4.3.1 Gluing
The light guides manufactured for the PV were made in two pieces. These two
pieces had to be glued together and then glued onto the end of a PV stave. The
glue used was a special two-component epoxy purchased from the Bicron division
of the Saint-Goban/Norton Industrial Ceramics Corporation. This epoxy is
transparent to light of the wavelengths produced by the PV staves (~ 423 nm).
Special clamps were designed and built to hold the pieces in place while the
epoxy dried. The clamps worked with only limited success however since air
bubbles would routinely appear in the epoxy requiring the joints to be broken,
polished, and re-glued. Eventually, a much more successful method was developed
using rubber bands to keep the pieces pressing against one another while the
epoxy dried.