Replacement Technique Products

The Nunn Design product line is continually evolving. Along with new releases, we also see the change of items being discontinued. Oh darn it!

A lot of the techniques that Nunn Design has offered over the years required us to create distributor partnerships so that we could teach and offer the products to our customers. These past few years have brought a lot of change. The minimum requirements, expiration dates and shipping restrictions no longer make it viable for us to continue to offer these products.

Within this post, I hope to direct you to other manufacture’s products that are similar. I have not tested them personally, but I have done a survey of our existing customers and they have generously offered their sources.

Here are some products that you might be interested in exploring as replacement to the items Nunn Design will no longer be offering. I have not included links to all these products, but if you do an online search, there are a lot of retailers and online sites that will be happy to serve you.

2-Part Epoxy Clay

After many attempts to restock Crystal Clay, we chose to close it out. Here are other 2-part epoxy clays that our customers have recommended:

• Apoxie Sculpt
• Ceralun from Swarovski

Resin Cups & Stir Sticks

We no longer carry Resin Cups or Stir Sticks, so we’ve put together a list of items and links where you can buy them yourself.

Resin Cups. We use 1oz graduated measuring cups for resin mixing. We prefer the type of cup that is more rigid, clearer, and does not have a lip which makes pouring a little messy. The cup with a lip causes more drips. Nobody likes a drip. You want the polypropylene plastic rather than the polyethylene plastic cup. It is wise to select a cup with graduated lines to mark out divisions for measuring. Then you know it is accurate.

• Resin Cups on Amazon: https://a.co/d/4fDj6bJ
• Or search online for “ 1 oz. Graduated Cup” “1oz Graduated Polypropylene Cup”

Wide Stir Sticks are ideal for mixing your resin within the mixing cup. These are tongue depressors which can be purchased at craft stores or at most medical supply stores, but probably at a higher rate. Popsicle sticks might work too and are cheaper, yet we have not tested them.

• Wide Stir Sticks/Tongue Depressors on Amazon: https://a.co/d/i6KK2A3
• Or search online for “Tongue Depressors” “Craft Sticks” “Popsicle Sticks”

Narrow Stir Sticks are great for drizzling resin onto your findings. We prefer sticks with rounded edges as they slide into the cups better. The sticks with square ends are cheaper but get hung up in the ridges at the bottom of the cups. The stir sticks are coffee stir sticks and can be purchased almost anywhere.

• Narrow Stir Sticks on Amazon: https://a.co/d/9Rm4Yzv
• Or search online for “5.5 inch Wooden Coffee Stirrers”

Resin Colorants

Castin’ Craft Opaque Pigments are being phased out by the manufacturer, and once our remaining stock is gone, they’ll no longer be part of the Nunn Design lineup. If you search online for Castin’ Craft, you may still find some suppliers with remaining inventory. When searching for alternatives, try terms like casting resin pigment or opaque resin colorant that work with your resin.

We’re always curious to learn from other makers too, what do you use?

Resin Dyes

Castin’ Craft Transparent Dyes are being phased out by their manufacturer, and once our remaining stock is gone, they’ll no longer be part of the Nunn Design lineup.

We won’t be offering a direct replacement, but if you’re looking for something similar, Alumilite / Polycolor dyes might be worth exploring. They’re available directly through Alumilite’s website, come in both translucent and opaque options, and are highly concentrated – a little goes a long way.

“Use Alumilite/Polycolor dyes to add color to your casting resins! Dyes can be used in clear resins for translucent castings, with epoxy for dynamic coatings, or in opaque resin for solid bold colors.

• Highly concentrated for many, many uses
• Works in Clear Resins for translucence
• Bold colors achieve in opaque resins

Use smallest amount possible to achieve desired color (up to 5%). Our Alumilite Dyes are highly concentrated. In some instances it’s necessary to use less than 1 drop to achieve color in small resin batch. This can be achieved by adding a spec of dye to the tip of a stir stick rather than dispensing into the resin…a little goes a long way!

Opaque dyes contain fillers that may settle in the bottle. To maintain consistent color, agitate/stir prior to use.

Translucent colors include green*, yellow, red, blue, orange, violet, and ocean blue.

***Note that Green translucent dye is not compatible with epoxy chemistry and will shift to a blue color. This is due in part to chemistry but also shift in hues (yellowing) over time of epoxy, causing changes in color. ***

Opaque colors include white, black, flo red, flo orange, flo yellow, brown, and flo green. Some translucency can be achieved by adding an incredibly small amount of these dyes to clear resin.”

Glue

Amazing Sealer by Alumilite is a one-part, water-based sealant that can be used as a glue, sealer, and protectant.  Amazing Sealer is applied white, but turns clear as it dries. This product is a great replacement for our discontinued Nunn Design Glue.

Transfer Sheet Stock

We are no longer able to purchase wholesale Lazertran, the film we used to print the transfer sheets onto. If you do an online search, you will find vendors that offer this paper stock. Make sure to select the right type of film for your printer.

• Search online for “Lazertran Waterslide Decal Paper” and include if you are printing from an inkjet or laser printer.
• Or just search for “Waterslide Decal Paper”

Shop Nunn Design Wholesale

Nunn Design has been supplying jewelry artists with findings for over 20 years. Shop wholesale jewelry findings for creative jewelry makers.

How to Purchase Wholesale?

If you are interested in becoming one of the many designers who trust their jewelry to Nunn Design Findings, please join us by registering to become one of our wholesale customers!

Please visit our Where to Buy Page for a listing of online stores that sell Nunn Design Findings retail.

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