Published Mar 15. 2012 - 12 years ago
Updated or edited Mar 25. 2022

Light Curing Resins

If you're still messing with epoxy, lift your head from the vice and discover the new Light Curing Resins also known as LCR's or UV Resins.

Please notice that this article is from 2012, many years ago when LCR's were just coming out.
The market has changed a lot since then and the selection and number of brands has changed dramatically.
The general considerations in this article still stand, but the product list is severely out of date, and you will only find a few of the brands mentioned on the market now.
Articles like this are notoriously difficult to keep up-to-date.
Sorry!
Blue light - Bug-Bond cures with a blue light
Curing with blue light
Martin Joergensen

I've written about light curing resins before - also before I got to use it myself - and have been fascinated by the concept from the day I heard of it. My practical use has just made this fascination bigger. They're smart!

They're smart!

I think the technology - or the chemistry - comes from the dental world, where stuff like this is used to fix teeth. The idea of not having a prolonged working period, no "deadline", not having heat develop while curing as well as working with something that isn't inherently toxic probably appeals even more to dentists than it does to fly tyers.
And that actually sums up the advantages of these new glues, bonds, resins or whatever you prefer to call them:

  1. They cure in seconds when you want it and not before.
  2. They only cure under a special light, so you can work with them as long as you want.
  3. Heat often develops when epoxy cures. Not a big issue for fly tyers, but there's no heat here.
  4. They seem to be significantly less harmful to you and the environment compared to epoxy.
  5. They are supposed to stay clear where epoxy often turns yellow.
  6. The glass hard versions seem to be less prone to cracking than epoxy.

 
They are often referred to as LCR's - Light Cured Resins.

Bug-Bond heads - It\'s vary easy to build up heads and secure dumbbell eyes with the Light Cures Resins
Heads
Martin Joergensen

The process

For those who haven't tried these resins, here's the quick introduction.

You tie you fly as you normally would if you were to use epoxy. The steps where you apply epoxy are just replaced with applying LCR.

Most products come in small bottles or syringes, and have fine tips, which makes it easy to apply on even very small flies. You can use the tip of the bottle to distribute it and build up the shape you want, or you can use a dubbing needle if that suits you better. There is no mixing or preparation process, but the compounds are used right out the bottle.

There are different viscosities, but most are much like mixed epoxy: fluid, but with a high viscosity and pretty slow to "run". This makes it easy to distribute the compound on the fly, and by rotating and tipping the fly, you can get it to run where you want it. Unlike epoxy this maneuver can last as long as you want. As soon as the shape is as you want it, you shine a special light on the bond, mostly from a small flashlight-like lamp, which emits UV or a special blue light, and the resin sets and hardens in seconds. So you don't need an epoxy rotor either.

Once it's cured the fly is ready to fish - or ready to have further materials added. There's no waiting for it to fully harden or set. The hardening process usually lasts a few seconds or maybe 15-30 seconds for the thickest applications.

Curing - Even large flies with a fair amount of resin cure in a few seconds. And you can add multiple layers and cure small drops as you work yur way around the fly
Divus Bait - The LCR\'s offer themselves very well to experiments with epoxy-types of flies like these baitfsh imitations tied from my dog Divus\' hair. It\'s not the first time he has sacrificed fur for my flies...
Baitfish
Henning Eskol

Viscosity

You can apply several layers if you want, and build up the shape you want. You can even combine the different varieties of the same product and use special coating resins for the last layer.
Many brands come in different viscosities: thicker for building up volume and thinner for penetrating material or using as a varnish. Some of the products on the market also come in a flexible version that cures to a more rubbery feel, much like hot melt glue.

Thanks to the quick curing, you can use it for gluing on eyes, gill plates and even other materials like flash, feathers and hair. Look at Pete Gray's ingenious welded flies to see how he builds up flies using LCR and no thread.

The products

Bug-Bond -
Bug-Bond
Bug-Bond

There's a whole bunch of these substances on the market. A quick rundown reveals:

Bug-Bond
Comes in two flavors Original and Lite, the latter being "thinner" and more fluid. Both cure up hard, but the original is easier to build up while the Lite is thinner and more like a varnish. Bug-Bond cures up non-tacky provided you use the right light and correct curing time. Bug-Bond still has some flexibility after curing and will not crack like epoxy.

Clear Cure Goo
2017 update: The Clear Cure Goo web site referenced above has gone and there's no trace of the company. But the products can still be found, so for now they're left here.
Clear Cure has the largest selections of products labeled Flex, Tack Free, Thin, Thick, Hydro, Fleck and many more. Some of the names imply what the bond does, others leave you clueless. Refer to CCG's home page for further information.

Deer Creek/Diamond Hard UV Resin
Deer Creek, the company behind Diamond Hard, also keeps it simple: one product in two viscosities (Diamond Hard and Diamond Fine) and as the name implies, a hard curing ones, which leave no residue or tackiness again with the right light and curing time.

