Hi! I’m planning to install my first fiber optics, but I don’t have any real insight on what works and what doesn’t. I’ve got a bunch of tiny circuit board drills in the right diameters, and I’m putting together some blinking LEDs, but I’d really like your expertise in actually installing them…
What glue should I use? Regular model glue (Proweld or that stuff in the orange tube)? CA? CA gel? A hot glue gun? Elmers?
What tricks do you like?
Thanks![:)]
If the area is easy to sand, I like to use CA and push about half a millimeter extra through the hole. When the CA is set, sand the ends flush to the surface.
If you use that method, you have to mask off the ends of the fiber before painting.
Otherwise, use fine sandpaper and make a nice flat end on the fiber and push it into the hole. Glue it from the back with a dab of CA or 5 minute epoxy
Thanks Hatewall. I’ll use the CA… I think I’ve heard somewhere that CA makes the fibers “brittle” (from a chemical reaction?), but that might be just because the bond is so stiff. I’m installing these into a cockpit so they’ll need to bend quite a bit, but I’ll see what happens.
Do you use a syringe with the epoxy?
usually just a piece of wire or stretched sprue.
CA will make them britle, so epoxy may be what you need to use in this case.
And what ever you do don’t use CA accelerators with fiber optics…Very bad things can happen.
Matt