Mirror and dichro mounting tip

[norty303]

I don't know about you but I always have a load of 'fun' sticking mirrors and dichros to micro mounts - I usually end up letting epoxy go nearly off then quickly applying it, and then propping it up somewhere but its always moving about and what have you.

Yesterday, I had to refit the interior mirror on my missus new car, and I managed to find a kit by Loctite that comprises of a small woven 'pad' and some adhesive, specifically designed for bonding glass to metal. The theory is that you apply the adhesive, add the pad which activates the adhesive, and then press together for 30 secs, job done. So, it worked great for the interior mirror and VERY strong.

The pad supplied would do a whole RGB projector worth of mounts, (and then some!) once you cut it up, the only issue being once its stuck, I can't see you removing it for any reason in a hurry. The quick drying of cyano, with the strength of a 2 part adhesive and no fumes that I could tell to craze optics.

About £4.50 from Halfords (for the non-UK folks, Halfords is a high street chain mainly supplying automotive parts and accessories, you've probably got a similar one)

[stanwax]

Nice Idea Adam - what I normally do is coat the optic with first contact for protection from unpleasant fingers etc., then use a tiny tiny tiny spot of superglue to get it to bond fast into the right place. Once this has gone off I apply a small ammount of epoxy arround the edge for mechanical stability. This will release with some heat applued from a gentle flame or heatgun to the rear of the mount should you ever need to shift it.

Rob

[norty303]

I've used that method in the past, but I find superglue fumes seem to get everywhere.

One thing I have found with the brass micro flex mounts is when fixing directly onto the face of the mount, the epoxy gets in the adjuster screw hole. I didn't realize this at first, but when i came to adjust the beam down, I found it went up! It turned out the screw was pushing out a plug of epoxy as I screwed it in, and moved the base of the mirror out.

I've now moved all my optics onto the 45 degree angles on the mounts to get round this.

[stanwax]

I've used that method in the past, but I find superglue fumes seem to get everywhere.

hence a tiny ammount and protection of the optic surface
Ive never had issues with the bloom messing things up - another tip is to run a small fan to blow the fumes away during cure - though cynoacrylic glue can outgass for quite some time.

Rob

[White-Light]

@ Rob don't you have problem with fumes when you heat the superglue to release a dichro? Not being pedantic here, just interested.

[norty303]

The last mirror I took off using heat that had been tacked using cyano, the corner of the mirror broke before the cyano let go. The heat was enough for the alu coating on the mirror to start lifting, so I couldn't have gone hotter (I was heating the mount, not the mirror before anyone says 'you're doing it wrong!'... )

[danielbriggs]

@ Rob don't you have problem with fumes when you heat the superglue to release a dichro? Not being pedantic here, just interested.

Read post 4 again... several times...

[andy_con]

having done a number of multi diode builds im with rob.

very very small amount of fast drying super glue to get the mirror in the correct place, then once you happy epoxy to stick it firm.

i use 2 part epoxy from maplin very good stuff

[CDBEAM]

Adam, Thanx for the heads up on gettin glue stick in the screw hole !!!!! I am just about to mount my 10 x 10 mirrors on the ZQuad micro mounts....and would NEVER have thought of THAT !!! I still like the method of mounting the mirror to the larger main facia....more contact surface...better strength...perhaps a 1mm dia dot of scotch tape over the hole to very slightly cover yet allow glue to cover the balance ???

Have you tried the rear view mirror idea on any micro mounts yet ??? Perhaps I will experiment on some scrap bits o glass and brass !!!

CDBEAM / Bob

[norty303]

TBH, a 10x10 mirror weighs so little, you need just the smallest amount of surface area. I'm using 25mm dichros and 20x20 mirrors (I'm a bad aim!)
The 45 degree angle gives ample contact area, I've just had a struggle to get one off.

Not done the rear view thing yet as the adhesive left over from doing the car went off.