dramone Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 i'm thinking about a top mounted UV-bulp above my drying wheel to speed up the drying process of the epoxy coat. i use a hairdryer for a few seconds to get rid of airbubbles on the bait. (not to long as craters will occure). the advantage of a uv-heatsource should be, that the drying process is from "inside out" and not vice versa, as it would be with i.e. hairdryer. - what "force" should the bulp be (amount of Watt) - how close should it be to the baits - how many uv-bulps are needed per foot (vertical drying wheel) - should i wear sunglasses to protect my eyes? thanks for your help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPala Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hmmm, what type of epoxy are u using? What i use is chemical cure hence the 2 part, UV won't help curing. UV cured epoxy usually comes in one part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dramone Posted January 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 thx LaPala i use several epoxy, all 2 part (cold curing) i.e. D2T the other epoxy can be tempered after curing to make it even "stronger". when using a hairdryer it seems to me, that the epoxy is curing much faster! the uv-bulp should be used as heatsource. if been told, that as rule-of-thumb with 10C plus (above 25C) the curing time shortens up to 50%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I remember a post by a guy who built a box lined with tin foil and placed two regular 100W incandescent bulbs inside it, with his lure dryer. He reports that it cures epoxy much quicker. You need to be careful about the amount of heat you apply to a lure while the clearcoat is hardening. Too much heat (particularly on balsa) can cause air in the wood to expand and bubble the clearcoat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I don't know about using a uv lamp for a heat source but I do use one with uv curing epoxy on certian applications. The lamp heats up to extremely hot temperatures. I'm talking about hundreds of degrees. I think the manufacturer said something about 1600 degrees on the suface of the bulb. The lure is rotated in front of the lamp for only about 5 seconds and is completely cured after that. Pricey unit though. About 3 to 4 grand. Great for production work. It would seem to me that a uv lamp for heat is a bit of an over kill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 dramone - as everyone is saying you only need heat, not UV and a cheap incandescent bulb would be O.K. I used to breed crickets in the shed, in the dead of winter here (-5 or -6), inside a vented wooden box (about 6sq feet or .6 sq M), one 40 watt bulb on a thermostat , kept them warm (20-25C) and chirping all winter- so as you can see you don't have to spend heaps, probably 50cents. pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dramone Posted January 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 thx for all your answers and help! i guess i will switch over to IR-bulp ("breeder bulp") as an heat sourche... max. temp should not be over 50C? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predator Bass Baits Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 My basement is about 60deg. so I have a box 2x2x2 with a radiant heat panel mounted to the ceiling with a temp controller set at 90deg. the last few baits I did 2 of them got a bubble on them and so now I probably think it is too warm from Bobp's post on balsa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Room temp, 70 degrees+-, is what hobby epoxies, and that includes Devcon, were designed to cure out in. Colder than that slows them down. Much warmer than that can lead to other problems, like BobP said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allstate48 Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 I just use a 100 watt light bulb, in a chrome reflector. You can't hold your hand there very long. Good luck Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...