Can the strips be bent in a corner or would they have to be cut and joined?

I want to make a UV varnish curing cabinet for violins. Would one strip for the sides (34mm wide) and two strips for the wider back and front (220mm wide) give adequate exposure? Can the strips be bent in a corner or would they have to be cut and joined?

Our UV LED strip lights sound like a great fit for the UV curing application. That being said, it is a bit difficult for us to provide any assurances regarding UV irradiance as different materials will differ significantly in their exposure needs.

We are aware that UV curing is a function of both UV irradiance and exposure time. As such, if long exposure times are not a concern, even a lower power UV LED strip installation could be sufficient; conversely if shorter exposure times are needed, a higher power density UV LED strip installation (e.g. multiple rows) may be desired.

If possible, we would recommend taking an empirical approach and testing a small patch of UV varnish with various UV LED strip distances and densities to determine what works best for your needs.

The LED strips will bend vertically (i.e. up/down) but not laterally (left/right) so for turning corners, we would recommend cutting the LED strips and rejoining them using our solderless connector accessories.

An article has been published on the use of UV for curing wood and varnish in which your LED strips were one of the sources used, and worked as well as bulbs (which generate enough heat to require 15 cm distance and cabinet ventilation) if at a distance of 10 cm. 

What it didn't cover was the radiation pattern or effective angle per strip that would establish how many would be needed to cover a 220mm surface. The test was done with one strip and a standard 32mm rib width. The cabinet I will use will be around 32-36"X12"X 6". The bend I was positing was from the long side to the top and bottom. Exposure will be for whatever time is needed, frequently a couple of days.

Our LED strip lights emit at a 120 degree angle. The math works out quite nicely such that the coverage surface width is approximately equal to the distance between the LED strip and the irradiance surface.

For example, if the LED strips are placed 220 mm away from the irradiance surface, it would cover an approximately 220 mm wide area.

Since this is more than double the 10 cm distance used for testing by the article authors, you may see much longer cure times. One alternative would be to maintain the same 10 cm distance, but utilize two LED strip rows to ensure adequate coverage of the full 220 mm width.

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Ultraviolet (curing, emulsion)UV-A LED strip lights

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