Too Much Alcohol Ink, Overshooting the Color Too Dark

Question

I was lead here to this site FROM THIS POST on getting a transparent colored epoxy.

One question is if I am using an alcohol ink for a transparent colored pour, what happens if I overshoot the color i.e. too dark, and wish to lighten it e.g. dark red to light red.

Other than the obvious and pour in more clear resin, what could I possibly add to lighten the color and possibly not add to the volume of the mixed resin, or if it does, then something less costly than resin.

I am looking to do small transparent pours into CNC carved designs in wood and hoping to see the wood grain through the color. I guess an ounce more or less to fill what I am looking to do but I didn't want to mix say 2, 3, or more ounces if I make the color too dark first shot then possibly too light etc.

I am completely aware to not have to worry about this is to add the ink very slowly and teeny tiny bits at a time but assuming I was just ever so close to the color I wanted and that next drop pushed it over, or the customer wants something a tad lighter is the scenario I am envisioning.

Thanks in advance!! Dave

Answer 1

The best advice I can give you is to mix the ink with the hardener first, and then mix the tinted hardener with the epoxy. If you have epoxy that uses very little hardener (like "add 10 drops of hardener to 100 grams of epoxy"), then mix the ink with the epoxy before adding the hardener.

That has several advantages:

• You can take all the time you want for the first step. Since epoxy and hardener aren't in contact yet, the epoxy won't start curing.
• Stirring always traps air bubbles. You can remove the bubbles from the tinted hardener before you mix it with the epoxy.
• The finished epoxy will have less color that what you mixed into the hardener.
• If you really fumbled and added way too much ink to the hardener, you can try storing some of the tinted hardener in a secure container for a future project. Add more colorless hardener to your mixing cup until you got the color right.

The one big disadvantage is:

• Once you mix the hardener with the epoxy, the color will change again. If it doesn't have enough color, you start adding ink again, with the risk of adding too much. But at least you'll have a feeling how much ink you'll need and if a drop might be too much and you want to use a toothpick to add the ink instead.

Answer 2

I don't know if it's an option for you, but there are resin tints you can use that are much lighter than alcohol inks. I use both, and it takes a whole lot of tint to get anything too dark. And they are transluscent as well. Very nice colors.