Resin Tutorial - Drilling and Finishing

This installment will show you how to finish a resin piece by describing how to:

(1) Drill a hole for inserting a jump ring.

(2) Or, add a glue-on bail.

(3) Restore sanded edges to their shiny resin luster.

For drilling, you will need the following materials:

(1) Small hand-drill, such as a Dremmel, (I'm using a Craftsman Rotary tool.)

(2) Drill bits of your desired size.

I almost always use a 1/16" bit, which is perfect for inserting jump rings. If you are going to string your finished piece on thick cord or chain, you will need a larger bit. Be sure to purchase the regular bits used for wood (not the type for glass - tried it accidentally - does not work!)

(3) A particle mask or dust mask.

Resin behaves much like wood when drilling and even makes the same sort of huge mess. However, unlike sawdust which is natural, cured resin is a synthetic and can be harmful if inhaled. Please be sure to wear a mask to avoid breathing in any particles.

A particle mask is best (such as a painters mask) but a regular dust mask will work just fine. But please use something - even a bandanna if you don't have a mask (think wild-west-bandit style).

(4) A table vice or clamp to hold your resin piece securely.

(5) Leather pieces to protect your piece from being scratched while in the vice.

Most craft stores carry small pieces of leather; I used an old belt, cut it into pieces, then secured the pieces onto the inside sides of the vice:

Place your resin piece in the vice and close to hold tightly. You'll have to experiment a bit to find how tightly you need to grip the piece; too loose and the drill will shift it and make a crooked hole, too tight and you may crush and even slightly dis form your resin piece - I mostly find this happens on round pieces; shapes with flat edges are harder to squish.

Now you are ready to drill the hole where you like it.

I always drill back-to-front, and on a slight angle. This is to accommodate a jump ring. You could also drill straight through - side to side, or back to front - and string it instead of using a jump ring.

Again, you're going to have to experiment to get the right feel for how to hold the drill, at what angle, and much pressure to apply. If possible, use some pieces that aren't your favorites, to practice on.

Here are some more photos with a white resin piece that may be easier to see:

You can see what a mess this makes!

Here are some finished drilled pieces. A little rough looking - (like this out-of-focus picture, sorry!)

The holes will be filled with particles of the drilled out resin, and will need to be cleaned.

Wash the pieces in plain water. To clean out the holes, you can try holding them under a running faucet, but that is not usually enough pressure (at least at my house).

I ended up using our Water Pick. Yes, normally it's for cleaning teeth, but it turns out to be multi-purpose. It does a remarkable job in cleaning those holes out.

You could also use a bead reamer, or even a toothpick to poke the little bits out.

Here are some drilled pieces that have been cleaned:

You can see that the drilling has left the holes looking dull. These may be just fine for what you are trying to do, or depending on the color of the resin.

If your resin pieces are clear, you will notice obvious white spots where you drilled:

If you don't like this, you will need to re-coat the drilled hole in resin to repair the surface and restore the shine.

You will need to mix up a small batch of resin:

For this, I used 7.5 ml each of resin and hardener:

Mix thoroughly.

Even with this small amount, you will have plenty left over. So you might as well set out a mold so you can pour the left-resin and start making some new designs.

Once your resin is thoroughly mixed, grab a toothpick - I found this is the perfect diameter instrument for my 1/16" holes.

Dip the pick into your mixture and scrape the excess on the side of the cup:

You want just a light coating of resin on your toothpick, not globs. Just a very thin coat of resin is all that is needed to restore the shine to your drilled holes - if you use to much it may plug the hole and you will have to re-drill.

See? It looks like I nearly scraped it clean:

Run the toothpick through the hole and swirl it around. You will be able to see the hole turning from white to clear again.

Set the piece down on a non-stick surface (such as waxed paper) and allow to dry thoroughly before handling.

Here are some pieces with re-dipped holes:

You can still see the holes, but it is a vast improvement.

Now, you can repeat the process for those dull, sanded edges.

For this dome shaped piece, I used some of my son's playdoh to form a nice little nest to hold it securely. (I've tried just holding them in my hand, but inevitably make a mess - especially with the domed ones.)

This time, run the toothpick gently along the sanded edge.

You could also use a small paint-brush if you prefer. I like the toothpick because it has a small contact surface and does not hold a lot of resin, as a brush might.

Allow to dry before handling.

You will now be ready to add your jump ring, chain, cord, or whatever you wish to string your finished piece:

And you will have a beautiful, ready to wear pendant!

