Re: TiGlow titanium glowrings *Pre-order open*
[email protected], if at all possible, I would like 2 green with bare tubes.
Also, Pardon me for not reading the whole thread, are these shock proof? Planning on keychain use for both....
:thanks:
I meant to post regarding this sooner, but (from experience) I believe there still exists significant potential for breakage - especially when on a keychain. This is not to suggest that Bart has not done his best to cushion the vials, I think that he has. The only further protection that's possible is total encapsulation.
So, briefly, my TiGlow endured about a month of frequent keychain carry. One day I dropped my keys in the grass and that was it - trit busted. Not sure how it broke, but the most likely cause I suppose would be something on my keychain striking a portion of the exposed tube. Bart was kind enough to supply me with a replacement tube so that I could attempt to reassemble the TiGlow myself, this time using Norland 61 as an encapsulent (luckily, I had plenty of this stuff nearing the expiration date). This worked very well, and I plan to post my procedure soon (will put a link here in this thread as well).
Basically, I first cleared out the Ti casing, enlarging the ID slightly. Then, I forced the entire casing into a tightly fitted silicone tube (acted as a mold, preventing the adhesive from leaking out of the many holes and messing up the nice bare Ti outer surface). Filled the casing with NOA 61 (I used a needle and syringe to fill from the bottom, so no bubbles), then carefully pushed in the vial. Placed it in the sun for about 2 hours and everything was pretty thoroughly cured (silicone transmits enough UV apparently, but curing was definitely quite a bit slower than normal). The tubing was easy to remove at this point by slicing lengthwise with a razor (NOA 61 does not appear to stick to silicone). I then cooked it in the sun for another hour for good measure, and aged it 12 hours at 50°C (seems to develop a bit more hardness this way). I've now had it on my keychain for a few weeks - no issues. I'd be very suprised if I manage to break it again!
FYI, for any who might be interested in doing this themselves, you will need to ask Bart not to seal the top of your TiGlow with epoxy (I presume he would be willing to do this by request as he has given me permission to post my procedure - thanks Bart!). I'd say removing the epoxy plug from an assembled TiGlow is possible, but clearly very risky, and encapsulating without making a mess of things is definitely easiest starting with everything disassembled. I'll try to get some more detailed info posted ASAP - love the TiGlow!