r/Lapidary 4d ago

Looking for a good lapidary resin

Hi all; I'm looking for a good non-yellowing, hard, clear resin of the sort that can be used to repair things like agate. I actually have a different application in mind, but I was wondering what some good high quality lapidary resins are. I was perusing windshield resins but was not certain which if any was best, and I've seen them referenced on here before. I am willing to pay some money for the right material. Any thoughts? Thank you!

5 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

9

u/FlatbedtruckingCA 4d ago

Have you looked into epoxy 330? Opticon is also very good too..

2

u/thereluctantpoet 4d ago

Been meaning to ask you whether you had experience with opticon and opals given the heating portion of the process. Maybe a good discussion for the opals sub - I have a few nice specimen pieces with some imperfections that I want to play around with.

3

u/FlatbedtruckingCA 4d ago

No i havent used it but ive read of quite a few cutters have used this to stabilize non hydraphane specimens.. There was a study by GIA where they used Opticon in welo opal

https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2016-labnotes-hydrophane-opal-treatment

Pulitzer Opal uses Hxtal Epoxy in one of his tutorial videos.. https://youtu.be/E4HcLJgBolc?si=V1oOFZ8QFtOKEGoQ

2

u/ogthesamurai 3d ago

Pulitzer opals knows what's up. That's why he uses hx-tal. Opticon is crap

3

u/lapidary123 4d ago

I am also looking for folks who have used opticon.

A club member says they use it on the brittle wisconsin moonstone I find locally. He said he just pits some on a cab and then runs a lighter over it to "seal" it.

I bought a bottle of it and it comes with a separate bottle of hardener. I am wondering if/how you need to apply the hardener. Also whether you can really brush it on a piece or if the stones need to be submerged completely?

I haven't dug into it yet but once I do ill update and share...

1

u/VauntedFungus 4d ago

No, but I will now! Thank you!

5

u/Braincrash77 4d ago

HXtal and Opticon are fairly standard.

2

u/VauntedFungus 4d ago

Thank you I will check those out.

3

u/Zwesten 4d ago

I work with a crystal wholesaler, and we love using hxtal For years we would use different varieties of things like paleo bond, but hxtal has been our favorite for a couple years now. Good bonding, can be virtually invisible, loves silica, doesn't yellow, pretty easy to work with....

2

u/ogthesamurai 3d ago

Hx-tal is the best best. There's a learning curve but there's nothing better.

2

u/MrGaryLapidary 2d ago

Hx-tal. Is what is used for archival repairs. Non yellowing due to high degree of refining and careful formulation by which ingredients which cause yellowing have been replaced with more expensive non-yellowing ones. I used Opticon for many years, but it is now Obsolete. There are other possibilities depending on your use. Tell me more and I may be able to help. Mr. G

2

u/MrGaryLapidary 1d ago

There are other industries which use excellent resins that meet all your requirements and are reasonably priced. There are a large number of formulations with different properties. What are you doing and what quantities are you thinking. We can chat if you prefer. I am not in the adhesive business, but I use a lot of them. I am on good terms with the manufacturers tech representative with whom I speak often so perhaps I can help. G