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"Cleansing" Hardened UV Resin

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Klondike Kid:
As a new user of UV resin (late to the party I guess) for my fly tying efforts, I've turned to Youtube as the traditional DIY/how-to resource to cut to the chase. While watching vids on tying baitfish patterns for saltwater, there were two tiers that used a cloth swab/wipe with some liquid on it. Both tiers, one Scandinavian and one German had strong accents and I could not make out what they said the liquid on the wipe was that they were using to "cleanse" the finished UV resin surface....other than it made the surface feel hard and glassy as it should.

A frequent comment or complaint among UV Resin users was referring to the sticky or tacky surface left by some brands of resins after they had cured. I'm using Loon and Solarez and neither exhibit a truly tacky surface, i.e. wanting to stick to your touch. But the tactile feeling when touching the surface does seem to have a rubbery friction feeling, almost wet, as if it had just a bit more need to cure.  The two tiers had mumbled something about removing the "surface film" from the resin. That's all I got.

As an experiment this evening after making up some new jigs for char and rainbows, I cured up a dab of each brand. Not all resins are created equal.  Then I used some 99% rubbing alcohol to buff the surface and that appeared to rid the material of that 'rubbery friction' feeling. The resin felt dry, hard and smooth with no resistance to my touch moving across the surface.

I doubt any other cleansing agent, let alone a solvent such as a thinner or acetone, would be suitable as the product they used. Not to mention the scent or flavor left on the fly.

Does anyone know what they were using? BTW, the 99% alcohol did seem to do exactly what I expected. Maybe I rolled the dice and hit a Seven on my come out roll.  ;D

P.S. I've covered the possibility of not enough cure time under the light. I have a very powerful UV diving light and also leave the flies under a 40 watt UV light over night to see if that would change anything. No Change!

Tinker:
No, you probably used the right amount of time under UV light.  Most of these resins dry with a "tacky" surface.  There's a fellow on NCKA - Silverback, I believe - who makes a resin that does dry hard to the touch.

BUT - yes, using rubbing alcohol on cured UV resin hardens the surface.  Regular old 70% works, but if you have it in a 91-99% concentration, that'll work and it won't do any harm (I use a 90% solution).

I've never tried this, but some swear that leaving the flies in bright sunshine for a few hours will do the same thing.

Klondike Kid:
Thanks Tinker. I too had encountered a few comments on YT vids that mentioned an extended sunlight cure after the initial set to finish the hardening process. Unfortunately Alaska is having one of those 4 cloudy to 1 sunny day WX patterns so far.

When using a dab here and there as head cement or to help anchor a bulky component to the shank I don't see a need for the 'polish' treatment. But when forming large heads for sculpin, leeches, or baitfish patterns the alcohol should improve the final look.

One thing that is a cool characteristic of UV resin is its ability to create a magnifying lens effect on 3D eyes added to the head of a fly. When fully covered by resin the 3D eye seems to be magnified looking straight at the pupil. And looking along the side of the fly towards the eye it gives a much greater 3D effect and enhances the holographic iridescence when viewed from various angles.

Nobaddays:
If you haven’t already, you might try the Loon UV resin flow. It is much thinner and I find it doesn’t have as much tacky feel.  If you use it on top of the thicker resin, it gives a better finish.  I also use it as a head cement on some of my bigger streamer or leech patterns.

Klondike Kid:

--- Quote from: Nobaddays on June 10, 2021, 09:25:13 AM ---If you haven’t already, you might try the Loon UV resin flow. It is much thinner and I find it doesn’t have as much tacky feel.  If you use it on top of the thicker resin, it gives a better finish.  I also use it as a head cement on some of my bigger streamer or leech patterns.

--- End quote ---
I have a tube of Loon UV Knot Sense which is thinner than the Loon UV Clear Fly Finish Thick bottle. I definitely plan to get the thinnest product which I assume is the Flow. 

I just got a bottle of Solarez Thick Hard Formula primarily for head and body work. But their instructions say you can vary the viscosity of their resin simply by putting the bottle in a cup of ice water for high build situations or a cup of hot water to thin it out for a thinner build...and probably better penetration in thread wraps and porous components. I'll have to give that a try. Probably will work with the Loon products just the same way.

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