Milliput, which one is the resin which one is the hardener?

[midas-kensai]

'was wondering recently how mixing ratios affect Milliput. One part is the hardener, the other part is the resin.
So logic dictates: more hardener -> harder finish, faster curing, more brittle. More resin -> slower curing, more ductile finish ('means it's less prone to crack when bending).
True?

But which one is the hardener and which one is the resin, especially looking at standard (gray/yellow) and superfine white ?

 

[freakinacage]

I don't know but if you want it to have a little more flex, mix some gs with it. Easy

 

[Bloodhowl]

The dark stick should be the hardener.

 

[RuneBrush]

Milliput won't bend and hold it's shape successfully as it's designed to go hard regardless of what ratio you use, I think all it will do is to change the curing time. Reason I say this is that both components have pretty much the same texture so adding in less of one isn't going to change the elasticity.

As freak says mix in some greenstuff and you'll gain some of the properties of that

What are you trying to do by the way?

 

[Einion]

'was wondering recently how mixing ratios affect Milliput. One part is the hardener, the other part is the resin.
So logic dictates: more hardener -> harder finish, faster curing, more brittle.

No, yes and maybe.

The first is a common misconception; the resin is the thing that becomes hard so you should generally expect lower hardness when you reduce the proportion of resin, since there's less of it present. There may actually be an increase in hardness by reducing the hardener proportion for some epoxies (this does work for some) although it would require a longer curing time to reach peak hardness needless to say - more than one or two days.

More resin -> slower curing, more ductile finish ('means it's less prone to crack when bending).

Yes, maybe or no.

Some epoxies are very forgiving of variations in proportion of part A to part B, others much less so. You might want to check up on this if you can, but if memory serves the makers recommend only a 1:1 mixture for Milliput.

Anyway I wouldn't attempt to rely on Milliput on for ductility, it's just not ideal for that; other than going with a different product entirely blending it with Kneadatite as already recommended would be the easiest solution and it works really well (and it's far nice to sculpt with too!)

Einion

 

[midas-kensai]

Anyway I wouldn't attempt to rely on Milliput on for ductility...

I am aiming for the opposite, harder and easier to sand.

So the question is still which one is the hardener? In the standard one, it is the grey one, according to Bloodhowl. What about the superfine white?

 

[Bloodhowl]

I said the dark one "should" be the hardener as that is what I found on a few forums and is the case with green stuff. So I am going with the trend the darker stick is the hardener.

The Milliput website and instructions do not specify which is which. There is, however, a nice little button to contact them. I would contact them and find out for sure for each type of milliput you plan on using.

 

[Einion]

I am aiming for the opposite, harder and easier to sand.

Ah okay then, it already has that in spades so you should be set - Milliput is supposed to be one of the best putties for carving/filing/sanding, it's one of the things its valued for by the people who still use it. What problems are you having specifically?

So the question is still which one is the hardener? In the standard one, it is the grey one, according to Bloodhowl. What about the superfine white?

Unfortunately you can't always go by the rule of thumb that the hardener is darker, it's a useful starting point but it doesn't always apply.

You can find out empirically with a simple experiment - tear off four small balls, one large and one small of each. Blend the large one of A into the small one of B and vice versa (keeping track of which is which!) and you should be able to tell in a very short time which one is the hardener.

Einion

 

[midas-kensai]

I said the dark one "should" be the hardener ...

'won't sue you if you are wrong, no worries. :smile:

What problems are you having specifically?...

nothing really, just theorycraftig and experimenting. I might have recieved an expired package, but that's already mostly sorted out.

 

[RuneBrush]

Milliput (both standard and superfine) both have always set concrete solid when I've used them 1:1 and sand, drill, carve and file really well. I've only had two problems with it - the first was when I didn't mix the two parts together enough and the second was when I managed to mix in some dust/dirt off the floor after dropping it.

Looking on the Milliput website this is quite leading:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Epoxy resin is a binary compound comprising two components, inert when separate, which combine chemically when mixed to form an insoluble polymer. This reaction occurs gradually over a period of time. The result is that the working properties of the medium change as the curing progresses, closely paralleling those of ceramic materials.[/SIZE][/FONT]

What I think this says is that you *need* the mix of 1:1 to ensure that the resin completely cures correctly. Shifting the ratio to a large extent means that it probably won't do this. Nowhere on the website does it mention that either stick is a resin or hardener so it's possible that each are a little bit of both