• Photo: 6 objects on a white background. In the back row, there is a small aluminum spouted pouch that says "Side A" on it. Next to it is a clear and aluminum flexible spouted pouch that says "Side B", with a beeswax-colored liquid material inside. To the right is a white folded piece of paper that says “Checkerspot® Pollinator™ Kit, Casting the Pollinator Series”. In the front row is a translucent silicone cup, a large pair of disposable black gloves, and a beeswax colored polyurethane mixing stick.
  • Photo: The Checkerspot® Pollinator™ Kit box on a white background. The box is standing open like a book to show a small flexible aluminum pouch on one side that says "Checkerspot® Pollinator™ Series Cast Urethane, Side A" with a translucent silicone cup and a beeswax colored polyurethane mixing stick. The other side shows a larger flexible pouch with a clear front that has a beeswax colored liquid material inside. The label says "Checkerspot® Pollinator™ Series Cast Urethane, Side B".
  • Photo: A large pair of black nitrile (disposable) gloves next to a translucent-clear silicone mixing cup with a beeswax-colored polyurethane mixing stick.
  • Photo: A beeswax-colored skateboard wheel on a white background made with Checkerspot's Pollinator™ Series Cast Polyurethane System in Natural Color. There are embossed butterflies on it with a white and steel wheel bearing in the center.
  • Photo: Five cell phone cases with a Checkerspot® butterfly logo embossed on each one lying on a white background. From top left clockwise, the case colors are natural beeswax, white, azure blue, celadon green, and bright yellow.
  • Photo: A skateboard truck with two wheels cast from Checkerspot's The Pollinator™ Series Cast Polyurethane System in Natural color which looks like beeswax. There are two more wheels lying on the table, one is black and the other is a celadon green with embossed Checkerspot® butterflies on it.
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FOR MAKERS AT EVERY LEVEL

Complete Casting Kit

Complete Casting Kit

$70.00 USD
$70.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
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Our Complete Casting Kit offers everything you need to cast your first bio-based resin project. With easy hand mixing, extra time to cure, and a hardness comparable to a shopping cart wheel or hard hat, this kit makes it easy to get started.

The Pollinator Kit is designed to provide makers and designers with access to Checkerspot's biobased Cast Polyurethane System. Previously only available to manufacturers, this sampling kit opens the door for creatives of all experience levels to use this algae-based material in prototyping-scale quantities.

Mold not included.


    Description

    The Checkerspot® Pollinator® Series Cast Polyurethane System is a two-component polyurethane casting resin formulated with Checkerspot® AlgalPolyol 001, both USDA Certified Biobased Products. Each item made solely from the resin system will be >56% biobased (ASTM D6866). The kit includes just what you need to create your first biobased polyurethane project, including 1.2L of the Checkerspot Pollinator Series Cast Polyurethane System, a stir stick made from the same formulation of polyurethane, a reusable silicone mixing cup, protective vinyl gloves, and step-by-step instructions for mixing and casting.

    Under normal conditions, this polyurethane gels in 40 minutes and can be removed from the mold in 18 hours. For accelerated curing, post-bake at 80C for 30 minutes. The unpigmented material cures to a Shore hardness of 78 D and the Spirulina-pigmented version cures to 70 D.

    We designed the kit to be a considered user experience while lowering the environmental impact of packaging, transportation, and petroleum use. Some highlights include lightweight and user-friendly packaging for the material (compared to plastic bottles, the pouches containing the A and B-side system use about 5X less plastic and minimize transportation emissions as they ship flat before filling and are lighter), a commitment to low-carbon impact with as much recycled or renewable materials as possible, a reusable mixing cup, and up to three different algae inputs: Checkerspot's own algae-based polyurethane, black ink printed by EcoEnclose with LivingInk's Algae Ink™, and polyol pigmented with blue Spirulina (in the pigmented version of the kit). 

    Pollinator resins are strong with excellent machinability. The unpigmented material is a beeswax yellow when cured and can be colored with most common urethane tints. Our materials do not contain added mercury, tin, MOCA, or TDI, making them virtually odorless. There are no fillers in the resin, and it can be hand mixed or used with metered dispensing equipment. Pollinator biobased resins can be used with the same tooling, molds, and processes employed when working with fossil fuel-derived polyurethane formulations. This resin is ideal for casting prototypes, models, figurines, proofing molds, and reproductions that demand fine detail and high quality surface finishes. It is perfect for industrial designers, engineers, model makers, hobbyists, crafters, and all types of creators looking to use renewable materials.

