Is it resin or is it epoxy? Are they the same thing or different? You'll see these words used interchangeably all over the place so it may be confusing for those who are just beginning in this creative medium.
Nerpa Polymers tells us that epoxy is a type of resin. Resin is a general term for a wide range of polymer materials that are used as adhesives, coatings, and in composite materials. For example, there are polyester, polyurethane, polyaspartic, vinyl ester and other types of resins exist. I believe that in the DIY and craft industry, in 90% of the cases when people say "resin" they mean epoxy resin.
For me personally I just like how resin sounds better than epoxy!
What about curing and drying? I often see people asking how long does it take resin to dry or saying things like their resin didn't dry etc. Resin doesn't dry it cures. Curing is a chemical process employed in polymer chemistry and process engineering that produces the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains.
Due to some people not understanding this process they often think that it is drying and when something dries there must be ways to speed up the drying process. So with epoxy is there a way to make it cure faster? Nerpa says the best way to speed up the curing process is to increase the temperature in the work area, as higher temperatures accelerate the curing process. However, be aware that faster curing can reduce working time and may affect the final result. We do not recommend using a higher temperature trick before the resin reaches the gel state. The general rule is: every 10 degrees Celsius in temperature increase shortens the cure time of epoxy by half.
Resin art is an art where patience is a virtue and I promise you that patience pays off. Trying to speed up the chemical process can end in unsafe disasters or flash cures. Too much heat can result in a flash cure where the resin cures too quickly causing smoke, yellowing, thickening and distortion. Take your time and trust the process!
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