UV finish

GatzkeCues

GatzkeCues

It used to be a hobby
Silver Member
So I'm down to my last 2/3 of a gallon of finish and tried to place an order. Come to find out that the company does not exist anymore. Any leads on a tried and true UV finish that someone would like to share? I have gotten some samples but am not satisfied yet. Looking for non yellowing scratch resistant, good leveling characteristics, high build, good adhesiveness, hard but sandable and polishable, no rollback from joint etc.
I know this is a propietary thing to most of you and I can understand if I don't get many leads, I was struggling with myself to even ask. Any that I should stay away from and why?
I know what I am using and running out of, was originally made for fishing lures. I had them formulate it thicker for my application. I sure am dreading the day I run out.
I am using the Axon insulator already but wouldn't mind getting away from it also, due to minimum order and shelf life.
If you want to keep it private please e-mail me as I don't have much pm space left until I can clean it out.
mike@gatzkecues.com
As always, thanks in advance.
 
rhncue said:
That finish is made by Van Technoligies and just rebottled and marked up.

Dick
Click to expand...

And they're not the only one re-labeling them.
I kept looking for VanTech as one word and that came up.
Tnx Dick.

http://www.vtcoatings.com/

ps
I just built a heat cabinet for epoxy base coat. Sucker is hard within 4 hours. Fast enough for me.
 
Last edited:
UV finishes only please

I just knew somebody was going to chime in with something non UV. :rolleyes: lol
Trying to keep this post on UV finishes only please.
I have been doing this since 94 so I have been around the block before.
I bet I tried at least 10 two and three part car coats. CA glue is okay for shafts and such but I know there has got to be something as good as what I was using, I just need some help finding it. :)
I had gotten the samples from CureUV and a friend gave me a sample of the Van Tech and i swear it was the same stuff. It might work but I do not like the build on it. I like a thicker finish. One coat of what I am running out of is equal to possibly 5 to 7 coats of the Van Tech.
Believe it or not what I am using was from Epoxy Coatings. I know nobody seems to have a positive story from their products. I myself tried at least 6 of their formulas before I found one that worked.
I also tried 1 or 2 Lawrence McFadden UV finishes 1 was a Polyester that I couldn't get the clarity our of it.
Dick Neighbors I appreciate your input and I fully understand if you don't reveal your source.
One reason for UV is in this desert sometimes you have a short time span to get any finish work done before and dust storm takes you by surprise.
Unless I hang out in the spray booth the whole time I am limited.
 
Last edited:
yup,,,,,,,,,,,,,thats me, reading while in the middle of other stuff. I was referring to Urethane, sorry.
 
Unique products has a good UV finish, i have good luck with it and don't use an insulator,
probably should, but i don't, and have good results, no problems.
 
The Axon insulator was great, you could almost spray it over butter and have a bleed free sealer but the shelf life was a killer as was the doubling of price. DuPont makes a urethane sealer that replaces the Axon koa wood sealer. I don't remember the product code but if you pm me I will try to find it.

I have to agree with Jim Bob, Unique products Pearl UV is the best I have found. I've been finishing cues since 1960 and never seen a better finish than this. Absolutely clear and extremely high gloss. Some very high end makers are using this product. Thickness will be up to you but if you need another coat, how long does it take, 5 minutes with sanding?
 
Renegade_56 you are forgiven, lol.
I've had a few leads on the Unique Products which I'm sure with the endorsements it has received, I probably can't go wrong. I have heard rumors that some finishes have issues with some lights. Any chance I could purchase a small sample to test from someone who uses it? Before I plunge into a whole gallon that is. A pint or even a quart would work. I don't mind spending the money on a sure thing or I wouldn't still be doing this passion we call Cues. PM sent for info on insulator.
 
I would call Redspot. I know they use to sell UV to McD. I have a friend that is a rep for them if you need help.

Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 2
 
The Axon insulator is the best product I've found to seal the cues. If you transfer it to smaller steel cans and fill them full, it will keep for quite a while. I go through it pretty fast, but I know others who have kept it this way for at least a year or more. You can keep the full cans in a fridge to stretch it even further.

