Needing a liquid glass that hardens

[leglez]

I have made a media center Xbox and cut a window hole into it so you can see the insides and I am wanting a flush mount window but it is a complicated window and I can't cut plexi glass into the shape so I was wondering if there was any product that I can do something like the following:

Cover the top with Ceran Wrap or something then turn it upside down so the Ceran Wrap is on the bottom then pour a mixture of something in the window and then let it dry and then peal the Ceran Wrap off and it is a Flush Mount window?

Is there any thing out there that allows me to do this

Also I want it to be completely clear like plexi glass

[Wombat2]

Try the Hobby and Craft stores. There is a clear epoxy finish for pouring over creations like trays and mounted photos etc that gives that raised clear finish. Watched a demo at a recent Craft Expo and thought I could have a use for that one day

[SY]

There are also some nice water-clear polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) molding compounds. Check McMaster-Carr.

[kelticwizard]

I think what Wombaat2, and perhaps SY, are referring to is called casting resin and here are a couple of places that have it.

I first saw it in a hobby store years ago, you can do things like encase a rose in a paperweight. It is beautiful. In addition to the online websites, I believe most any good hobby store will have it.

Link 1
Link 2

[Wombat2]

Thats the stuff - couple of pointers I got from the demo - don't stir too vigorously or you get air bubbles in the mixture, reaction time is slow - to allow self leveling, set in a dust free area ( inside a cupboard was suggested) and wave a hairdryer over the surface after inital pour to help smooth bring any bubbles to the surface and flatten the craters - don't hold too close that the air disturbs the surface it's more the gentle heat required with slight air movement.

Let us know how you get on - need to make some lenses for a vintage car rebuild and thought it might do the job

[KBK]

Do you have at least one decent shape original lens? You can make a rubber mold and use some of the better, harder resins.

[Wombat2]

Yes I have 2 - they are actually round and about 1" in diameter and light up the parcel shelf. The originals were a white opaque plastic material but have hardened, yellowed and cracked with age. Did try a quick press in modelling clay and filled with silicone sealer - sort of worked but was a hurried job and not perfect. Also a bit too soft

[Mark Techer]

Any more on the casting front? I am about to venture into RTV rubber molds for my prisms...

Mark

[KBK]

you are definitely going to be learning the art of polishing, then. You know how perfect that surface is going to have to be.

[Mark Techer]

From the research I have done, it suggestes that providing the original is good, and that there is no air in the rubber (that whats a vacuum chaber is for), that the RTV will form an extact copy of the surface.

Right now pouring bubble free is hit and miss, as it really comes down to techique (resin mixing, pouring etc), but there is still the chance of producing off casts. Fromwhat what I have seen so far, the resin's surface can be like glass.

As I have documented in the DIY Anamorphic lens thread amny time, it is that I am getting crazy cracks by using Perspex and the face of the prisms, so what I am hoping for here is to make a good mold, cast the body out of resin, then bond a new face to that - hopefully no pollishing required...

Mark