Machine Polishing Questions
by Connie on Thu, Dec 10 2009 7:15 PM
I am a polisher in the fiber optic manufacturing field. I've been trying desperately to clean up imperfections on the end face of ceramic connectors. The polishing process works fine, except with bubbles in the epoxy ring around the glass. The best way to describe it ... bubbles like those of an Aero chocolate bar! Or star bursts! It looks like air pockets in the epoxy. Is it a problem with the heat curing process? Oven temperatures are checked frequently. Timers are used. Is it a viscosity issue, because the syringe of epoxy has expired it's pot life? The termination dept. follows mfg instructions on mixing the epoxy. They use a de-gasser. Pour the epoxy into syringes. Then store it in a refrigerator. But often they use the glue way beyond it's pot life. Am I barking up the wrong tree? I've tried different polishing procedures on polishing machines to fix the problem at my end, but the only fix that works, is to hand polish. The machines can not work out the bubbles, with the times and pressures available. I'm talking a lot of hand polishing. I have plates that hold 20-24 connectors. And I'm having to hand polish about 30%. In all styles of connectors. ST, LC, SC, FC single and multimode. I don't believe it's a polishing issue, and I'd like to fix the problem, and save the lost time of hand-polishing. Any ideas? Suggestions?
