Got a crystal too unique to completely embed

jbburning

So I have a piece of cactus quartz and want to embed it at the top of a pyramid but want about 75% of it sticking out of the top. I have an idea as to cuttting a hole in the mold and blocking that hole with the quartz piece then filling the mold with resin. what, if anything, should I seal the mold with so I don't have resin dripping onto the crystal? Anyone with experience or insight? I might possibly have the wrong understanding of this particular process and any help would be immensely appreciated since I know that this quartz will project energy in every direction at interesting levels that would be wasted if completely embedded.

emlong · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:42 pm Post subject:

Silicone adhesive or caulk.
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jbburning · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 12:30 am Post subject:

will the silicone or caulk stick to the crystal and potentially blemish the piece with a line at the meeting point of the mold?

emlong · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:40 am Post subject:

If you carefully slit the mold to accept the crystal then only a little caulk should be necessary to fill in the small gaps. What you are trying to do is tricky though. The silicone caulk will not permanently glue itself to the crystal. It can be peeled off later.
The easiest way to it do would be to use a cylinder mold or something open at the top. Hot melt glue the crystal to a stick or a coat hanger or something and lower it down into the resin in the mold to the depth you desire. Keep it suspended until the resin cures. You can also just tape it to the stick or whatever to hold it in suspension.
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Ruth · Member Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 1596 Location: Oregon

"The easiest way to it do would be to use a cylinder mold or something open at the top."

Yes, I was thinking the same thing, Emlong.

You might try a funnel. Dollar stores often have a size selection. You might be able to cut the top off where it matches the diameter of the crystal. The plastic is slightly flexable, and could be cut to fit - scribed in, if you're a woodworker- I'll bet an exacto knofe and some carbon paper would get you a fairly precise fit.

Ruth

jbburning · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:36 pm Post subject:

the funnel idea was my initial thought. I just have to make sure that it will hold up to the heat of the resin.

Ruth · Member Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 1596 Location: Oregon

Yes, and some plastics will fuse to it, too. The plastic "glassware" from the dollar store was a dissapointment that way. I had to gift the whole thing as is.

emlong · Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject:

You could try to scribe it, but cutting plastic like that is tricky. I did a fair amount of scribe work as a professional woodworker, but that was with wood.
You can scribe close to the crystal then bring a heat gun to bear on the plastic to soften it and mold it to the crystal, but you have to be careful about heat cracking the crystal.
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jbburning · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:25 am Post subject:

Here's an update. I ended up going with a simple mold, a glass pyrex jar, so it looks like an inverted tb, but the alignment of the crystals are what makes it so unique. At the top is cactus quartz, or spirit quartz, that is rough like a geode on every facet of the external surface--thus sending positive, cleansing vibrations in every direction. A bed of copper, then underneath, placed sporadically around, is a gram of phenacite, then underneath that is a sandwich of copper between two slices of kyanite, then more copper, and then on the very bottom is a really exquisite double terminated clear quartz about an inch and a half long. I feel like so much of this piece is made of grounding stones that I went with a darker red tint, and then the phenacite is a stone that helps with astral travel, so the quartz sticking out, eminating these energies is also a symbol of the transcendental natures. Kind of a shame to hide the nice minerals, but it was all done to show off this unique cactus quartz.

CreativeChi · Member Joined: 24 Feb 2011 Posts: 495

NICE

Thanks for the update.
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jbburning · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:59 am Post subject:

thanks. I know the photo looks pretty basic and the top is slightly marred with air bubbles, but just hold it in your hand and focus the third eye on it, and your eyes will shake for at least ten minutes afterwards.

emlong · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:39 pm Post subject:

That looks great
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