UV curing epoxy/resin/adhesives?

[IRobertI 521]

I needed to create some mechanical strength for a project of mine (a USB plug) and was yet again reminded of how annoying two part epoxies are to work with. You have to mix more than you need, it takes ages to set (yes, even the "5 minute" stuff) and then it takes like two days to really set properly (the stuff I glued is still slightly soft 24+ hours later).

So, I started looking around and came across the UV curing stuff. It sounds like something I'd want, no mixing and it cures in seconds to a couple of minutes under the right light. Thing is, there's slightly more than 5.4 million kinds it seems... A lot of the stuff that shows up is for fly fishing, nail art and phone repairs. I want something a bit more general purpose.

Does anyone have any ideas or experiences with this stuff? Could the kinds used for fly fishing or "doming" (used in arts and crafts apparently to create jewellery) be usable for fusing stuff together or potting stuff? Or is it more cosmetic so to speak?

So many question marks...

 

[mnis 11]

I want to say: Try it.

I use for example BONDIC https://www.google.de/search?q=bondic&biw=1351&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=uFS8VO7oDMf-UJL1gLAG&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQsAQ ,already for a long time, mostly for minor repairs. I want to say it's the best invention since chocolate. Similar products from other vendors will work just as well, I think.

+ Complete curing within a few seconds.

+ It is very suitable for fill small cracks.

+ It is suitable for fixing (... such as vibration protection) of small electronic components.

+ It can be molded into small transparent (... smooth-walled) molds.

+ It has very good post-processing features, it does not require specialized methods.

+ Multilayer connections are possible at any time.

+ Specifically, the BONDIC is available in two different viscosities.

 

- It is absolutely unsuitable as a contact adhesive on smooth surfaces.

- Restriction: Only Wherever the UV light reaches, it can be used.

Check out some videos on YouTube, for example:

Markus

 

[IRobertI 521]

Thanks for the info mnis. I remember seeing that Bondic stuff years ago but I never bought any because I thought it was too expensive. Looking around on Ebay it seems the fly tying stuff is the most common. The prices seem quite high for that as well (I feel like I'm getting ripped off...). Meh, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and try some and see if I like it.

 

[peggyb 171]

I use the UV at work (jewelry class), the thing looks similar as the nail stuff where you can put your hand in, like this: https://webshop.bijoumoderne.nl/websolutions/default.aspx?wsmt=wsitemdetail&itemcode=08108022&unitcode=01&cpl=1.

The resin can be mixed with a little color.

But the trick is to build it up in small layers…. because the uv light has to travel through the whole part ,I guess. And it takes a long time to set also, even with small layers (like 3-5 mm per layer) Be careful not to add too much color because that makes the curing even worse...

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

I had a tooth repaired at the dentist this sunday, as a small piece broke of, the dentist is also using UV curing stuff, works real fast , think less that a minute, and you can immediatly use it after curing.

 

[IRobertI 521]

I bought a couple of different products. A random bottle from China and a syringe from the UK with a laser for curing (if the laser ends up having too small of an area of effect I'll just wire up a few UV LEDs that I have in the junk drawer. We'll see if it works at all or if I wasted my money hehe.

 

[mevander 0]

I've used UV-glues from Norton Adhesives in several different projects here at the university. It works pretty well and they have glues that are both heat and UV-curable which is great for parts that only partly are UV-transparent. You can find them here: http://www.techoptics.com/adhesives/optical-adhesives

I can also recommend getting a hand-held UV-lamp like the dentists use. It's very convenient when gluing small stuff. In Sweden you can find it here: http://www.brotech.se/fusion-curing-light-blue/2960-0

 

[TTronik 0]

I've used UV-glues from Norton Adhesives in several different projects here at the university. It works pretty well and they have glues that are both heat and UV-curable which is great for parts that only partly are UV-transparent. You can find them here: http://www.techoptics.com/adhesives/optical-adhesives

I can also recommend getting a hand-held UV-lamp like the dentists use. It's very convenient when gluing small stuff. In Sweden you can find it here: http://www.brotech.se/fusion-curing-light-blue/2960-0

 

Its also possible to use a UV flashlight like our TTronik L14UV which we designed to provide rapid curing. We tested against a series of different epoxys with an average cure time of around 4-sec for a domed button of thick thin hard epoxy resin and ~10 sec for flex epoxy formulas. You can find us at http://www.ttronik.com or on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1JzqHmg