    If you require customized material properties, such as a quick cure, please contact us directly.

    Shipping

    • Free shipping for all orders in the United States.
    • International shipping available to EU, UK, and Canada.

    Kit Contents

    • 1.2 L of Checkerspot’s Pollinator™ Series Cast Polyurethane System in resealable pouches
    • Mixing stick made from unpigmented Pollinator™ Series Cast Polyurethane
    • Reusable silicone mixing cup
    • Protective nitrile gloves (size large)
    • Instructions for mixing and casting

    Technical Data

    • Bio Content: 56%
    • Shore Hardness: 70 D
    • Gel Time (@ 73F): 20 mins
    • Demold Time (@73F): 12 hrs
    • Mix ratio (by weight): 64.1/100 pbw
    • Mix ratio (by volume): 51.4/100 pbv

    Data Sheets

    PDS: Product Data Sheet

    SDS: Side A SDS

    SDS: Side B - Natural SDS

    SDS: Side B - Spirulina SDS

    WARNING: Prop 65 Notice View full details

    Sustainability without compromise

    • High Performance

      We test our cast urethane formulations under demanding conditions in skis and snowboards.

    • Certified Biobased

      Parts made with the Pollinator Kit are USDA Certified Biobased! Make items with ≥​56% bio content (ASTM D6866).

    • Compatible

      Use this two-part casting system with the same tooling, molding materials, and processes you normally use for fossil fuel-based cast polyurethanes.

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    Incorporate bio-materials into your designs

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Click here for even more FAQS

    Why A Kit?

    Biomaterials are not readily available to everyone today. That needs to change. We think amazing things will start to happen when renewable materials are more accessible and easy to use. And, we’ll all leave more fossil fuels in the ground.

    What are polyurethanes?

    Polyurethanes are a class of polymeric materials generated by reacting two types of chemical subunits,  isocyanates (molecules with multiple reactive isocyanate groups) and alcohols having multiple reactive hydroxyl groups (called diols, triols, and polyols). 

    In the universe, there are many types of isocyanates and polyols. Different formulations can be achieved by combining different subunits and by varying the amount of minor formulation ingredients.

    As a material class, polyurethanes are found everywhere. From the foam in your couch, the coatings on your car seats, the adhesives in your shoes, the wheels on your roller board, the bushings enabling the motion of millions of machines, as well as in tens of thousands of other products, polyurethanes a vital material for our modern functioning world. 

    What part of these formulations are biobased?

    The Pollinator Series formulations are made with Checkerspot's Algal Polyol 001, a USDA Certified Biobased Product. Each item made solely from the resin system will be ≥​56% biobased (ASTM D6866).

    How do I buy larger quantities or materials with different properties?

    We can custom formulate to achieve a range of properties. We want to talk with you about your project, part, product, and process. Please contact us to discuss.

    Customer Reviews

    Based on 3 reviews
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    J
    Jeff Lenore
    Materials with envionmental ethos

    Excited to be working with materials that have a beginning of life consistent with the values and ethos of surfers and environmental stewards. The Pollinator Kit has provided our small non-profit with the materials and tools needed to innovate, develop, and create high performance products from our small workshop. This has been an incredible opportunity to create change in the surf industry without the large startup costs needed to develop new materials.

    R
    Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman
    Great for hands-on prototyping

    The Pollinator Kit is ideal for hands-on prototyping. We can make mock-ups fast and feel good that its not harmful to the environment. We always have a great time working with this and its fun to discover new materials!

    R
    Ryan Rutherford
    User experience is a real winner

    The sustainable positioning is the meaningful hook that gets you to pay attention but the work that went in to the packaging and user experience is the real winner for me...The soft bag gives you the ability to premix your material without even opening it and the spouts provide precision control when pouring. This solution also uses less packaging material, further supporting the sustainable positioning of Checkerspot.

    Contact Us!

    We are just getting started on this journey. We expect our materials to evolve and improve over time, and we see feedback from creatives like you as a key part of that process. Please reach out!

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