Glow Powder - ready set glo - What do I do with it

So, glowpowder is a form of light, and I'm going to modify it, so I think this is the forum to be in!

I was so excited to get my glow powder from readysetglo.com. I actually went through eBay and got an excellent deal. I couldn't hardly wait for it to get to my house, but once it got here I didn't know what to do with it.

I'd love to have you guys all post your ideas, links, pictures, etc. of what you did, or want to do with this cool stuff.

BTW: I just got my six pack of colors too and I'm pretty impressed. The only problem (other than what cool projects to use it on) is that I can't get the "violet" powder to glow at all. I use my UV 5mm LED which works great for everything else, but the viloet does nothing.

My projects / Ideas:

1) The obvious use of painting it onto a few flashlights I've modded to get some cool glow

2) (My Favorite) Paint it onto the dome of my Tap Light Mod here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=388053&page=0&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=3&vc=1

The ready set glo site of course has some ideas, as does the www.glowinc.com site. Click on the "glow paint" icon-which will take you to the projects page.

Also, you could do a search on CPF for quite a few previous articles and posts. The go back to about 18 months ago.
-the ex mr.glow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

p.s.-the violet pigment needs quite a considerable charge-up exposure compared to all the other colors. Use the shortest wavelength illumination that you have on hand.
Luxeon Dental Blue or Royal Blue LEDs seem to work as well as anything...because of their fierce intensity.

Here you glow. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Doug - Yeah... I looked at some of those old posts, but they were pretty stale! ;-p I'm wondering if there are any new and exciting ideas out there that haven't made it here or on readysetglo's website.

Wylie - I like what you've done very much! I bet that looks way better in person than in the pics.

Thanks Rob,
I like your tap light I just have to find mine now. I've been trying to find an old post of mine for your dollar store flashlight but I am not sure the N cells will go over with you very well. If I find it I will set up a link on that thread. It was pretty bright but nothing like the sandwiches and 1 watts.

Merry Christmas

Rob,

I've tried several things with the glow powder. The green, in particular, is amazingly bright. Most of my uses involve mixing it with epoxy. I tried the fingernail polish approach and that works, but I find it hard to work with. It won't stay suspended in the liquid. It also peels or flakes off pretty easily.

I have used the epoxy mix around the bezels of lights that I want to be able to find in the dark. I've used it to pot the bottoms of LEDs in a PR bulb base (we've discussed this before in the forum).I also used it on a LED modified battery powered reading light. The original bulb (now an LED bulb) nestles in a white reflector. A thin coat of glow epoxy on the white reflector does not seem to affect the reflective characteristics, but when I turn it off, I get a green glow that lasts all night. The light I used as a host for the mod used to be sold at Radio Shack as a reading light. It looks sort of like a black stapler, uses 4 AA batteries and has a screw type bulb. I broke the bulb out and replaced it with a milky white LED. Incidentally, the polarity on this bulb was the opposite of what I expected. The tip of the bulb in this light is the positive terminal. Unfortunately, it appears that Radio Shack has discontinued the product (I guess because there wasn't a monthly cell phone residual charge for it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif).

I've used several different clear epoxies and they all seem to work just fine, but I would say stay away from the ones that cure in 90 seconds. That's not much time to work with the stuff and it always seems to harden with bubbles in it. The slow set epoxies seem to yield the hardest, smoothest result, if you have the patience. It really depends on whether the surface will be handled, or not. For a lot of uses, the 5-minute epoxy (from Target or Walmart) is just fine. If I want an intense glow, I usually put some epoxy into a container (both the resin and the hardener) and then try to add almost as much glow powder by volume before I mix it. The result is a light green paste that is really bright when you charge it.

I'm experimenting right now with some other applications that I'll not share until I get an idea of how they will turn out.

Interestingly, whatever you mix the stuff in always seems to have a residue. Kids love those glowing things, so I got the idea of just making up some little glow disks with the epoxy. I just pour a little epoxy into some sort of small translucent container (I've been using the caps to little plastic paint storage containers about 3/4 of an inch in diameter). If I put a lanyard clip on them, they make great zipper pulls. I've probably made about 20 or so of these for my daughter's friends. When one of them would see one of the glowing zipper pulls, they would always seem to say, "Hey, that's cool. Where'd you get it?". Maybe I can make some money with them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Good luck, and have fun!

Mark

I have had good luck with the method described on one of those web pages where you spray on a thin coat of varnish and pour the powder on to stick, then when it dries spray another coat of varnish to protect it. But that obviously doesn't work for everything, it does make the most efficient use of the powder though as the amount you use is very small for a very good glow. It also works best if you do it on top of a reflective or bright white surface.

I had less luck with the fingernail polish method. I wouldn't recommend it.

Mark, do you find that the longer curing time epoxies yellow less than the quick ones? In my experience they start to turn yellow very quickly and in a matter of a few months can begin to turn brown and yucky which would significantly reduce the output!

James,

I can't say how they do over the long term. Because I tend to use so much glow powder in proportion to the epoxy, I'm not sure I would even see the yellowing you describe. I've made a few things with a thin coat of glow epoxy covered by another coat of clear. I'll just have to watch and see.

It could be that the effect you describe is more likely in an outside application where sun exposure (heavy UV) might have an effect.

Sorry, don't know.

Mark

Mark - Great advice! I think I'll use some epoxy just as you described on my dollar store book reading light. This is probably a bit similar to the one you described. It has a reflector and screw in bulb just as you described. I like it!

James - I've used some of the 4-min set epoxy, but have had the exact same problem you described. It does yellow with time, even indoors, but it is much worse outdoors. I have some longer curing time stuff that I'm going to give a try.

Keep the ideas coming!

Shoot, I forgot to mention fishing rod thread coating epoxy. The only thing with this stuff is dry time ( 24 to 48 hours to be safe and check your mixing pot not the work being done) and the two parts of the epoxy have to be exactly even when measured. If you try it do not use any less then 3 millileters of each part of the epoxy and measure with two different 3 millileter syringes. When mixing be very careful as to not create bubbles although this isn't as important with the glow powder being added as it would be for fishing rods. A half a popcicle stick (the long way) carved down to a long tooth pick size on the end works well for this and a cement mixer type rolling motion with your mixing cup while stirring the opposite direction helps as well. Mix until you think you are finished and then do it again and after that folow the last mentioned about five more time. This stuff needs to be mixed very well! Stay away from Flex Coat as it will yellow with time much faster then Glass Coat, Dura Gloss, Amtak or some of the others. The good thing with these expoxies which is two sided is the curing time, you don't get the fumes that leave the film on lenses as the faster curing epoxies do. Another possiblity I have not tried but is much faster drying is Permagloss which is a single part fishing rod thread coating that is much thinner but may make for the fumes that cause the films as well.

http://members.cox.net/bravo25/Glow%20Powder2.jpg

I didn't do the A2 only the "Springfield Armory" on the 45 ACP. I also did the 1911-A1 on the reverse. This needs to be redone, but I origianlly used the fingernail poish, as it is easier to clean up the over flow, and it has lasted quite a while. I have used epoxy, but it can be dificult to work with.

I also used powder that was for printers ink, and I hope that some of the others available will do better.