Coloring epoxy

B

bennett

Joined
Sep 22, 2005
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Can anyone suggest an effective way to color epoxy? I once heard a little bit of acrylic artist's paint would work, but I don't want to try it and screw up a knife handle:barf: Any of ya'll have any suggestions? Thanks!
 
What I use is Brownell's Acureglass and to color it I use the Brownell's die packs for black or brown, for red I was told to use paint tint, and it works. I got 1/4 of a pint can for free at sherman williams and it looks like it'll last near forever. A little goes a long way.

You could order specialty colorants from supply houses but I beleive there nothing more than paint tint.
 
The suppliers (K&G,Jantz,etc.) sell dry powdered colorants in many colors.They are specifically designed to color epoxy.I use black,white,tan,and red.With those I can blend to any color of wood I am gluing.
 
For non-strength epoxying like filling filework, can I simply add something any colorant to the epoxy such as RIT dye or normal pigments? I often want to glue up handle slabs, then fill the filework with a solid color....
 
I generall only use red and black to color the epoxy. For black, I use some Tandy leather dye ( hate it for leather!). It works well and gives a very consistant color. With red, I first used a little spray paint, but couldn't get a match to the spacer material. Bought some epoxy colorant from K&G and couldn't be happier. When I finish off the leather dye ( 2 drops per batch) it'll be the good stuff from K&G.
Rick
 
Thanks a lot for all of the feedback, ya'll - it's much appreciated:thumbup: I went to the paint store(thanks, Will), and they gave me a coffee cup full of red paint tint to try out. It's the reddest red I've ever seen! I'll see how it works, and then probably order the stuff from K&G to see how it works, and then I'll end up using whichever works and it cheapest:D . Thanks again for the feedback!
 
I went to a local craft store (Michaels or any artist supply store) and bought dry tempera paint in red, brown and black, the powder not the liquid. If you mix a little brown with a little red you can match the brick color pacers almost exactly. I tried the liquid and it weakened the epoxy too much for me. It might have been the liquid that I used as it was not designed specifically for coloring epoxy. The dry colorant from K&G works very well but they are pricey and may be dry tempera paint powder. The stuff I bought at the craft store was half the price of the K&G stuff and I got twice as much.
 
Thanks, AdamMichael. Hobby Lobby just opened about 1/2mi. from the house, and I'm off today - think I'll get some tempera and try that, too. I mixed up some epoxy using the liquid tint that I got yesterday, and I'm going to see how that dries before using on a handle. I'll test the tempera the same way and post here again when I get some results...
 
Brownells sells water soulable dye for their acraglas. their brown dyd is catalogue number 083-023-202, that number will get you to their complete selection.
 
Thanks again for all the feedback, ya'll. So far this week, I've had great success using tempera paint from Hobby Lobby - sands just like non-colored epoxy does:D . Not sure about how it affects epoxy strength, but then again I'm not using it for anything "structural".
 
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