UV Resin Curing Light

[FliesbyNight 0]

I haven't seen much discussion about it so I thought I would post a tip.

 

I found a UV light for curing resin from a 3D printer and it plugs in to the wall so it cures quickly with NO tack. No need to put a finish coat over the resin. Amazon carries it for $18. Compared to $50+ for the flashlight style it's a pretty easy decision.

 

Here's the link to the one I bought:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08253Q266?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

[SBPatt 0]

2 hours ago, FliesbyNight said:

 Compared to the $50+ for the flashlight style it's a pretty easy decision.

Crazy, yes? I found a battery powered UV flashlight at Home Depot for $12; works great.

Regards,
Scott

[FliesbyNight 0]

19 minutes ago, SBPatt said:

Crazy, yes? I found a battery powered UV flashlight at Home Depot for $12; works great.

Regards,
Scott

Nice.  I'll have to pick up one then.  Does it fix the tack problem?

I like the power of the plug in version I have, since it cures the resin completely hard. I sometime set up shop at fishing flea markets to try and support my addiction by selling flies. They are usually held in school gyms so power outlets are limited but if the HD version you mention works as well, I will grab one and throw in the travel kit.

[SBPatt 0]

It works fine for the Loon Thin resin I use; no tack.

Regards,
Scott

[robow7 0]

Silvercreek should be able to chime in here but I don't think the UV light has much to do with the finish drying tack free.  I think that's determined by the chemistry of the UV resin itself.

[SilverCreek 0]

UV resins for fly tying should be formulated with a photoinitiator that is activated by the relatively low power flashlights vs the need for a 120 volt house current UV lamps.

The type and amount of photoinitiator determines how fast a resin will cure.

The tacky surface coat that does not cure is due to "oxygen inhibition." Oxygen inhibition is when oxygen binds to the resin polymer radical forming a peroxy radical that blocks further reaction, leaving some of the resin "uncured."  The uncured resin causes the tacky surface.

 

 

So adding a chemical that blocks oxygen inhibition allows a complete cure. Using the right combination of polymers and a photoinitiator that is activated by low power flashlights means you can tie these flies anywhere and they are ready to use immediately.

 

[FliesbyNight 0]

2 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

So adding a chemical that blocks oxygen inhibition allows a complete cure. Using the right combination of polymers and a photoinitiator that is activated by low power flashlights means you can tie these flies anywhere and they are ready to use immediately.

 

Thank you for the explanation.  This similar to most welding processes where a flux or shield gas is used to eliminate O2 from the weld area which causes imperfections.

That being said:

I am using the exact same bottles of Loon Outdoors as before.  My results with the flashlight I have would yield tacky cures.  Since I started using the plug-in, I get a complete cure.  The only difference is the light.  Granted, one experiment is not a statistical universe,  but these results are fairly convincing.

[SilverCreek 0]

16 minutes ago, FliesbyNight said:

Thank you for the explanation.  This similar to most welding processes where a flux or shield gas is used to eliminate O2 from the weld area which causes imperfections.

That being said:

I am using the exact same bottles of Loon Outdoors as before.  My results with the flashlight I have would yield tacky cures.  Since I started using the plug-in, I get a complete cure.  The only difference is the light.  Granted, one experiment is not a statistical universe,  but these results are fairly convincing.

The higher intensity light cures the resin faster.

The reason that you can put a tacky fly in sunlight and have it cure faster is that sunlight has more UV light than a flashlight has. So the plug in light you bought puts out more UV and so the tacky surface cures faster.

My resins are formulated to cure with UV flashlights.

[Idaho RC 0]

17 minutes ago, FliesbyNight said:

Thank you for the explanation.  This similar to most welding processes where a flux or shield gas is used to eliminate O2 from the weld area which causes imperfections.

That being said:

I am using the exact same bottles of Loon Outdoors as before.  My results with the flashlight I have would yield tacky cures.  Since I started using the plug-in, I get a complete cure.  The only difference is the light.  Granted, one experiment is not a statistical universe,  but these results are fairly convincing.

Possibly you should consider trying Silver Creeks UV resin.  I also have the UV lights he sells.  They work great.  I have used several UV Resins (including Loons) and Silver Creeks works the best for me.  That's who I choose to support.  

