UV EPOXY Finishing?

[gr8danish]

Has anyone ever tried UV Epoxy finishes for pens? I know a TON of cuemakers that use the stuff religiously.

The really nice thing about it is that you can spray it on fairly evenly, and then after you hit it with UV light for about 10-14 seconds, it is COMPLETELY cured!

One of my local Cuemakers, and friends, is going to let me try using his booth on some of my pen blanks. The only problem is that his booth is set up for the length of a pool cue.

I am in the process of making a mandrel that is the same length as a pool cue shaft that I can put 10 or so blanks on. Then we'll give it a whirl and I'll post some results...

 

[bitshird]

Sounds like an ideal finish , hard and fast..

 

[rjwolfe3]

I wonder how expensive it is to set up. I would love to see some photos of the finish.

 

[gr8danish]

Setup expense all depends on what type of UV light you end up purchasing. Some of the high-end lights run about $1k... I don't know if you would need something with that kind of power to do a pen blank though.

Either way, a small booth with a rotating spindle and automated on / off has to be created. It is very easy to "over-cure" UV finishes. Over-curing makes the finish too brittle, and it can discolor at best, flake off at worst. Timing is everything!

 

[gr8danish]

Really cool thing is that you can spray & cure in a matter of minutes and go right to sanding / polishing with no wait time.

 

[Willee]

Has anyone ever tried UV Epoxy finishes for pens? I know a TON of cuemakers that use the stuff religiously.

The really nice thing about it is that you can spray it on fairly evenly, and then after you hit it with UV light for about 10-14 seconds, it is COMPLETELY cured!

I tried it for a while but had just about every one of the cues I finished with it develop cracks after a while.
Must have been the brand of UV finish I was using.
A lot of the cue makers that used to use it now use a water based finish.

The stuff is thick ... much thicker than an automotive clear coat but you can always leave the blank a bit under sized then sand the UV coat back down to finished size.
It would be much like a cast blank.
The big advantage is speed ... it sets in seconds with the UV lamp.

The equipment I had cost about $1000 for the lamp and power supply.
It is a very strong UV light and special eye protection must be used.
It is strong enough that I sun burnt my legs once while using it.

 

[gr8danish]

If you were geting cracks, you may have been over-curing it just a little bit... I know a lot of the cuemakers have had great success with it.

McDermott is probably the best example. They have an automated booth where you "hang" the cues on an over-head track. They go through a spray booth, then travel onwards into the curing booth. The "track" automatically rotates the cues as they traverse the track, and it is all timed so that they are only inside the light booth for the exact right amount of time.

Hercek Cues is another great example. Joel picked up the UV system a little over a year ago. He just has a small custom UV booth where the light travels the length of the cue, while the cue is rotating at a set speed. The whole setup can be tweaked for time / rotational speed. Joel told me that the more fresh the UV finish is, the faster it will cure...

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Not sure I'd want to expose myself to pure UV light, given all the talk about needing sunscreens and skin cancer association with UV exposure in sunlight...

 

[gr8danish]

The actual UV application is all done within an enclosed "curing booth" of sorts. For sure, you want to cover up, and use eye protection!

 

[bradh]

I have a small UV chamber I build to erase EPROM computer chips. I built it about 20 years ago, but I bought a GE brand UV florescent bulb for about $3 and a push button switch for the start circuit. Mounted the rig in a light tight wood box to protect me from UV exposure.
The bulb was about 12" long, suitable size and price for a pen cure. Bought the bulb at an electrical supply store.

 

[gr8danish]

The UV flourescent bulbs (otherwise known as blacklights), don't work very well for this application.

Unfortunately, it takes a stronger UV wavelength to cure the UV finishes. What you end up with is a bulb / ballast system. They have systems ranging from 75w - 1000w depending on the surface area that you need to cover.

I'm sure that the 75w will be MORE than enough. The only question then is figuring out how far away from the subject vs how much time to cure.

 

[oneula]

I use UV Polyester laminating and sanding resin from fiberglass hawaii. Never heard of UV epoxy although its like the holy grail for composite surfboard makers. If you can list the name of some UV epoxies, I'd definitely like to check it out.

UV poly will kick from 2-5 minutes when exposed to sunlight. Folks use setups with UV lights or full spectrum lights used for growing weed to kick it indoors.
Once exposed and kicked you can sand it in about 10 minutes
Its hard to get as fine a finished polish on epoxy as you can with with Polyester resin and even though we use UV for the laminating and fill coat we use standard finish resin for the final coat to give it depth. Epoxy tends to get a tad more rubbery to the sandpaper than polyester resin.

 

[DurocShark]

You can use a UV sterilizer unit for aquarium use for pens.

I dabbled with the idea for a while, but decided I wasn't ready to dive in. I especially didn't like how leaving the pen in the sun would harm the finish on the stuff I looked at, though there may be others that don't have that problem.

 

[PAPenman]

I use UV Polyester laminating and sanding resin from fiberglass hawaii. Never heard of UV epoxy although its like the holy grail for composite surfboard makers. If you can list the name of some UV epoxies, I'd definitely like to check it out.

http://epoxies.com/uv.htm

 

[roddesigner]

UV finishing facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=102733489765253
company in Portugal in development should run 4-$500 for the machine I expect to see it here in the US late Feb. Developed for fishing rod guides finishing, larger ones have been in use in the Far East (China)for sometime will report more when I see it in operation

 

[PenMan1]

Some of my fly rod friends used epoxy finishes for awhile. but quit using it. They say becomes very brittle and cracks when repeatedly exposed to sunlight and water. My pool que maker friend says that it yellows.

 

[roddesigner]

Andy depends on the finish used re becoming brittle but overtime they will all yellow some worse then others, what I posted is not an epoxy finish completely different

 

[wood-of-1kind]

I occasionally use a UV sealer and topcoat for some of my larger turnings (tool handles and such) but NOT for pens. I apply it with a clean cotton rag and use the FRICTION generated by the lathe to cure the 'finish'. Looks real shiny and best of all I didn't need to invest in a $1 million dollar UV tunnel.

 

[gr8danish]

Some of my fly rod friends used epoxy finishes for awhile. but quit using it. They say becomes very brittle and cracks when repeatedly exposed to sunlight and water. My pool que maker friend says that it yellows.

It completely depends on WHAT actual finish they are using... I am close personal friends with 2 local world-renowned cuemakers, and both of them are using UV finishes. They are bomb-proof, and don't fade, yellow, discolor, or haze after time like many other finishes on the market.

It's actually a 2-step process. You use a UV sealer, followed by a UV finish. The depth and clarity are absolutely amazing. It really makes wood grain POP.

The only finish out there that's as good (some argue better) is Imron, and you couldn't pay me enough to be in a spray-booth with that stuff. It's lethal even in small inhaled doses.

 

[EBorraga]

I am close personal friends with 2 local world-renowned cuemakers



World renowned cue makers in Chicago?? Heck we got one on here, and he's from Texas:wink:.