UV curing resins

[Will Brumas]

Hey all,

 

Any recommendations for UV resin brands for tying flies? Do you need a certain type of light, etc. I'm working on some hard foam poppers and realizing epoxy kind of sucks.

 

Thanks!

[Scott Stankus]

For coating hard foam poppers (like those from Orivs or Rainy's) I've had good luck with the Hydro from ClearCureGoo - just be sure to use their light, not just any UV light. 

I haven't tried any of the other brands, though. 

--Scott

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"There are 10 types of people in this world, those who know binary, and those who don't"

[Terry C]

Will I tie a lot of popper and use the clear cure goo  hydro  .  You have to have the light to cure it.  Takes seconds and does a great job.  I also use the CCG thin and thick on other flies to make heads.  Love the stuff.

[Richard Farino]

Here's the skinny on epoxy/resins…

Epoxies harden as a chemical reaction after mixing.  The by-product is heat.  Because it's a chemical reaction, if you apply it to a fly with porous materials, the epoxy will be absorbed and then harden the material.  Think foam poppers, deer hair, yarns, etc.  Epoxy also can be used as an adhesive – rod builders use this to glue reel seats onto the butt sections of rods.

The up side is they tend to not be extremely expensive and you get a lot for your money.  Devcon epoxy syringes (25cc) cost under $8, and the big 9 oz. bottles will set you back around $25.  The downside is that although it takes 5 minutes to cure, it will harden completely overnight, and you need to rotate them for several hours to make sure they even out on the hook properly and don't sag.  It can be time consuming.  After a year, the epoxy will also tend to yellow.

UV resins are a little different.  The first guys to use the application in fly tying were 2 dentists from Texas that went on to call it Tuffeleye.  When you get a cavity filled with the clear resin, they inject it into your mouth and harden it with a high-intensity light that hardens it completely.  It tastes nasty, and the dentist will wear protective eyewear when he does it.  It's the same premise with other products, like Loon, and Clear Cure Goo, which we use.  I happen to know the guy who originated CCG very well – it was originally a resin used on Hatteras yachts.  He had a chemist change the properties of CCG to work with what he wanted to use it for, the company was sold to a friend of his, and now it's a worldwide product.

The Goo formula is different in that a lower intensity UV light (read: less damaging to your eyes) is what cures the resin.  The upside is it cures in seconds, and you don't have to wait so long to use your flies.  The resin never yellows, and because you can cure it so quickly you can even make shapes (the owner of CCG made flies with devil horns).  Now the downside – it's expensive.  a 15cc syringe is about $13.  The light is about $35.  When the resin cures, it tends to leave an oily finish, that can be wiped off or covered with Sally Hansen's.

The last drawback is the nature of resins…   you can only harden and cure what the light can penetrate.  That means if your porous material (foam poppers) soaks up the material, you'll harden the coating on the outside, but the resin that was absorbed into the foam will not harden.

But there are solutions here…  CCG comes in various viscosities.  Thick, thin, hydro (super thin), fleck (with sparkles), flex (flexible), and tack free versions all help you accomplish what you're looking to get out of the resin.  The Hydro actually cures more complete than most other versions.  CCG also makes a Pro lamp that is a stronger version of the light that cures the resin more completely (uses 2 strong camera batteries).

Resins aren't for everyone, and the benefits usually outweigh the drawbacks.  I use both resin and epoxy, with the nod to resin as my go-to because it's so quick and easy to use.

R

PS – the smell of epoxy is one of those smells that send me back to the beginning of my learning to fly fish and making surf candy and epoxy baitfish patterns for stripers and albies back home in NYC.  I will occasionally switch to I can reminisce back to when I was just getting started.

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | ric...@urbanangler.com    

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[TurbineBlade]

Rich -- that was a very well-written and informative response.  

BTW - similar to your stench-induced, epoxy memories (shine on your crazy diamond!) the smell of diesel fumes instantly reminds me of loading quads and pit equipment into an idling bus for drumline and marching band competitions.  

Gene

On Thursday, January 9, 2014 10:19:23 AM UTC-5, Will Brumas wrote:

[Daniel Davala]

Awesome post Richie, thanks for taking the time to write all of that!  Very informative indeed.

Dan Davala

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[Will Brumas]

Wow thank you Scott Terry and definitely Rich for such a robust answer. I'll have to get some of that CCG!

[namfos]

Nice explanation, Rich. One way that tying with UV-cured resins would be much less expensive would be if the makers would disclose the wavelength of the light (expressed in nanometers) required to cure the resins. But then again their markup on very inexpensive LED flashlights would go ppffft!

Mark