Depending on the day's temperature and humidity, you may still wind up with a blank that is slightly tacky. Polyester resin will not set up completely in a few minutes or even a couple of hours, it takes time, at least overnight. Don't be in too big of a hurry since you do not want bubbles inside your blank. Bubbles are not the end of the world but are best left out and not dealt with. Vacuum and pressure??? You don't really need it. Allow time to let the bubbles come to the top and you'll be better off, I guarantee it.
If you are in a really big hurry, you can put the filled mold in a toaster oven at 150 degrees for forty-five minutes and the blank will be hard. The problem is that you will most likely have bubbles in the resin. There was not enough time for the bubbles to come to the top before the blank set up. Most experienced acrylic/ resin/acrylester turners know that the bubble holes can be filled with CA glue and the holes will disappear without a trace. This is not a problem for them. Placing the mold in an ultrasonic sink can vibrate out the bubbles or at least make them smaller but there again, hurry, hurry, hurry. Real perfection takes natures time.
If you are putting some kind of liquid dye in the blank to color it then you will have to add one or two extra drops of hardener. Not too much though, too much hardener will also prevent the blank from setting up properly in that it will be extremely brittle. If you are using a powdered pigment like Pearl-Ex then you do not need to add any more hardener. Pearl-Ex will give you some really extraordinary coloring effects and it only takes a little. How much can you get on the end of a toothpick? That's about all you need for a single pen blank.
A good way to finish off a blank that stays tacky is to put it into a toaster oven for about a half an hour at 150 degrees F. The direct heat will dry the air in the oven, evaporate the remaining moisture very nicely and set the blank up nice and hard. Let it cool off and you are in business. I have had blanks that were tacky on the outside but were set up just fine on the inside.
You do not need to go out and spend a lot of money on a toaster oven. I got mine at a local thrift store for less than $10.00 and it works just fine. I've been using it for a couple of years now. Do not use the oven you use to make morning cinnamon toast. Once you put resin in it, it will be tainted and your toast will taste and smell like resin, YUCK.
Some helpful hints to remember when pouring polyester resin blanks:
1. Those little plastic measuring cups with the ounce scale on the side that come with the resin kits...they are great for mixing resin in but not very good for measuring. The scale is not very accurate. If you drink Crystal Light, the drink mix, or know someone who does then those little cups are exactly one ounce. They are great for measuring resin out. I also use the little one ounce plastic condiment cups that you can get from Sam's Club for a few dollars per thousand, they work great. Remember though, you will not need to buy the lids.
You can use a glass measuring cup which is very accurate. The residual resin can be cleaned out with a dab of acetone on a paper towel or an old rag. If any resin is set up in the glass cup, it will separate from the glass and come out very easily. Just scrape out the residue after it sets up. A good number for a 3/4 X 3/4 X 5 inch blank is that it will actually take 1.55 oz. Let's call it 1.6 ounces of resin to fill the mold just to make it easy. If you have a hollow tube in the mold, depending on it's diameter, then it will take less resin accordingly. Play with the numbers and see what works best for you.
2. Molds can be made from cardboard very easily. I use the backs off of tablets to make molds and they work great. Just fold the cardboard to the shape you want and hold everything together with some masking tape on the outside and on the edges and you are ready to pour. Do not use mylar or scotch tape, the resin will dissolve the tape and you will have a resin mess flowing everywhere . I also like to use those cheap plastic cutting boards from Harbor Freight. Cut to size with a table saw and tape the sides and bottom together. When the resin is set, just peel off the plastic pieces and they are ready to use again and again.
3. The best molds are made from silicone rubber. The resin will not stick to the silicone at all and they can be used over and over hundreds of times. The little plastic molds that come with the kits are OK but will not last long before the resin will not easily pop out and then finally (sooner than you think) not at all.
4. If at all possible, do your resin pours outside where you have plenty of fresh air. The resin has a very pungent odor and inhaling the vapors in an enclosed space is hazardous to your health. Even when I pour outside, I still usually wind up with a headache. Tracey will not even let me bring in a finished blank inside for several days until the smell has waned. She has what would be referred to as an Oober Sniffer, and I do not mean a big nose.
5. Resin will shrink when it sets up. If you need a 3/4" blank then you will need to pour the resin slightly deeper. When it is solid will have lost about six percent of it's mass.
6. Be sure to wear some rubber gloves when handling the resin. I have gotten it on my hands before and it does not clean off easily. It is a sticky mess that you will need to use a ton of soap and water on to get it off. I have a bottle of GoJo handy that works pretty well but I still use lots of soap and water. You can get disposable gloves at any drug store, hardware store and even at your local Wal-Mart. They are very inexpensive and will save you a lot of grief when handling resin.
7. If your resin gets a little old and you find that you are getting jelly like clumps in the can, there is a simple fix to rejuvenate the resin. Pour out what you need and then add a little acetone (fingernail polish remover) to it and stir gently, do not shake, let's leave out the bubbles. The acetone will break down the clumps and make the resin smooth again. After you have stirred out the lumps, add your hardener and pour the mold. The acetone will evaporate off and the resin will set up just fine. Acetone is very inexpensive and works great to thin the resin and smooth it out.
As you may have figured out by now, there is no set "this is how it must be done, period answer". Experimentation is the key to see what works for you. Realizing that the resin is a little on the pricey side, we have ordered a large quantity of Premium UV Inhibitive Casting Resin which comes with the hardener. When it gets here (ETA 13 May) we will be lowering the price of the Kast-A-Blank refill cans on our site to $13.99 per quart. That's 45% off the price of each quart. That's as low a price as I have seen anywhere. It even beats out the price at Hobby Lobby & Michaels with a 40% off coupon. The price of experimentation just went down. We will send out a notification when we receive it and have it ready to sell.
Web: 
Tracey has perfected some new Inlay Pen Blanks. One is a cute
some metallic silver blanks to make these pieces. The metallic silver blank was a polyester resin mixing experiment that took a few tries but worked out pretty good.
for the months of April, May and June. We will have them available all the time for any year but only the featured blank will be listed on the website. You will have to call or send an email to get another year. If Tracey has the colors available, she can make the tassle in any color. The cap may be a bit difficult since it's hard to get dyed blanks to come out in different color tones.
a sample that the manufacture sent me several months ago and I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. This is what I use to drill deer antler and it works great.
on my sample vise. The vise is supplied with one nut, the shiny one on the adjusting shaft to adjust and lock it in place. I unscrewed the shaft from the operating mechanism and threaded on another nut I bought at Lowe's to lock together in the middle of the shaft, like a jamb nut. I think I paid fifteen cents for the nut. This makes it much easier to turn the shaft to adjust the jaw width. A quick twist with my thumb and forefinger and I can go from one thickness to another instantly. There is no need to lock the shaft once the jaws are clamped onto the blank.
with the first round of circuit cards that were provided and they all had to be redone. That set us back two and a half weeks but they should be here soon. When they arrive we will have them for the Monet/Gatsby/Sierra kits and also for the Cigar Pen kits.