[trout]

I am new to making fishing lures and found the information on this site helpful. One question I have is if anyone knows about the UV curable one part epoxy and if anyone has tried this. The research I have done is that the lures can be dipped and cures under a UV light in about 5 seconds. I think they will cure if they are exposed to sunlight too. If anyone has any information or have used this type of product and have any feedback I would appreciate it.

Thanks

[out2llunge]

What is the product called? Any links to sites with info on it?

[Muddy Tires]

I know that the optics industry uses a UV curable adhesive to hold glass lens/prism blanks on a polishing dolop. The stuff that I saw was not transparent but a reddish brown.

[redg8r]

Ive heard of UV cured epoxy but didnt realize it cured that fast.
I think you need some heavy duty light also, maybe sodium halide?

I dont know, Id like to see more info too if anyone has it.

[woodsac]

In the past I have used a UV liquid sealer. It is used for patching holes in pvc bladders. It's flexible when cured. The cure time depends on the temp, and it has to have direct sunlight.

In 100+ degrees it cures almost as fast as I can apply it! Less than 10 seconds. I applied some in the garage (because it was so hot!!) but without direct sunlight, it was still liquid after 3 days. You can find it at fly shops for repairing float tubes. If anyone is interested, I'll post the name of it when I get home. It's about $7 an oz!!!

[Fat Ratz]

Trout, I have checked seriously into this finish and it is the only way to go for a mass produced bait. The epoxy acrylate coating is sprayed or dipped on the lure. You can run it on a conveyor system for approx. 2 minutes and then the bait is ran thru a U.V. lamp which ideally would have a highly polished mirror across from it to cure both sides at one time. The coating is cured in less than 5 seconds and can be packaged immediately. The start-up cost are around $2000 for the U.V. lamp. The lamps are from 5-8 inches long but have an output of 1000 watts. I am going to send some lures to this company to coat for me and see how they come out.

[Skeeter]

From what I understand there is all kinds of UV cured products. The epoxy will cure in 1 to 10 seconds. This all depends on the brand of product and like Fat Ratz said, the intensity of the UV light. Seems the standard is 1000 watts. They do make some that is cured in 2 min. with low intensity 300 watt lights. It is water resistant and it does seal. Some of this stuff has a tensile strength of 8000 psi. This is the stuff that dries hard. They also have some of these products that do have some flex to it. My only question is that if you dip the lures, what about runs before it hits the light?
Skeeter

[trout]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am going to look into this more. I am also sending some lures to be finished and see how they come out. Once I get the lures back after this process is done I will let everyone know how it went. I expect to have the lures back by the first couple weeks of january. I have also looked around at UV lamps. They seem to be expensive but there might be some that are affordable. I did see a small hand held version that is shielded, but I need to check into the prices. I beleive that there is also a verion of this epoxy that is curable by a black light, the cure time is about 15 minutes. I am also going to give this a try.

Thanks

[Hoosierdaddy]

I have an old safety glass cabinet in my junior high class room that has what is called a germicidal lamp in it. It has caution stickers all over the thing that warn the user about the Ultaviolet light that it produces. I wonder if this thing can be adapted to cure the epoxy you are speaking of.

[AlamOso]

What about the clear sealant epoxy and fillers used by dentists? I believe that they use UV to cure in seconds. It has to be very strong.

Garrett