Glueing Dichros

[neutrino]

Hi all,

Struggling with glueing dichros onto brass flex mounts. I am using ABRO Epoxy Clear & I also tried ABRO Epoxy Steel. These are my only two options here on Utila currently. I am trying to add green and blue to two green projectors ready for a party on Saturday and tomorrow is my last free day to set everything up. Both of these epoxies end up being soft and 'mushy' & not hard like a resin. Now i know super glue is a no no but I want to order some better dichros anyway. Could I coat the part of the dichro that will not be on contact with the flex mount with First Contact and then super glue it to the flex mount and then remove the First Contact after a few hours? Like I said I only need to get through the show at the weekend and then I am looking to do some more modifications. How badly will the super glue distort the optics?

Any advise will be welcomed

Cheers
rich

[swamidog]

superglue won't distort the optics... it will outgas and ruin them.

i use standard issue 2 part 5 minute epoxy. i mix a little gloop of both parts onto a piece of something non porous, wait until it gets tacky, then use a small matchstick to dab some onto the dichro and some onto the mount.

works like a champ.

Hi all,

Struggling with glueing dichros onto brass flex mounts. I am using ABRO Epoxy Clear & I also tried ABRO Epoxy Steel. These are my only two options here on Utila currently. I am trying to add green and blue to two green projectors ready for a party on Saturday and tomorrow is my last free day to set everything up. Both of these epoxies end up being soft and 'mushy' & not hard like a resin. Now i know super glue is a no no but I want to order some better dichros anyway. Could I coat the part of the dichro that will not be on contact with the flex mount with First Contact and then super glue it to the flex mount and then remove the First Contact after a few hours? Like I said I only need to get through the show at the weekend and then I am looking to do some more modifications. How badly will the super glue distort the optics?

Any advise will be welcomed

Cheers
rich

[danielbriggs]

Rich,
Three options...
1.) Epoxy... I know it says 1:1 mix ratio, but add a little more of the hardener when mixing the 5min epoxy, it should produce a more brittle resin.
2.) You're right... F/C the optics both sides, and superglue with a dab, leave them out in the open to dry and outgas for a half a day (or longer)...just don't seal them in something, then remove the F/C. Used to do loads of optics this way.
3.)




Dan

[neutrino]

Thanks guys,

I can;t get the 5 minute epoxy here.

I will try adding a little more hardener to a trial batch and see what happens. Other wise I will do the superglue route and wait for as long as I can before putting them in the projector.

Duck tape will work like a champ though!

Cheers

[The_Doctor]

Aren't dichros always glass with multilayered glass coatings laid on in a vaccuum? If so then acetone in a standard drop-drag cleaning operation with solvent-dampened lens tissue should be fine as with many other laser optics. Superglue, cyanoacrylate, reacts with water (vapour, usually) to form acrylic plastic, which is soluble in acetone. A similar solvent, MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), is less volatile so lets you spend longer working on stubborn deposits. When mounting a mirror post, and various tiny acrylic lenses, I used a tiny dab of the glue on the back of the mirror, or rim of lens, and immediately drew it slowly through the air to stop fuming settling on a surface, at same time breathing lightly on the cold metal I was going to stick it to (thin condensation from breath speeds curing time), then immediately fixed in place, using the few seconds it gives you to finely position it, then I breathed on it some more, which blows any fume away, and quickly cures anything that isn't fuming. I have never had to clean an optic after doing that. Just as well, given that my 4mm acrylic lenses would have wilted in the presence of acetone anyway.

EDIT:
If superglue or epoxy are troublesome, look for the light-cured stuff. You get as long as you want to settle final positions, then expose the stuff to bright blue light (LED, laser) to cure it. Some stuff needs UV but there are LED's for that too. A 405nm Bluray diode might be perfect for this, unlensed. Getting the glue might be the hard bit; I've never tried. Try asking your dentist if all else fails.

[dsli_jon]

...If so then acetone...Try asking your dentist if all else fails.

