Coloring clear epoxy

================================ Joel, I haven't tried aniline dyes, but I have used water based crafts paints with pretty good sucess, although not in the lighter colors. I used blue, black and brown for filler colors. These were used on dark woods, so there was no problem with "see through". I was told not to use no more than 10% of volume to color the epoxy. More than that could weaken the epoxy. For application in light colors on light wood, it might be transparent or translucent. The anilene dyes might work better in those cases. Also, if you can find chalk or dry pigment in the colors you want, it might work in the epoxy pretty well. Good luck,

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

Yes. I keep some dye in an old nail polish bottle. A dab in the mixing cup before adding the epoxy is all that is needed for a small batch.

Joel- Craft Supplies USA

Aniline Powder Dyes that work very well with any Epoxy or CA glue. Since there is no liquid being added to the glue it doesn't effect it as much as a liquid aniline or spirit stain would. There is a very large varity of colors to choose from to give you a very unique look and they will give you a clear color without obscuring the grain of the wood. Good luck in your findings.

Bryan (Craft Supplies USA Tech)

(clip) Aniline Powder Dyes that work very well with any Epoxy or CA glue. Since there is no liquid being added to the glue it doesn't effect it as much as a liquid aniline or spirit stain would. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have a small collection of colored chalks and dried out poster paints, which I can scrape together to form powder of almost any color. The fact that it's dry is better in regard to the epoxy or CA glue performance. It's good for repairing cracks or dings in wood, since color matching is no problem.

I hate it when I am caught thinking inside the box! Being a trained biochemist, it was my first impression that water based dyes would not mix with a polar substrate...our minds often are creased in a particulary way of thinking...as usual, I have mined a wealth of ideas from this group. Maybe someday, I can contribute as well.

Joel

Joel, Universal paint tint available at most paint stores or even home depot is excellent for this purpose.

Good Luck, Phil Brennion

I also use pain tint that I get at the hardware paint dept....low cost, lots of colors, works great. Glenn Hodges Nashville, Georgia

Phil, I have bought or specified colorants for plastic resins in industry for epoxy, polyester, RTV, urethane, and PVC resins. Each resin performs best when the dispersant (the moistening liquid added to the dry pigment) does not interfere the chemistry of the resin. Epoxy is very sensitive to additives. The dispersant for epoxy is different than the one for polyester, than the one for PVC, which I know is plasticer.

Universal pigment would not be used in industry for epoxy. It may work for you just fine. If the epoxy sets up normally then you are OK for your decorative work. However, that does not mean that the resin will not last as long, be as strong, or as waterproof/UV/heat resistant as it could be. Dan

Dan wrote: I wouldn't say excellent. Industrial pigments made for epoxy use a different dispersant than 'universal' pigments do (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^ I think Dan is being his usual rigorous self. I used to be in the paint business, and I recall that, even in paint tinting, for which these universal colorants are designed, there is a limit to the amount the paint will tolerate. Obviously, if one is adding color to a bonding agent for use in aircraft wings, the standard will be higher than for hiding a crack in a decorative wooden bowl. In fairness to Dan, note that he did not say it wouldn't work--he said it would not be optimal.

The plus side is that the paint industry has literally thousands of formulas already worked out for matching a wide range of colors.

If you try to use colorants for color matching, using the existing formulas, you need to know that they depend on the use of paint bases with controlled amounts of white pigment. Clear epoxy would be equivalent to what we called a "masstone" base. No white pigment. The colors come out very strong, with the addition of very little colorant. If you need pastel colors, you would have to add some white as well. This can be done by trial and error to approach the desired color.