New castings resins trim material cost by 10%

17-Jan-09

AOC, a leading supplier of resins, gel coats, colorants, additives for composites and cast polymers have introduced new Vicast® A830 casting resins for cultured marble manufacturers who want to lower material costs by 10% or more. The company claims that the users save money as technology is designed to work when more filler and less resin is used to produce finished marble composite product. Vicast A830 can lower the cost of making a myriad of cultured marble applications, such as vanity sinks, tubs, shower pans, fireplace surrounds and flat panels. As per the company, Vicast A830 polyester casting resins allow significantly higher filler loadings at the same styrene monomer content as traditional cultured marble casting resins. The resin series is engineered for marble composite filled with marble-quality calcium carbonate or specific lightweight fillers. In addition, A830 marble casting resins are designed to work with all three typical casting methods: hand batch mixing, auto-dispensing, and continuous metering and dispensing (commonly referred to as autocasting). The company claims that the resins are non-thixotropic, low-shrink materials that incorporate dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) chemistry. Vicast A830 resins are pre-promoted for room temperature cure using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) initiator. Products made with A830 resins have a shelf life of 90 days and excellent green strength with end-use physical properties, says AOC.