Indeed, but the aspect you may not-realize, is 'context'.. Rich is in Honduras, Centro 'merica, and if he asks his dentist for 'acetona', he'll likely get a response of '..eh..Disculpé, Señor?' Often, getting store-grade / off the shelf Acetone can be a challenge in some Central and South American countries, because it is (or, can-be..) believed by the 'authorities' that people will use the stuff to process 'coca', for.. well, I'm sure you can extrapolate.. So, you are (frequently..) stuck with 'Nail Polish Remover', at-best... which is about as good for cleaning dichros as buttermilk.

@ Rich - re: 'superglue' - yeah, in a 'dire-emergency', you can get away with it, if you keep it well-away from the 'business-spot' / only dab a drop of a drop on an edge, with a toothpick, etc... However, later on, that same nite, you must say 10 hail-marys, 100 "Thout Shall Not Utilize Super Glueth Upon Thine Dichroicas", and bathe yourself in garlic and cloves, floating on holy-water as 'repentance'. jk..

IF you can find a decent 'auto parts store', there, you may have better success finding 2-part Epoxy, and or the '3M glass-tape' ie: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...BC31gv%29&rt=d - Great-stuff - does not 'shrink' / stable-thermally, inert (won't 'outgass'..) and removable (carefully..) later-on.. Stuff is the shizz..

Don't know if this guy - http://utila-islas-de-la-bahia.hondu...listing_photos .. is any-sort of 'legit dude', but.. deepest Google will search-for, from here.. Anyhoo, I'm sure you've got someone / some place, akin to one, ya? Hardware store? You guys have a 'Vidri' or 'Freund', down there? Those places will have 2-part, for sure.. I seem to recall hitting-up a 'Vidri', when we were a giggin', there, but.. that was 2003-ish.. so, dunno about 'hoy'.

Anyhoo, hope that helps..
Que le vaya bien...
j

[The_Doctor]

Indeed, but the aspect you may not-realize, is 'context'.. Rich is in Honduras, Centro 'merica, and if he asks his dentist for 'acetona', he'll likely get a response of '..eh..Disculpé, Señor?' Often, getting store-grade / off the shelf Acetone can be a challenge in some Central and South American countries, because it is (or, can-be..) believed by the 'authorities' that people will use the stuff to process 'coca', for.. well, I'm sure you can extrapolate.. So, you are (frequently..) stuck with 'Nail Polish Remover', at-best... which is about as good for cleaning dichros as buttermilk.
.
.
Anyhoo, hope that helps..
Que le vaya bien...
j

Ok, that was instructive. Same problem in the UK if you want to buy sulphuric acid. Ask for battery acid, they give the look askance because it's only allowed to be sold with batteries. Actually NAME the stuff and the look they get on their faces says 'burn the witch'. It's amazing what can be bought openly on eBay though... I grant that importing it might be another matter. I totally get the idea of the coca extrapolation. Buying kitchen boxes of safety matches can alarm certain US states, too, I have been told. Meth labs use the strips down the side for the phosphorous or something. If you only need tiny swabs damped with acetone it may be possible to evaporate and distill a drip from nail varnish remver. Hell of a thing to do though, dangerous, annoying, likely any number of better ways. I';d try to get inventive about hunting down close relations. Is why I mentioned MEK. That might not be so restricted. Or more so, as you say,. context is everything. (One of my favourite catchphrases too...)

[planters]

I loved reading through this...it reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci. Here we spend so much time working through the restrictions placed by completely dysfunctional governments because of completely dysfunctional drug addled populations. Sorry, if this sounds like elitism, but it is what it is.

[andy_con]

also remember before gluing to clean surfaces, both surfaces

[planters]

Also, whenever using epoxy on a metal surface and especially with aluminum take a small piece of sandpaper or abrasive such as a Scotch Brite pad and rub a little of the adhesive into the metal to remove the oxide layer while preventing air from reforming it underneath the thin layer of adhesive. This creates a stronger bond.