# Snake Skin Casting Problems



## Sugarland Bob (Aug 17, 2014)

I have just started to try something new and am experiencing troubles.  I have acquired a couple of snake skins and am casting them in BG's resin kit from Arizona Silhouette.  No problem with how it works.  They come out real nice and can be cut on my lathe as well as the store-bought blanks.

My problem lies with what happens to the skin after it gets in the mold and the resin is poured on top of it.  The first skin is brownish-red from a corn snake and the second one is black and white from a rat snake.  After the mold hardens, I notice that the skins fade quite noticeably.  In other words, the brownish-red corn snake skin kind of turns an entire brownish color and the black and white rat snake turns all gray.  It's so bad that you can no longer see the beautiful diamond pattern that was originally there on both snakes.

I live southwest of Houston and I have to do all the casting in my garage because the smell is really bad and I have children in the house.  Lately, it's around 98 degrees during the day with about 95% humidity. I follow the instructions very closely for places with high temps and humidity.  The molds harden well and I don't have any problems with bubbles or cracking.  We won't be getting below 75-degree weather until around mid-October and I didn't want to wait til then to cast more blanks.

I know when you mix the hardener with the resin there's some type of chemical reaction going on.  I can't feel any heat around the mold while it's solidifying, so I'm pretty sure heat is not a problem (but I haven't ruled that out entirely).  So I assume something chemical is ruining the coloring of the skins. A couple of days ago I put shellac on one tube before I put it in the resin and on the other I sprayed clear acrylic.  I checked them this morning and the same results occurred.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of problem and knows a solution?  I know I'm doing something wrong, I just don't know what.


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## Kenny Durrant (Aug 17, 2014)

I know there are people more qualified to help than I am but I'll try to help narrow down your problem. The only time I had trouble with skins fading was during the tanning process. I also seal my skins on the tube with c.a. before casting as well. I would think once you glue and seal whatever your trying to cast the resin wouldn't have any effect. Like I said others might know differently on this. I tan my own skins with 50% Glycerin and 50% Isopropyl  Alcohol. Good Luck


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## Jim Burr (Aug 17, 2014)

LIBRARY & SEARCH


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## PSNCO (Aug 17, 2014)

Jim Burr said:


> LIBRARY & SEARCH



Ya know, if everyone just went to the library and did a search, there would probably be about 10 new threads a day on this forum and the forum would decline due to lack of interest.


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## JohnU (Aug 17, 2014)

You will probably get several answers and advice on this one.  We all have our own way of doing things and casting is no different. 

I cast lots of material and even after you've been casting for a while, snakes will still give you trouble.  You can cast several tubes from the same snake, all in the same process and there's a pretty good chance you will have at least one failure.   With any casting there are a few things you have to worry about more than others, and where you live might change this list.  For me its air humidity, moisture in item being cast, and heat when curing.  Of course other factors like clean molds and material being cast, age of resin and catalyst, pressure vs no pressure, type of resin, and time in the mold will also make or break your success.  

In your cast,  I would have to ask, are you painting or powder coating your tubes and what color?  Some snakes skins are thicker than others and will get transparent when submerged in resin. The color you paint tubes can also alter the final appearance if its too dark or light.   

Also, are you removing the scales?  They will trap air under them and stop the resin from showing off the skin color.  They will also float around and mess up a clean looking cast.

Finally, what are you gluing them down with and do you have enough on the skin?   Because they can be transparent, if you leave air pockets under the skin between them and the tube, it can show and alter the color or final look. 

Casting can be frustrating. keep notes on what your doing and when you find what works, stick with it.  Good Luck!


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## seamus7227 (Aug 17, 2014)

John pretty well nailed it! The only thing i want to add is that I would like to see pictures if possible. The image i have in my head is more like a silvery sheen across the skin which is indicative of a casting failure. Usually a result of too much heat at some point in the casting process.


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## Sugarland Bob (Aug 18, 2014)

Thanks to everyone for the detailed replies.  Here are some answers to questions y'all have asked.


I live just outside of Houston so heat and very high humidity are part of life from April to October.  My shop is in my garage and basically whatever the outside temp and humidity is that's what my shop will be.
I've done a couple of brass-colored bolt action tubes and two white-colored tubes for Sedona model pens.  Same results as far as fading goes.
I don't remove the scales from the skin and haven't had any problems with them flaking off during the curing process.
I use a quick drying CA glue to adhere the skins to the tubes.  I try to wrap them as tight as possible without ripping or splitting the skins.  Naturally the skin is completely dry before I wrap the tubes.
The first skin I tanned (the brownish-red corn snake), I used the 50/50 glycerin/alcohol recommendation from snake tanners.  The second skin (the black & white rat snake skin) was given to me.  I am not sure how it was preserved.  It seems to fade worse than the corn snake that I did.  I thought that may have been a problem so yesterday I cut about 6" of the skin and put it in a 50/50 solution.  I'll leave it in there another couple of days and see if that works better.
I also like the idea of putting a layer of CA on them before casting.  I'll try doing that too and see what happens.

Thanks for everyone's advice!


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## ed4copies (Aug 18, 2014)

Any time you use CA, be certain to allow it a couple days to de-gas and thoroughly set before you  cast.


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## seamus7227 (Aug 18, 2014)

I've got to add that if you aren't blowing off or using an x-acto knife to get those scale coverings off, then it opens up a can of worms for failure.


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