If you do not have the equipment for drilling, you can easily attach a glue-on bail.

The most commonly used types are called "Aanraku", which are marketed for fused glass pendants and cabochons. But they work a treat for resin as well.

Affix the bail using a waterproof glue, such as E6000, or a quick-cure epoxy adhesive like Devcon 5-Minute Epoxy. Both kinds can usually be found at your local craft or hardware store.

Glue-on bails are an quick and easy alternative, and they result in a lovely finished necklace!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.

Resin Jewelry Tutorial - Sanding

When casting resin jewelry using molds, you will inevitably discover the need for some amount of finishing work, usually in the form of sanding. Depending upon how high you filled the mold, you will be left with a varying degree of extra resin - either a thin raised edge, or a large excess lip surrounding the piece.




Sanding, either to remove excess bits of resin, or just to soften cured edges, will create a nice, finished piece.

Cured resin can be sanded much like wood, and you can use the same type of sandpapers in a range of grits, depending on what you need to accomplish.

Also similar to sanding wood, sanding resin creates a fair amount of dust, so it would be prudent to wear a dust mask while working to avoid breathing in any of those particles.

If you have large pieces of excess resin to remove, or want to actually re-shape the piece, start with a larger grit sandpaper - around 80 - 120. Individual sandpapers can usually be found at hardware stores sold by the piece, and are less then $1 a piece, so you can pick up one each in a wide range of grits.

For finer finish work, you can use automotive or wet/dry sandpaper with grits of 600, 800, 1000, and sometimes higher. These can be found at an auto parts store. Using wet/dry paper and sanding your piece under water will keep dust down and will also prevent resin particles from re-distributing on the finished piece.



I have tried various papers of various grits, and for my purposes, my favorite sanding tool to use is the simple emery board (you can usually get a 5 or 10 pack for $1 at the drugstore). The sturdy form and thin shape provides great control and ease of use.



Being only two-handed, I couldn't take a picture of the actual process - but give it a quick try and you'll figure it out in no time. Hold your resin piece in one hand, and sand with the other!

To sand using papers instead, I find it easiest to lay the paper flat on a table and then rub the resin piece on top of that - moving and changing position of your resin piece (not the paper) to shape and define the various angles.

Until you get a feel for the motions, I would recommend practicing with a few of your less-than-favorite pieces, just so there are no tragedies. If you happen to scrape or nick the edge of the resin (where you didn't intend to sand) it will scratch the surface!

It does take a bit of practice to fall into the right rhythm, and also determine what sort of angle to use and how much pressure to apply. But with a little experimenting, you'll find your groove in no time at all and soon be a sanding pro.

Here is the same piece as the very first photo, now after having been sanded. I removed the excess border of resin and also rounded the edges a bit.

You will also have noticed the down-side of sanding; that it removes that sparkling shiny finish, and leaves a dull edge. This effect is more or less noticeable depending on the color of your resin piece, and may or may not be an issue for you.

Continuing to sand in increasingly finer grits of sandpaper will create a smoother, finer finish. And polishing with a wax will help even further. However, the only way to restore that beautiful, glossy shine is to re-coat in resin. Don't worry, it's not too hard...and will be discussed in an upcoming post...

A final shot of a sanded vs. an un-sanded piece.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand and informative. I have complied all my tutorials, refined them, added new information and pictures, and added 2 complete step-by-step project instructions in this 32-page digital booklet, "Getting Started With Resin Jewelry". For more information, click here.

Botanicals In Frosted Resin

I am so pleased to introduce my new line of resin jewelry! These miniature cherry blossom branches were made from real twigs and polymer clay flowers.

These pieces take quite a bit of time to make, and in an effort to maintain the quality of this style I will only be offering them with Italian sterling silver chains. Yes, box chain - my favorite!

Encased in clear resin, you can fully enjoy the multi-dimensional elements. I love working with paper, but it is so...well, flat...

I will always prefer embedding 3-D objects, and am especially inspired by flowers or other natural elements. Life is so hectic now, sometimes we don't even get out of the house or office, let alone be able to slow down and actually enjoy the outdoors. So it's nice to be able to carry a bit of nature with you.

The back and sides are sanded with a fine grit paper to produce a soft frosted look. The result reminds me of ice - with tiny treasures frozen inside, of course!

New variations will be coming soon, including different blossom colors and fun beaded chains.