hey has anyone worked with UV resin at night? im going to be glassing soon and i was thinking about using UV resin at night because i usually have to work during the day and then curing it with a uv light because i have a couple of them. I also dont really have a place indoors to work with. do you think a black light would be able to cure UV resin?
You can add MEKP catalyst to the UV resin to make it cure when no UV rays will hit the board - at night, or in finbox/ leashplug installs, and using darker resin tints.
~Brian
A black light wont work
uv lights take 40 minutes and you need a box
use MEKP
There’s plenty of info on threads regarding this on Swaylock threads.
They discuss set ups, UVA and UVB rays, types of tubes and ballasts needed, and more.
Some laminators use a combo of catalyst and UV resin in their layups even when they are curing in the sun, but are concerned about whether the sun will penetrate their logo laminates enough. In this case they use a very small amount in the lay up resin so as not to overheat the glass job.
Some guys set their logos before glassing when registeration is a concern, but over catalyzation can result in burning the foam with the combined heat build up of catalyzed resin kicking around the logo then hurrying and glassing with the UV resin. Use discretion in these cases.
We had light boxes at Beatty’s factory many years ago that were lined with aluminum foil to reflect throughout the cure box. Fancier models include tubes with tracks or rolling racks that can be placed into the tunnel.
I have no doubt you could get some heavy cardboard surfboard boxes or similar and line them with the reflective material of your choosing and make a very cheap effective curing box for use at night or on rainy days. You might find adding a small amount of catalyst to your night time UV resin work is preferable depending upon the strength of your lighting set up.
UV works fine with tints, is a bit tricky to do cut laps with but can be done (timing and cutting tools are essential), and UV resin will even cure in a sunroom… I know, because I tried it just for the heck of it, as well as doing a repair, placing waxpaper over the top of it and placing it out in a light rain one day… the general rule is if you can’t see your shadow during the daytime, don’t use it or catalyze as you would regular resin.
UV resin can be used at night as 9 out of 10 vampires swear by it.
Howzit rhodeisland,I had (4) 4ft UV lights,2 for each side of the stringer and they worked great. I had the set up for rainy days and it would take about 10 mins to kick the resin off and that was with no box just a set of racks. Fiberglass Hi sold the bulbs for about $18 apiece. Aloha,Kokua
A friend of mine once did a UV lay-up of a two man "strip plank" sailing canoe on the beach, on saw horses, on Maui at night. Put a little catalyst in it(very little). Good info in above posts. If you've got good weather and artificial light it can be easily done. You've got all night to get it down and it goes off in the morning with the Sun-up.