Hazen]

I have to agree with Joe & Dave. Something like a rose would be a problem with trapped air bubbles. Unless you have access to a Bell jar and vacuum pump, I would have it done professionally.

[Roger Savatteri]

.


Gene,


If you do end up doing it yourself keep in mind that if your pouring anything that is going to be more than 1/4" to 3/8" thick you don't want to use the normal polyester cast resin. On the west coast (Los Angeles) I use what's called Clear Mass Casting Resin. It's formulated for use in thicker castings, it's about the heat generated and shrinkage factor. There are also several things you need to keep in mind including how you are going to suspend the rose within the casting and allowing enough time to go by before you sand / buff it out.

hmmm, actually I was planning on doing some resin castings next week for a project and I have some roses that I saved from Valentines day.
(I felt guilty because neither of us remembered to water the flowers, and she was sad that they went so quick - they were very nice roses... so I told her I'd dry them and doing a casting someday.)

So I guess this is the beginning of someday, I'll run a test with a couple of the roses when I do the other castings next week, and show you some pics when I'm done and of the process.

cheers,
Roger

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[Scott Erwin]

.

So I guess this is the beginning of someday,
.


Don"t say that....I have so much to do when that day gets here....I will never get any sleep.

And I am sure the rest of you out there will too...so the Creek would have to close for awhile while we did the "Someday Projects".

[Gene Hobbs]

Thanks for all the reply's guys. I don't want to take this on myself. Can any of you give me the name of a company that does this type of work. The lady said the cost is no object.

[Clara Koss]

whatever you do don't do it yourself... if you mess up you'll feel really bad...:(