UV fiberglass

[Alan]

I just heard about UV fiberglass, which cures in ultraviolet light and doesn't need a chemical hardener. It's popular for surfboard repairs. Anybody familiar with it?

[GreenLake]

There's a nice video of using this stuff at http://solarez.com/uv_resin.html.

The one problem I would have in following this with a DS is in carrying the DS out to cure

I didn't see an explicit mention of the chemistry, but I assume it's polyester-based rather than epoxy, with all that this implies.

I did enjoy watching the video though. I wish I was that expert in glassing! There's not a wasted movement, and everything he does comes out on first try. Picked up a few hints, though, that I hadn't gotten from reading.

[ctenidae]

That guy is great.
I suspect the resin is similar to what dentists use these days. Pretty cool stuff.
You can buy a curing lamp for about $50- you could totally build fiddly little bits for things with that set up.

[GreenLake]

But remember, the final result depends on the resin used. Because polyester is catalyzed, I suspect this resin is chemically similar.

For surfboards, no problem, but for some of the repairs I've made I prefer the stronger gluing capabilities of epoxy. The same when dealing with wood (for example encasing the rudder I made this year).

Curious, has anybody done a comparison on price?

[ctenidae]

But remember, the final result depends on the resin used. Because polyester is catalyzed, I suspect this resin is chemically similar.

For surfboards, no problem, but for some of the repairs I've made I prefer the stronger gluing capabilities of epoxy. The same when dealing with wood (for example encasing the rudder I made this year).

Curious, has anybody done a comparison on price?

Looks like the UV stuff is about $5/gallon more than a polyester resin (at least, on one surfboard-oriented site I looked at). Seems like it'd still be cheaper, overall, once wasteage is factored in- being able to pour back what you don't use is great, and no more losses due to poor prep would save a ton, I'd think.

For encasing wood, particularly something like a rudder where it's more for waterproofing than for strength, I'd think the UV stuff would be great- you could actually let it soak in for a little while before curing- might actually provide better penetration and coverage.

[GreenLake]

You are right, strength is not the issue when encasing a rudder. However, epoxy is a far better water and vapor barrier than polyester. Incidentally, there are many fine epoxy products that are especially formulated to penetrate.

I see the big advantage of the UV resin in cases like small manufacture, where the ability to cure quickly and in a controlled manner will reduce turnaround time, especially for the surf boards shown in the example, where one needs to wait for one side to cure before being able to work on the other. Also, not having waste from mixing too much could add up over time to substantial savings if you run a business where you perform such work frequently.