i got mine from Bauhaus, i think it cost around 2€. simple transparent silicone for sanitary use.

something i just discovered though: you can see the structure of the siliconebumps clearly when held in the light of a projector.
i’ll try it with just 2 layers. are there similar problems with rosco?

hey First I want to tell you that that I am making the table with the FTIR technique ,but the Main problem with the Silicon rubber
I purchase the SILICON SEALANT and THINNER now going to taste on the Tracing paper but I want to know that will it take 15-18 hours for prepare is it right or not

Hi, I’m a little new here, but I’ve been building my table for awhile. I’m attempting to use the textured silicone method on Rosco grey for my complaint surface.

I’m using GE Silicone I - Clear (Silicone II is the premium version, which is better on porous surfaces and not needed if applying on Rosco.)

With regards to thinning the silicone, I had a lot of trouble finding Xylol like others here (I checked many major home hardware retailers).  So I called Momentive Performance Materials, which is the company that develops the GE Silicones, and asked what they recommend for thinning silicone. They said to use either mineral spirits or turpentine. (Since turpentine was readily available, I just went out and bought that!)

I used Tinkerman’s ratio of 1:1 with turpentine-to-silicone. It worked very well, and dried enough in 1 hour for me to reapply layers. After 3 layers on Rosco, left it to dry overnight, and tested it out:

Results:
- Creates brighter blobs than in the case of not-thinning the silicone (I rolled silicone straight onto Rosco before: Worked, but not well at all). However, the blobs are still quite dim with light pressure.

I suspect that thinning the silicone more may improve the results (perhaps a ratio 3:2 of turpentine:silicone, maybe even 3:1), as well as possible applying a few more layers to compensate for the thinner silicone (total of maybe 5-6). I’ll reply to see how it goes.

Hello all,

I’ve been experimenting with Tinkermans layering method, however my tracing paper gets really sticky with the silicone layer.
I’m using an 1:1 ratio ‘transparent silicone’ mixed with ‘thinner’ (contains xylene), but when it dried it got sticky. Putting the paper on my acrylic plate, the FTIR effect is set off when I touch the paper, but it never ‘releases’ due to the sticky silicone.

Although I tried it several times with new paper and mixed silicone, my problem still exists.

What am I doing wrong? Any hints?

I experienced that sticky silicone issue, too. In my case, it went away after about a week of drying (seems like the silicone was still curing).

Also, I got more consistent results by applying a texture, according to this technique (textured silicone on vellum).

In fact, I mixed both techniques, rolling on the first pass, and rolling + texturing on the second. The texturing seems to help eliminating the sticky effect.

EDIT: also, you might wanna try different silicone brands, textures and thinners (acrylic paint thinners worked well for me).

i don’t have any of the problems mentioned above, i’m using rosco + rolled on layer(s) of pure silicone. but compared to 3 layers of rolled-on silicon on normal paper the rosco creates really weak blobs. any hints/ideas?

Cyppher - 03 November 2008 04:09 AM

Hello all,

I’ve been experimenting with Tinkermans layering method, however my tracing paper gets really sticky with the silicone layer.
I’m using an 1:1 ratio ‘transparent silicone’ mixed with ‘thinner’ (contains xylene), but when it dried it got sticky. Putting the paper on my acrylic plate, the FTIR effect is set off when I touch the paper, but it never ‘releases’ due to the sticky silicone.

Although I tried it several times with new paper and mixed silicone, my problem still exists.

What am I doing wrong? Any hints?

You may be using a low oder or off brand silicone. We had similar issues using DAP silicone. Our surface was flat with no texture and remained sticky for days.
You need to purchase GE Silicone II that will solve your issue.

i don’t have any of the problems mentioned above, i’m using rosco + rolled on layer(s) of pure silicone. but compared to 3 layers of rolled-on silicon on normal paper the rosco creates really weak blobs. any hints/ideas?

you should try to add one more silicone layer

didn’t quit work. guess i’ll have to fgure out some other way to improve the blobs brightness. someone tryed adding a teflon or ptfe-layer?