UV cured finishes

[Bluegill Budd]

Someone school me on UV dried epoxy finishes. I bought a bottle of Lisa Pavelka Magic-Glos, meant for making jewelry, at Michael's Hobby shop, but it does not harden under my Ebay UV flashlight. It will harden if I put it out in the direct sunlight, so I know it works.

My question is: Did I get the wrong epoxy or the wrong flashlight. On my fixed income I can not afford the items sold at the fly shops.

[Rick Z]

How long did you hold it under the flashlight? Just curious.

Rick

[Bluegill Budd]

How long did you hold it under the flashlight? Just curious. Rick

Well it may be a moot point now. I really couldn't remember how long I held the light over the popper I was trying to coat. So I sat at the bench and tried to paint another popper and do some testing. NOPE - it seems that the entire bottle (1 oz.) is as solid as a rock.

I am no expert but you may have the wrong light. A google search revealed that the company recommends this light http://https://store.lisapavelka.com/UV_Light_s/1874.htm . This is listed as a 9 Watt light and I don't think the Ebay UV which I may have the same one, is strong enough. You could try new batteries int the UV light and/or trying sunlight.
Good luck, Mike

You are correct. I never looked into what sized light the manufacturer specified.

So given the light I have, a small hand-held 12 bulb UV flashlight, which UV Resin (I realized in my looking around, it is a resin, not an epoxy) would you both recommend?

[Bluegill Budd]

After much reading, Youtube watching and talking to the only other fly-tier close to me (if you consider an hour and five minute drive close) I decided to get a bottle of Solar-EZ Bone Dry. My buddy has the same light I do and he says a maximum of 20 seconds for a thin coat is all that is needed. Less than $20 delivered. Worth the slight extra $$ to not worry about it. Thanks for the insight.

[Philly]

I started out using CCG UV resin which is no longer available. I ordered a kit which came with a UV light, not sure what voltage it is. So far it's worked on all the resins I've used CCG, Bug Bond and Loon. I just got a couple of bottle of the Solarez UV resin so I'm curious to see if the light will work with them. One trick with using UV resin on poppers is to rotate them while you shine the light on them, if you have a rotary vise. It will keep bulges from developing even you're using a thin resin. Here's a couple of poppers I did with Bug Bond light which is a thin resin. A bit heavier coat over the eyes to keep them in place.

P1150116.jpg

[nfrechette]

[melk]

I am no expert but you may have the wrong light. A google search revealed that the company recommends this light http://https://store.lisapavelka.com...ght_s/1874.htm . This is listed as a 9 Watt light and I don't think the Ebay UV which I may have the same one, is strong enough. You could try new batteries int the UV light and/or trying sunlight.
Good luck,
Mike

[SMClark]

the company recommends this … 9 Watt light

The company also describes their light as "quick setting … (an average time of 5–10 minutes) … ". I've not used my UV finishes a lot, but 5–10 minutes seems like a whole lot longer than what mine usually requires

[Bluegill Budd]

The company also describes their light as "quick setting ? (an average time of 5?10 minutes) ? ". I've not used my UV finishes a lot, but 5?10 minutes seems like a whole lot longer than what mine usually requires

The bottle of resin I bought was meant for making jewelry, not fly-tying. The light they sell is a desk top unit, that plugs into the wall and has a slot in the side where you slide the item into it and let it set. Same idea, but a very different application. I did use the resin successfully, but had to take my poppers outside on the deck rail to set up. I think the total setting time was about 15 minutes, but I never measured it.

[whatfly]

Perhaps someone who knows more about the details can chime in, but it is my understanding that UV flashlights shine at specific wavelengths whereas sunlight covers a much broader spectrum (sic.), hence why you get different results. This is true for a lot of the UV curable acrylics, not just the product you tested. The length of the curing time can vary as well, depending on the product, and this one is one of the slowest I've heard of yet. Your hand-held UV flashlight probably did not have the proper range to cure the product. If you look around, you can find UV lights with broader ranges, some even like using UV 'laser pointers' which are supposedly more powerful (and don't make a difference as far as my experiments indicate), but probably easier just to find a different product.

As far as Solarez, really wish they had not learned so quickly how easy it is to gouge fly tiers. What they want to for a 1/2 oz. is ridiculous when you realize how cheap their other products are by the pint or quart. They have a thin UV lacquer substitute that looks very interesting and might serve as well as "Bone Dry" and it costs around $35 per PINT. At that price, it does not have to be identical, just close enough. YMMV.