[rscconrad 0]

You using a 3d resin printer light.  I do also. It works great.  Now take the next step and buy some clear up resin.  It will blow your mind how much you get for how cheap. It is like medium viscosity, similar to the loon thin I use. For the clear printer resin, I use Dr.3D clear. Mine was a 500 g bottle. They sell it as photopolymer resin.  
 

I am sure lots of people will pop up saying why it won’t work, but it works great. I have not tried the color stuff yet but the clear looks the same, smells the same, and sets up the same.  
 

I am sure there are differences but they don’t matter to my flies. 
 

good luck

[FliesbyNight 0]

@Silver Creek, That is what I was trying to state in my response but I guess it wasn't clear. With the plug-in I have a higher intensity light.  Also, the output should be more consistent because there are no batteries to weaken.

I do appreciate your explanation.  I did not realize there are curing agents (rather than a property of the resin itself) and that oxygen was a bad thing for the cure.

[Ephemerella 0]

Couple of differences between the various UV lights. As noted above, some vary in intensity - and the results are sort of obvious - more light energy = faster cure. Many of the LED UV lights are on slightly different wavelengths (colors) -and further they are narrowband, that is, emit one or more vary narrow ranges of wavelengths of ultraviolet. Sunlight, filtered incandescent sources, and some (not all) UV fluorescent tube sources are broadband, containing a range of many different wavelengths. The various resins are chemically "tuned" for specific wavelength light to initiate hardening. The wrong wavelength will often eventually cure as there is some residual light that falls into the sweet spot of the specific UV resin cement, but not as fast. The slower cure, as SilverCreek noted, lets oxidation of some of the resin occur and hence sticky residue.  So at a minimum, ensure the UV light you use is of the wavelength the resin vendor specifies. Now to be sure, some vendors try to keep this a "trade secret" so they can sell you their "proprietary" light source - it's their right to have trade secrets to protect their business. But vendors of UV resin for fly tying that are primarily making UV resin for industrial use will have the needed wavelength in their literature, although maybe not in the retail fly fishing literature. 

[FliesbyNight 0]

2 hours ago, rscconrad said:

...Now take the next step and buy some clear up resin.  It will blow your mind how much you get for how cheap. It is like medium viscosity, similar to the loon thin I use. For the clear printer resin, I use Dr.3D clear. Mine was a 500 g bottle. They sell it as photopolymer resin.  
 

I am sure lots of people will pop up saying why it won’t work, but it works great. I have not tried the color stuff yet but the clear looks the same, smells the same, and sets up the same...

@rscconrad, thanks for the tip.  I'll try it when I need to re-stock.

[vicrider 0]

On 3/12/2022 at 5:15 PM, Idaho RC said:

Possibly you should consider trying Silver Creeks UV resin.  I also have the UV lights he sells.  They work great.  I have used several UV Resins (including Loons) and Silver Creeks works the best for me.  That's who I choose to support.  

I have been a fan of Silver Creek for a long time but now I want him to come back and let me know something. I bought a 3 pack of those small Solarez tubes to try on someone's recommendation. The tubes are lasting a lot longer than I thought they would and the biggest difference I've found is how clear the Solarez dries. My Silver Creek resins seems to go cloudy under UV light and if they do it then aren't they doing it in sunlight? The Solarez dries crystal clear and flouro thread shows through with no clouding. 

On the subject of lights I picked up somewhere in the past a laser light about the size of a fat pen. Uses two regular AA batteries instead of those special sized ones. Because it is so concentrated you can hold it right up to the fly and it works fast. Another thing I've noticed is the Solarez cures clear and hard with no smoke. When you first hit the Silver Creek version from the bottle it always gives a puff of smoke if you hit it with the laser too close and too fast instead of sneaking up on it.

Being one who spends too much money keeping up with the Jones I just ordered on of the 110 lights from Amazon to hook up on the bench.

[SilverCreek 0]

I checked my records and you bought resin from me in 2017, 5 years ago.

The speed of cure varies with amount of photoinitiator in the formula. I try to strike a balance so there is enough for low power multiple LED UV flashlights can cure the resin in a reasonable time. Laser can be fanned over the resin to prevent smoking.

My current formula of Crystal Flex resin dries crystal clear. It won't smoke with a laser.