Arc twistie with a glow tube insert

shiftd commissioned me to do a little mod for him and this is what it evolved into:



I cut a 1/8" slot using a ball-end mill and then epoxied the glow tube in. The tube sits about 1/32" or so below the surface of the aluminum, so it's protected with a layer of epoxy. The epoxy used wasn't what you'd call "optical quality," but it turned out pretty good nonetheless.

Wow, very nice work!

THAT IS awsome /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif you do wonderful work /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

very nice! where did you get the long tritium tubes?

Very nice work. I'd like to have one of those. Please let me know if you decide to sell them!
Thanks

Really cool! I second the "where do you buy the tube" question! Now, do one of Gadgetlover's buttons on the TSP with a tritium insert in that and I'll be buying one for sure! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

shiftd supplied the tube, which was part of a keychain - encased in a larger piece of plastic.

merkava sold the glowtube
it is inside every keychain glowrings, i believe

and yes, it is a nice work, Chris. He is a wonderful guy to deal with and he does a really amazing piece of work. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Forgot to mention the coolest part (well, I thought it was nifty anyway). After I cut the slot, I masked off the entire piece and beadblasted the inside of the slot to give it a little bit of a rough surface for the epoxy to bite into.

That's pretty nice! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

How did you get rid of the bubbles in the epoxy?

-YC

thats just sexy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif i love it

[ QUOTE ]
yclo said:
How did you get rid of the bubbles in the epoxy?

[/ QUOTE ]

There are still some really small bubbles. If I do another, I'll use better epoxy.

Hey guys. I may have a solution for your bubbles in the epoxy for future projects like this.

I build my own fishing rods and you have to use a two part epoxy to seal the wraps for the eyes. Most of the time its almost impossible to keep bubbles out of the wraps no matter how careful you are. So after the epoxy is placed on the rod, you just hit it very quickly with a butane torch or a match. The intense heat will work the bubbles out without damaging the epoxy.

Works like a champ. Anyway, I though it might work on this as well. Nice mod by the way!