Envirotex Drying

[woodworker]

Hi Guys, been on here for a while now absorbing all the information, which I have to say is fantastic.

Reason for my post is, has anyone noticed how fast Envirotex drys in sunlight. Normal time for drying is around 5-8 hours depending on temp. But you put your drying wheel in the sun on a hot day and within 2-3 hours the lures are dry enough to touch.

With this in mind I am going to set up a UV light in my drying box and see what effect it has on the drying time.

I already have a heater inside connected to a thermostat, but I am thinking the UV effect will vastly improve the drying time?

Will keep you posted on what happens.

Edited September 11, 2010 by woodworker

[BobP]

I've never heard that UV has anything to do with curing epoxy - heat yes. A few guys put epoxied lures in a heat box lined with tin foil and heated by a couple of incandescent light bulbs to speed the cure time. I don't do that because I'd have to run my turner motor in the box and the heat wouldn't do it any good.

[Jwags]

UV doesn't cure epoxy, heat does. The shorter drying time you noticed was due to heat. Most epoxy drying times are listed for 70 degrees. As a general rule of thumb, for every 20 degrees above 70 that you raise the temp, you cut the drying time in half. So if your lures take 8 hours to dry at 70 degrees, they will dry in 4 hours at 90 degrees.

jeremy

[woodworker]

An update on the UV trial. I fitted a 55watt UV tube into the drier and set the thermostat inside to 15C This turns off the heater when that temp is reached inside, I usually run it at 25C but thought I would run it cooler to save the UV tube getting too hot and also to take away the effect that the temp has on the Etex curing time.

After one hour the Etex went from wet to slightly surface tacky, and after two and a half hours the lures where touch dry! The temp inside was 18C so the temp had no effect on the increased drying time. At this point I turned off the lamp and the drying wheel and left the heater on set at 20C. They stayed in the box for another 5 hours and the Etex had cured completly. I was able to re-coat the lures the same day and have two coats dry within 15 hours.

71/2 hours from application to dry shows me that the UV does have an effect on the drying time, it speeds up the initial wet period and the rest of the curing time is quicker as a result.

Previously when the temp inside was 30C drying and curing then re-coating time used to take 2 days so I am happy with the results.