UV curable finishes.

[yobot]

Can anyone direct me toward a company that will sell UV curable coatings (for wood, acrylic polymers, - no epoxy, or polyester resins) in quantities that can be measured in 10 gallon purchases or so, not thousands
.

I have found a couple of musical instrument suppliers that will sell it, but it is thinned with VOCs which means drying time, vapor issues and thin coats.

I have a need for some fast curing finishes and I have had an impossible time finding contacts, even though the stuff is being used in massive quantities (pre-finished flooring and ply, and a host of other products).

Thanks!
David

[dana_swift]

I'm interested in this topic also, what companies have you looked into already? Some day in the not far distant future I will be using the Bot to build a UV curing cabinet.

The key issue is to guarantee the UV is attenuated to safe levels through any possible air-path. The box will be dissipating a lot of power from the UV lamps. Multiple baffles of optical black paint will probably do the trick.

Another issue is ozone generation, so the air that does come out, needs to be ducted outside.

Cabinets can be purchased of course, and the suppliers may have suggestions on whose UV finishes they have worked with before.

D

[carlhopkins]

David,
I use FUHR finish products all they do is waterborne. I don't know about UV cure though. But look into their products if you are not familure with them.
I love the low voc's, clean up is easy. The dry time is very quick depending on the humidity. They have some distrubtors around as well go to fuhrindustrial.com I believe.

[rcnewcomb]

Have you contacted Industrial Wood Coatings?

http://www.ics-ilva.com/web/site/default.asp

[yobot]

Thank you Randall (and all). I will give them a call. So far I have emailed and contacted several companies that weren't interested in our limited needs ("Our chemist will take a look at your needs and get back to you. Minimums are 500 gallons.")

If we were to explode in growth overnight, maybe someone would be interested. Hard to explode in growth when you are spending a lot of space and time on finishing. We have wholesalers wanting to put our goods in their catalogs before Christmas. Hard to meet those deadlines when finishing is the largest hurdle.

Heck, even my wife couldn't come up with decent google info other than published papers on this one.

I contacted another company today, I hope that they will follow through. They sell in smaller quantities at reasonable prices. I have already designed a "miniature" finish line that can handle a full sheet of plywood. The only thing it doesn't have is an electric conveyor. I used shop fox rollers (from Grizzly) for the conveyor, and a box for the stuff that needs 3d coatings. Flat objects roll in on a "tray", 3d objects are hangared in a hardware cloth "box". Lamps and a bit of ventilation takes care of the rest.

It didn't cost 200k either.

Thanks!
David

[sheridan]

I've got some that might work for you. Crystlac super premium or Target USL. I've used both and they are great. I think I remember that they could either use heat or UV to speed the cure times - but you should check first. They are both the new 'water based lacquer' products, which I like so I don't have to worry about explosion proof fans or taking off the mask too soon! Right now I re-coat in 1 hour or less unassisted. I also get it by the 5 gal. pail. 423-727-6425 is Becker labs that makes Crystalac - talk to Dorinda Becker, she should be able to answer your questions. I haven't used the Target brand in a while but you should be able to find them on the web, if not I will dig up the info for you. Search for Target USL - Ultimate Spray Lacquer. Good luck

Phil

[yobot]

Hi, Philip.

We have and use Crystalac now, I was unaware that you could improve curing time via UV or heat. The product is excellent, however.

I will have a look at the USL. We are mostly interested in complete finishes in less than about 3 minutes including sanding. With the new accounts we are working on, any step of manufacturing that eats up "wait" time hurts our margin.

I also need the finish since it is extremely clear/glossy to showcase some higher-end pieces that we have almost finished developing. I know it is sacrilege, but right now, we are finding our market in the esoteric/deco/geek markets. None of those appreciate the complexities of, and the hard work involved in finishing a 17th century replica piece by french polishing.

All the best,
David

[joe]

Nazdar. They manufacturer of UV printing inks. This is a old line company with products in most sign supply houses.

[dana_swift]

I was unaware of the crysalac product and just went and looked them up on the web. Their blurb on product use included "ferrous metals such as aluminum". Hmm.. perhaps I need to go back and take freshman chemistry again!

Thanks for the pointer! They don't mention UV being used to speed curing on the page I read..

D

[sheridan]

There is very little info out there on Crystalac (and they don't have a web page), but it is pretty much the same as Target USL - http://www.targetcoatings.com/oxford-spray-lacquer.html

I did find that USL can be cured by IR or Heat to really speed up drying times. I would ask on their forum about UV cure. I don't know if you could hit 3 minutes, that's pretty quick!

Phil