GULFF (Added November 2018)
GULFF is from Finland and has a fairly large lineup of resins, among which the most interesting are the colored ones, available both in "natural" colors as well as a series called "ambulance", which are very bright. Apart from that there are two "glowing" colors and a series of clear resins in various viscocities. GULFF also has a lamp on their program.

Lazer (Added November 2018)
Lazer is also a newcomer per 2018 and also sports colored resins in their program. Lazer doesn't have a web site yet, but seems to be French.

Lazer
GULFF
Colored resins
GULFF - Lazer

Loon UV Clear Fly Finish
Loon has expanded its selection significantly after this article was first published.

Piketrek Mr. Bond UV Resin
One version that dries 100% clear and glass hard. Both resin, torches and lamps are quite moderately priced.
This product has disappeared and the site http://www.pikeflyrod.com/tools-and-glues/116-piketrek-uv-resin-mr-bond.html is gone.

Solarez
Solarez now has a fly tying only product line, but has resins, which aim at general repair, surf and marine workshops as well as resins made especially for fly-tying. The selection of both resins and lamps and torches is large and the prices are very reasonable.

Tuffleye
Comes in three basic varieties: Core, Flex and Finish. Core is for volume, Flex cures up soft and Finish is specially developed for the final coating.

Clear Cure Goo - Clear Cure Goo comes in a wealth of varieties
Deer Creek products - Diamond Hard and Diamond Fine
Different philosophies
Clear Cure Goo - Deer Creek

I assume that there are more out there, and if you venture into the world of dental supplies, there's a lot! But my research tells me that the dental stuff is usually more expensive and not nearly as easily available as the fly-tying ditto. There are different demands on products for medical use, and that might be why.
It seems that similar products can be found in the "nail industry" as discussed (and loudly so!) in our blog.

The prices vary a bit, but in essence this stuff does not come cheap! Epoxy is pretty expensive - especially when bought in fly tying shops - but the LCR's are more expensive, comes in smaller bottles and requires special lamps to cure. But as I will cover next, there's no waste, so a small bottle goes a long way.

Advantages

Apart from the much more controllable process of curing, LCR's have several advantages over epoxy, hot melt glue and silicone.

No waste - this is a real treat for the ones of us who have mixed endless batches of epoxy, used a third and seen the rest go hard. Slow curing 30 minute or one hour epoxy can improve on that, but also means turning your fly tying into a factory, producing many flies and coating them all a once.

Any shape - epoxy does enable the crafty tier to build up all kinds of shapes, but it requires many layers and a lot of skill and patience. With LCR's you can build up almost any shape layer by layer, with intermittent curing.

Useful in really small amounts - you can use this for midge and buzzer bodies, nymph wing cases and applications on really small flies, where you only need a tiny drop. Apply that drop, cure and you're set.

Available in different hardnesses - many of the products are available in several variations, from rubbery to glass hard.

No yellowing - according to most manufacturers LCR's don't turn yellow over time. Epoxy manufacturers may say the same, but epoxy usually does turn yellow. Time will tell whether LCR's actually do stay clear.

Not as brittle - the LCR's should be less prone to cracking or shattering when flies hit rocks or are used under cold conditions. Of course the hard resins are more vulnerable than the soft ones.

Less harmful - all the regulatory commissions in the US and in other countries are giving favorable considerations to UV technology. It dramatically reduces VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds - harmful vapors) and exposure to allergens and toxins.

Broken epoxy - One disadvantage about epoxy is that it gets brittle in the cold. Time will tell if the LCR\'s have the same issue
Epoxy Miracle -> LCR Miracle - Patterns like the Surf Candy and the Epoxy Miracle is an obvious fly to convert to a light curing resin
LCR in stead of epoxy
Martin Joergensen - Kasper Muhlbach

Tacky or sticky

Some of the LCR's are slightly sticky or tacky after having cured. They are not so gooey that material will stick to them, but you can feel the tackiness and the flies can stick to each other or hard surfaces when stored for longer periods.
There are two ways to avoid this:

  1. Rub the resin covered part of the flies with alcohol (hand sanitizer with about 60% alcohol is often recommended). This will matte the resin, but make it hard and "dry".
  2. Add a final thin coat of a fluid and hard curing layer of resin (coat, finish or whatever the manufacturers call it) when the fly is done. This will cure much harder than the high viscosity resin, and won't stick.

Not any lamp

Each type of resin requires a specific wavelength of light to cure. There are essentially two types: UV and blue light. In general these are both considered harmless if you avoid shining very bright lamps directly into the eyes. You typically buy the lamps that's designed to work with your choice of resin to ensure that it cures properly. You can switch lamps between some brands, but if you want to be sure, use the light that the manufacturer recommends.

Lights are available as small, battery driven flashlights AKA torches, large lamps to plug into the socket and some really bright and powerful lamps used by medical and industrial operations. Some manufacturers also supply screw-in bulbs for mounting in normal lamps. They all do the same job, but smaller lamps seem to take longer time to cure the same amount of resin. The big ones are - not surprisingly - better at penetrating thick layers of resin. Make sure that you use fresh batteries or rechargeable cells in the torches. The power of the light is essential to a good curing process.
I have only used the smallest flashlight type, and it has worked fine for me on all my flies, large and small. The curing time is typically a few seconds, maybe up to half a minute for thicker applications.