A note about UV and insulator/sealer.

UV is a liquid coating that cures when exposed to certain wave lengths of UV light. Without that exposure, it won't cure. If you spray a UV coating on wood, and some of the coating soaks into the wood, it won't cure if the light doesn't get to it. I've seen times where a UV finish, once chipped or broken will come off in large pieces seemingly unattached to the cue. I believe those times were all when UV was sprayed on a cue with no kind of sealer.


As for the UV, the Unique stuff is a very good product. It's a little expensive, but it works great. Some find it too thick to spray well, but it can be thinned with MEK which takes care of that. The good thing about the Unique product is that you can buy it in smaller quantities as well.
 
Once upon a time, I was fairly impressed by McDermott but some of the more recent stuff seemed like some corners were cut on the finish process. This really surprised me considering how much they invested into that state of the art system they have. I have not heard of Redspot or http://www.greenlightcoatings.com/ before. I'm sure there is tons of stuff out there to try now days but most probably don't want to mess with just a few gallon sales here and there. The guy I was doing business with, I did manage to track down again. He started his own company doing pretty much the same stuff. He said he had all the formulations and that he could get me what I was using. After a couple of weeks he changed his mind and said that the ingredient that he used to thicken it was not cost efficient unless I wanted to buy 500 gallons. He said he would send me a sample of some the new stuff he was doing for golf clubs and fishing poles. These all started out as 500.00 to 650.00 a gallon. Now he doesn't answer his phone or return any messages. Unless he's in a coma laid up in a hospitable, I guess I'll scratch him off my list. :(
 
links

That is some more good info to pass on Royce. I do that already. I am actually testing some in the freezer now.
Here are some more links I've run across so far.
Believe me when I've tried all kinds of Google searches already.

http://www.uv3.com/mobile-a-handheld

http://www.vtcoatings.com/uvtopcoats.htm

http://www.simteccoatings.com/Productlist.ivnu

http://www.cardinalpaint.com/redBird/products.html

http://www.epoxies.com/products/uv-curable-illumabond/

http://www.uniqueinc.com/uv_finish

http://www.bayercoatings.de/BMS/DB-...es_040_UV_Technologies_040_Urethane_Acrylates
 
Here we go again

Here we go again. I just got off the phone with Larry at Van Technologies AKA Greelightcoatings. It appears they are doing their damnedist to pawn all of us small fish off to CureUV so they don't have to mess with shipping out small batches anymore. So all of you who said it was cheaper to go to the source, unless you have some better pull or connections, have something different to look forward to from now on.
I tried the samples but went to the source to try and find something else that was thicker.
Once again, I get unless you want 500 gallons to special formulate it speech.
I guess i'll call CureUV again unless one of you guys has some valuable intel to tell.
Thanks once again in advance, Mike
 
GatzkeCues said:
Here we go again. I just got off the phone with Larry at Van Technologies AKA Greelightcoatings. It appears they are doing their damnedist to pawn all of us small fish off to CureUV so they don't have to mess with shipping out small batches anymore. So all of you who said it was cheaper to go to the source, unless you have some better pull or connections, have something different to look forward to from now on.
I tried the samples but went to the source to try and find something else that was thicker.
Once again, I get unless you want 500 gallons to special formulate it speech.
I guess i'll call CureUV again unless one of you guys has some valuable intel to tell.
Thanks once again in advance, Mike
Click to expand...

Vantech is not the answer. I've tried it for around five years and ended up just using it as a base filler and used auto-urethane as a top coat. It just won't get the shine back after rubbing out. The only way to go is with Pearl finishes but their minimum is around 1400.00 so unless you can use 5 gal most just use what Unique sells (same material) as they will sell in smaller amounts.

Dick
 
Okay Dick, I will take your advice.
I took the plunge and ordered a gallon.
We'll see in about a week if it was something I should have done a long time ago.
Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top