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advice needed, bonding to glass?
Hi guys,
Here’s a problem: we had to stick some ali directory signs on to glass partitions. The back of the lass was the interior of meeting rooms, so we had to have a bond that was perfectly clear. All OK so far – we bought some "Glass Clear" double sided tape and it is indeed perfectly clear.
We cleaned the glass panels and the signs with isopropyl alcohol first then stuck them on.Next day we had a phone call – two out of 11 of the signs had fallen off.
I rang the tape supplier, Tecman Tapes, and they said the same tape was used to stick stainless steel strips to the windscreens of hovercraft !!
I have to say, I don’t like d/s tape – when you put a screw into something you know it’s going to stay put.So now we have a job to make an expensive light box with cut outs and halo lighting – all to be stuck on a glass fascia, and again you can see the back of the sign from inside the shop. I’m scared….
Anyone got any advice?
Thanks,
Richard. -
4 Replies
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i am sure there is a post about this some place mate, but cant for the life of me find it.
also… I am maybe wrong on this, but "think" Ian Johnston posted something about a job he did on glass with built ups?
the glass tapes do work, but they will have a process of application you must stick by regimentally like most VHB tapes. i would See if you supplier has a pdf to download on how it should be applied/used. the thing with tapes is they do need a bonding period. sticking something to a verticle upright without any real curing / bonding time. leaving it to hang there with a constant downward force of the signs weight, is slowly going to prize it back off.
think of it like a 10ft x 5ft sheet of alluminium. can you imagine fitting 3 lengths of channel to two freestanding poles. then applying VHB tape to the chanel, then pressing the 10ft x 5ft sign to the channel. its going to come down for definate. but using the proper process it will be up for years.what might be a better option is Permabond or similar. i have a bottle of this and use it on occasion. it is very good and very strong, however, although it can be used for various things, ive personally only ever bonded glass to glass with it. it is a liquid adhesive and is optically clear.
it will set in around 10 seconds. BUT, you must cure it using a UV lamp.
you can get various hand held lamps/bulbs for this sorta thing these days.
little adhesive is needed, but i do not know how you would prevent any running on a vertical application. I watched a guy glue glass shelves directly to a window of a hair dressers i fitted glass etch vinyl too…here is a picture of the job in question… you can see the shelves on the left hand side window. note, there is NO brackets to aid each shelf, its holding its weight with the edge only, bonded by the adhesive.
Permabond
http://www.permabond.com/en/en-industry … market.htm.
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If your not worried about the box having to be removed in the future then Robert’s suggesting might be the best way to go.
I did a job a few years ago where I needed an optically clear adhesive to bond some coloured plastics to a sheet of acrylic. After phoning round quite a few suppliers I finally got a 2 part adhisive from Amari Plastics which they told me was normally used to bond stuff to glass but would do the job.
Can’t remember what it was called but it might have been the stuff Robert has mentioned as it did need to be UV cured.
Try Amari Plastics as they will probably still be able to help, make sure your sitting down when you phone because if I remember correctly it was extremely expensive :lol1:Oh the other thing I was going to say is like Robert has said most VHB tapes not only require the correct cleaning before application but most of them also have a primer that you need to use before sticking the tape on.
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Thanks for these comments guys – very helpful. You can’t beat hearing from someone who’s done it before!
What sounds good about the permabond is the quick curing time because I just can’t think how we can secure the sign for even an hour or two – there’s nothing but glass there! So quick setting – well, we can just hold it in place.Thanks a lot!
Richard
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