HydroSpan 100 Expanding Resin

HydroSpan 100™ works like a 3 dimensional copy machine enlarging any shape or design in near perfect proportion and detail. With HydroSpan you can increase the size of patterns, molds, art castings, foundry molds, fossil patterns or original art works without sculpting new masters. Original art can now be replicated in various sizes to customer requirements without sculpting new masters. Imagine how much time you will save using this product.

We invented HydroSpan 100™ for a customer needing a fast economical way to enlarge seashells, fossils and other common items for museum exhibits. Sculpting larger versions of objects is tedious and time consuming. With HydroSpan 100™ you can directly enlarge items by simply soaking your HydroSpan 100 casting in water. We begin by making a silicone rubber mold from any object we wish to enlarge. We Then pour HydroSpan 100 into the mold to create a HydroSpan 100 casting of the original item. The HydroSpan 100 casting is later removed from the mold and soaked in ordinary tap water to begin the expansion process. Within days the HydroSpan casting gradually expands to larger size, fully expanded the HydroSpan casting will grow 60% larger than original size. By creating progressively larger molds from larger HydroSpan 100 expansions, it is possible to expand a silver dollar to the size of a dinner plate. HydroSpan 100 is sold in quarts, gallons or 5 gallon quantities please call or email us for current pricing and delivery 713-943-8451 / 800-766-3832 email (we also manufacture a shrinking product see HydroSpan 400 product page)

HydroSpan 100 is a flexible urethane casting resin which gradually absorbs ordinary tap water increasing size in near perfect detail. When liquid water touches the surface of HydroSpan 100 it is attracted to the atomic charge of the polymer molecules. As water is absorbed the polymer matrix stretches to accommodate the in coming water. The absorbed water is so tightly held inside the HydroSpan 100 polymer it appears almost dry to the touch when fully expanded. Even cutting or crushing the polymer will not easily release liquid water. Migrating water molecules inside the HydroSpan 100 uniformly surround each polymer molecule, evenly stretching the internal polymer matrix in all directions. Through this process HydroSpan 100™ produces near perfect expansion of molded shapes by soaking in ordinary tap water.

HydroSpan 100™ is a safe easy to use 2 component flexible urethane. It is nonhazardous for shipping purposes and produces no odor. It has a mix ratio of 2 parts A to 1 part B component by measured by volume, working life is 10-minutes, full cure time 24 hours. Hardness of cured HydroSpan 100 (before soaking) is 45 Shore A / hardness of expanded HydroSpan™ (after water soaking for 14 days @ 72° F ) is 35 Shore A. Maximum Percent increase in size is +60%. To calculate size of fully expanded shape multiply starting dimensions by a factor of 1.6. For example an object which measures 10 inches tall, will become 16 inches tall after one full expansion (10 X 1.6 = 16). Partial expansions of less than the full +60% are possible by early removal from water soaking. Partially expanded castings may have distortions because thin wall areas will increase in size more rapidly than thick sections. Place partially expanded castings in an air tight plastic container until distortions equalize away.

HydroSpan 100 is mixed by hand stirring or electric drill with jiffy mixer attachment, the color is transparent blue.

We recommend using silicone rubber molds to avoid the use of a release agent which can slow the absorption of water and subsequent expansion process. The time required to complete the expansion process will very with the thickness of the HydroSpan 100 casting. Thin castings up to ½ inch thick will fully expand In several days. Thicker castings with a cross thickness of 2 or 3 inches will require 2 to 3 weeks of water soaking to achieve full expansion. Some temporary distortion occurs as HydroSpan begins the expansion process because thin walled elements tend to expand more rapidly. Water ports can be installed in thicker castings to reduce cross thickness and speed expansion. See Technical Information and Material Safety Information for more complete instructions.