How to Measure Resin Without a Scale
Not everyone owns a scale, and you shouldn't need one to make a clean piece. Plenty of resins are designed to be measured by volume anyway — but "by volume" still means accurately by volume, not a hopeful glug from each bottle. The good news: a couple of cheap tools make it just as reliable as weighing.
Here's how I measure when I'm not reaching for the scale, and the one thing you have to check on your bottle first.
First: is your resin a by-volume resin?
This matters before you do anything. Some resins state their ratio by volume, some by weight — and the numbers aren't interchangeable, because resin and hardener don't weigh the same per ounce. I broke that trap down here.
If your bottle gives a volume ratio (like 1:1 or 2:1 by volume), you're set — measuring without a scale is exactly how it's meant to be done. If it only gives a weight ratio, a scale really is the right tool, and a $12 kitchen one is worth it. Don't try to convert weight numbers into volume in your head; that's how good resin gets wasted.
Graduated mixing cups (the easy default)
Straight-sided plastic cups printed with ml and ounce lines are the simplest answer, and they're cheap by the sleeve. Pour Part A to a line, add Part B to the matching line for your ratio, done.
Two things make or break the reading. Use straight-sided cups, not cups that taper — a tapered cup means the same height is a different volume near the bottom than the top, and your ratio drifts. And read the lines at eye level, cup on the table, not tilted up toward your face. Glancing down at an angle consistently fools people into a short pour. I keep a stack of 1 oz and 3 oz cups and rarely need anything else.
Syringes for the tiny batches
For small jewelry pours, a graduated cup can be hard to read at the very bottom, where a couple of millilitres matters. This is where a pair of cheap plastic syringes shines — one for resin, one for hardener, clearly labelled so they never swap.
Draw each part to its mark and you get precision a cup can't match at small volumes. They're a few dollars at a pharmacy or craft store, and they pay off the first time you mix a single earring's worth without it coming out tacky. Just keep them strictly separated; a syringe with a film of hardener in it will throw off your next resin draw.
The disposable-cup-with-marks trick
No graduated cups on hand? You can mark your own. Using a single measuring spoon or a syringe, add one "unit" of water at a time to a clear plastic cup and mark each level with a permanent marker. Now you've got a measuring cup calibrated to whatever increments you like — pour resin and hardener to your marked lines in the right ratio.
It's a little fiddly and I wouldn't do it forever, but in a pinch it absolutely works, and it's miles better than guessing. Dry the cup completely before you put resin in it, though — leftover water hazes the batch cloudy.
What not to do
Don't pour straight from the bottles "by eye," and don't count seconds of pouring as a measurement — bottle openings and flow rates vary too much. And once you've measured, the accuracy only counts if you mix thoroughly afterward; a perfect ratio still cures soft if you leave unmixed pockets in the cup.
Honestly, the first time I tried to wing it without measuring at all, I got a tacky mess and learned the lesson cheaply. Marked cups cost almost nothing and turned that into a non-issue.
Browse my handmade silicone molds for your next pour.
Working with a by-volume or by-weight resin and not sure which tool fits? Tell me the brand and ratio on your bottle and I'll point you to the easiest accurate way to measure it.
— Nikolai