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Life, the Universe, and Everything
Apr. 12th, 2012 10:20 amLife here has been a bit of a whirlwind. The medical stuff has been...rough. ( Cut for long-winded exposition of my recent medical situation. )
In other news, I think I've solved the bubble problem I was having with my eyes. I built a vacuum chamber (James helped with the hole-drilling I needed), and was very confused when my completely bubble-free resin seemed to spontaneously develop bubbles during it's curing process. Most sources online seemed to maintain that the bubbles were there in microscopic form despite the steps I had taken to remove them and my inability to find them with a flashlight and magnifying glass, and that they magically expanded when the resin hardened. Not satisfied with this explanation, I did some research on the actual chemical composition of polyurethane resins, and I learned some very interesting things. Notably, that curing the resin in areas where the humidity is too high or the temperature is too low will result in a change in the chemical reaction that causes the resin to harden, and will cause the resin to off-gas. While this off-gassing isn't a problem in the earlier stages of curing, once the viscosity of the resin has become high enough the gas being released will become trapped inside, which forms bubbles.
We happen to live in a humid climate, and the daily temperatures here are low from late October through the end of June, sometimes even into July.
A bit of research into localized humidity control methods and the judicious application of a space heater and I'm watching some test eyes (made with junk casts from cleaning my master molds) cure that appear to be almost entirely bubble-free. Since they were testers, I wasn't as careful with them as I usually would have been, and there are a few bubbles in them that I introduced myself. But there don't seem to be any spontaneous "magical" bubbles so far, which is a very good sign.
In other other news, I'm reading Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's The Grand Design, and thus far it is highly entertaining.
In other news, I think I've solved the bubble problem I was having with my eyes. I built a vacuum chamber (James helped with the hole-drilling I needed), and was very confused when my completely bubble-free resin seemed to spontaneously develop bubbles during it's curing process. Most sources online seemed to maintain that the bubbles were there in microscopic form despite the steps I had taken to remove them and my inability to find them with a flashlight and magnifying glass, and that they magically expanded when the resin hardened. Not satisfied with this explanation, I did some research on the actual chemical composition of polyurethane resins, and I learned some very interesting things. Notably, that curing the resin in areas where the humidity is too high or the temperature is too low will result in a change in the chemical reaction that causes the resin to harden, and will cause the resin to off-gas. While this off-gassing isn't a problem in the earlier stages of curing, once the viscosity of the resin has become high enough the gas being released will become trapped inside, which forms bubbles.
We happen to live in a humid climate, and the daily temperatures here are low from late October through the end of June, sometimes even into July.
A bit of research into localized humidity control methods and the judicious application of a space heater and I'm watching some test eyes (made with junk casts from cleaning my master molds) cure that appear to be almost entirely bubble-free. Since they were testers, I wasn't as careful with them as I usually would have been, and there are a few bubbles in them that I introduced myself. But there don't seem to be any spontaneous "magical" bubbles so far, which is a very good sign.
In other other news, I'm reading Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's The Grand Design, and thus far it is highly entertaining.
