A Versatile Expoxy Material

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Harold Gough
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A Versatile Expoxy Material

Post by Harold Gough »

My wife, a lab technician in a school, has been using some of this. It seems to have been around for some time, and you may be familar with it, but I was not. It may have applications for some of those DIY rigs, etc.:

http://www.milliput.com/home.htm

http://www.modelzone.co.uk/standard_mil ... etails.htm

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Planapo
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Post by Planapo »

Yep, that's very helpful stuff to construct and repair thousands of things!

I use the ones from this company who offer various specific sorts:
http://www.weicon.ca/en/produkte/2k-kle ... sticks.php

They offer other useful chemical products, like various adhesives/glues, so the site is worth looking around. I came across "WEICON" at a special wholesaler for plastics and metals where we've bought aluminium plates and profiles.

--Betty

PaulFurman
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Post by PaulFurman »

I thought I heard someone describing using something like this for connecting odd thread sizes for adapters. Perhaps I misunderstood but it seemed they were suggesting it could still be unscrewed, maybe by oiling one of the threads first?

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

That certainly works. Silicone grease is good.

You should be able to unscrew the parts just before the compound is fully set. That way, if there's unwanted adhesion, you can scrape it all out and start again.

(I'm the kinda guy happy to watch paint dry, but can't resist poking it with things to see what's actually happening.)

DQE
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Post by DQE »

ChrisR wrote:That certainly works. Silicone grease is good.

You should be able to unscrew the parts just before the compound is fully set. That way, if there's unwanted adhesion, you can scrape it all out and start again.

(I'm the kinda guy happy to watch paint dry, but can't resist poking it with things to see what's actually happening.)
A related option - I use 2-3 VERY tiny drops of crazy glue on the threads of filters or adapters that I do not want to come unscrewed in routine use, and this allows me to remove the adapter or filter just using an extra amount of force and occasionally with the assistance a plastic filter wrench. I have done this 3 or 4 times with good results in the past few years.

Obviously, YMMV, and if you use too much glue (of any type) you're at risk of not being able to remove the filter or adapter. Don't say I didn't warn you if you try my method and wreck your lens or camera!

Perhaps a better option for providing a moderate amount of strength to a filter or adapter would be the removable type of "Loc-Tite:". This is more commonly used to prevent nuts from loosening in automobile parts.

One wishes to have some adhesion but not the exceptional adhesion that a full amount of full-strength epoxy or Crazy Glue normally provide.
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Rubbery glues are good for that. Things like silicone sealants, or carpet glues, used in just a couple of dots, are resilient (stand a shock) without snapping undone, but never go so hard they're impossible to undo.
Some of them give off acidic gases while they cure (like acetic anhydride) which can attack things, as can the gas given off by what we call Super glue, US may be Crazy glue? (Cyanoacrylate)
In the UK we have a carpet-edge binder which is white while liquid, and water soluble, called Copydex. Probably less harmful!

Plumbers' PTFE (Teflon) tape is good for making threads tighter but non-jamming, though it would be fiddly to apply to a filter thread.
Mechanically, dental floss also works, but I wouldn't rely on its pipe thread sealing properties :)

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

For what it's worth, silicone anything has a reputation for spreading out in a very thin layer over any glass it can get to. Standard advice among microscopists is to keep that stuff far away from optical components if you ever want to get them really clean again. "Far away" means not touching the microscope; not even in the same room is better. I have no personal experience one way or the other.

--Rik

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

I have read that too- I should have noted it.
I believe it refers to the lubricants, rather than including the sealants as well.
The sealants seem pretty darned immovable once cured!
The greases do vary a lot - I've come across a number industrially. The "High Vacuum" ones don't behave the same way as the general purpose. I must have regreased half a dozen lens helicoids with the stuff, and never noticed a problem, though I wasn't aware enough to look for it.

Some g.p. material I've seen separate like melting butter into the oil and the filler - I can imagine that getting everywhere.

Silicone sprays are commonly used as mould (mold) release agents, and they do seem to come off without major drama, with something like a rag and an alcohol/methylated spirit. They do work really well.

In the same way that some hydrocarbon oils will soak into some plastics/rubbers and make then expand a lot, silicone oil will do that with silicone rubber, but you're safe if you use the "other" type.

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