Comparison

Type Curing Toxidity Price Durability Coloration Heat
LCR (Light Curing Resin) Seconds None High High None None
Epoxy Minutes-hours Some Medium High Some** Some
Varnish Minutes A lot* Low Medium None*** None
Hot Melt Glue Seconds None Low Medium Some A Lot!
Softex Minutes A lot* Medium Medium Some None
Silicone Minutes-hours Some Low Medium None None

* These are all based on evaporating solvents, which are generally considered very harmful
** Discoloration (yellowing) can oftentimes be avoided by careful mixing on a non-reacting surface
*** Some types of varnish will darken with time, but it typically takes many years

Videos

Here are a few videos that show hoe to use LCR's

Clear Cure Goo

Comments

ACE Hardware is sell...

ACE Hardware is selling UV pocket flashlights for $9.99 US compared with the near $30.00 plus for similar units. Works on Loon products

Hi there, Bugbond a...

Hi there,
Bugbond and Solaris is One and the same product only that bugbond is little more tweakt for flytying by the person who worked ad Solaris he is the one that invented Bugbond for flytying.
Solaris is not able to sell it as a bugbond because it has a patent by the owner/inventor.
Still Bugbond is in my opinion little better than Solaris,
Great tying to all.

In dentistry there w...

In dentistry there was an initial problem with cures when LED lights were introduced. These light had very narrow cure ranges due to the nanometer wave length of the LED's that were used. Some resin/composite materials did not cure completely. Manufacturers solved this by building lights with an assortment of LED's with varying wavelengths. This widened the curing spectrum, and the lights now work with all materials. I expect that this will happen with fly resins. Some manufacturer will get over will get over his preoccupation with having his own proprietary light and produce a wide spectrum light. With proper advertising, this light will then own the market! All others will be forced to fall into line or fail.
As noted, some materials leave a tacky surface. This is due to the formation of an oxygen inhibited layer on the surface. Alcohol removes it. Sometimes covering the surface with glycerin prior to curing will prevent this. The glycerin can then be washed off, leaving a smooth surface.

Martin Joergensen's picture

Mark, The curing ...

Mark,

The curing time seems to depend of the power of the light. The more powerful the lamp, the faster the curing. I have different battery driven lights and the one with the highest wattage does the best job. You can also get lamps to plug into a power socket for even more brightness and you can actually give the flies a final hardening in direct sun.

Regarding wavelength the manufacturers of course recommend their own lamps, but my experience is that they actually cure each others resins quite fine.

Martin

Questions, do all UV...

Questions, do all UV lights cure resins at the same rate of speed? As for curing the heads on fishing flies should I only consider flashlights with 300nms or higher?

Martin Joergensen's picture

Norm, Finding the...

Norm,

Finding the wavelength for each compound is a lot of work! And I'm not even sure the manufacturers would want to tell us. They would most likely rather sell their own lamps than let us users find alternatives or "cross-product" lamps.

The alcohol in the hand sanitizer acts like pure alcohol and rubs off the sticky resin, but leaves the surface dull as described in the text.

Martin

Svend's picture

Other advantages: ...

Other advantages:
No mixing
Does not smell like epoxy does (at least the Loon product doesn't)

About a year ago I s...

About a year ago I started using Mr Bond. Mostly just on heads in place of varnish. It does set very hard. Before curing make sure the eye is clear as you will not get it clear after. However, I found that the end result was slightly tacky. If you touch it it will mat.

Now I use the Diamond hard kit with the laser to cure it. It is very fast to cure, one second, though the difference isn't really a factor. It does dry totally tack free, but not as hard as Mr Bond.

how about adding wha...

how about adding what the curing uv wavelength of each product is? this would hel in buying a light indipendently of the goos

alcohol wipes are good to remove the tackiness.

sally hansens hard as nails gets rid of any tackiness

not too sure how hand sanitizer adds anything to make the goos hard.

fresh batteries in all lights work best

Martin Joergensen's picture

Robert, Thanks...

Robert,

Thanks for the heads up! I didn't know Solarez, but its products look very interesting and at good prices.
I added it to the list.

Martin

Solarez is a new one...

Solarez is a new one on the fly fishing market in the US.
Robert

Martin Joergensen's picture

Ian, Thanks for t...

Ian,

Thanks for the notice. I added Mr. Bond to the list.

Martin

Hi, One addition...

Hi,

One addition here is Mr Bond! A very good LCR from the UK that I use all the time.

This is only €7 a bottle and it dries 100% clear and glass hard.

UV epoxy...

A big advantage of UV epoxy is your choice of viscosity - thin or thick - for when you wish your epoxy to run and penetrate, and when you don't. Thick and thin LCR are compatible. They greatly simplify tying patterns such as Surf Candy. A third type, flexible LCR, comes in handy for some applications. Great stuff, and so little waste the effective cost is relatively low.

.

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