attaching nylon locators to composite letters, which glue?

[Kev Mayger]

Penlock glue, about the best you can get.

Kev

[Fred McLean]

Penloc’s the stuff but will leave dimples on the face where heat generated from the chemical reaction goes for the core!!

[Hugh Potter]

seeing as the face of the composite (white gloss) is going to be the finished face for the majority of the letters, should I be using penloc or considering something else?

anything suitable i’m likely to find in the diy store? don’t have time to order and i’ll be down there in an hour or two anyways!

thanks again,

Hugh

[Robert Lambie]

penlock will dimple the face, as will 3M two part "and the like" adhesives. as has been said, its the heat generated from the adhesive curing that attacks the composites core and creates the dimple.
personally, ide NOT do it. looks bad, i know, "i have the t-shirt" on this one…

we have a contract where we "need" to sometimes use composite as apposed to aluminum to create a large flat cut logo. we score and apply rows of two inch "off-cuts" of composite board using 3M VHB tape on the rear of the logo. We then apply the locators to the bonded strips using 3M two part adhesive.

[Hugh Potter]

thanks Rob,

that seems the best idea so far!

cheers,
HUgh

[Hugh Potter]

other than I don’t have penloc to hand! glad i didn’t go cutting scraps up yet,

will something like araldite or evo-stik (serious stuff -or whatever it’s called) do the trick,

the letters range between 200mm and 350mm tall, very light!

cheers,
Hugh

[Stephen Morriss]

Don’t bother with the evostik serious stuff, it’s rubbish! or the tube I had was 🙁

Try Araldite, if there’s enough area it should be ok, you could also use an extra locator or two as well.

Steve

[Hugh Potter]

cheers Steve,

have never used serious stuff, only heard it mentioned, araldite i’m friendly with!

as you say, extra locators won’t hurt, i’ve got about 300 of them!

[Mike Grant]

I have used Araldite with no problems. I roughed up the area where the fixing goes with coarse sandpaper and run the glue side of the fixing on my sanding belt to get a good bite with the glue.

[Hugh Potter]

Cheers Mike,

that’s pretty much whee i’m at -as we speak!

last minute job… figured i’d make them myself using templates on the panel, cheap to make they may be, quick to make they are not! cutting them out s fine, finishing the edges to a satisfactory finish took a while, luckily it’s a comic type font so wiggly anyways!

supposed to be going up tomorrow!

[Peter Dee]

Personally I’d never use Araldite. It dries rock hard and has no give for expansion and the bond fails.
This is where Penloc wins over.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Peter Dee:

Personally I’d never use Araldite. It dries rock hard and has no give for expansion and the bond fails.
This is where Penloc wins over.

oh!

used araldite now, keyed both surfaces and it seems good, wouldn’t say rock hard though (used the rapid), i accidentally left the applicator laying on the back of a letter and had to literally cut it off where it had stuck!

the shop is only around the corner so i’ll make sure to keep an eye on it,

cheers,
Hugh

[Dave Harrison]

Hi Hugh. .

bit late I know but for next time either try Indasol 4300 structural acrylic adhesive or if you are gluing locators to the rear of mirror finish where the slightest dimple will show. .. use Simson ISR 70-03. .. this is a standard 290ml gunable tube. .. sets but remains flexible a bit like a hard silicon. . be sure you use the correct simson surface prep product too. . both quite expensive, but the dogs doo daa’s in our opinion !

[Hugh Potter]

thanks Dave,

i’ll bear these products in mind for next time,

thanks all,

Hugh

[Mike Grant]

quote Peter Dee:

Personally I’d never use Araldite. It dries rock hard and has no give for expansion and the bond fails.
This is where Penloc wins over.

I have to disagree with you on this one. Dibond has very little to no expension on small letters and the cups will give a little first if screwed only lightly to the wall.

[Graeme Harrold]

quote Dave Harrison:

Hi Hugh. .

bit late I know but for next time either try Indasol 4300 structural acrylic adhesive or if you are gluing locators to the rear of mirror finish where the slightest dimple will show. .. use Simson ISR 70-03. .. this is a standard 290ml gunable tube. .. sets but remains flexible a bit like a hard silicon. . be sure you use the correct simson surface prep product too. . both quite expensive, but the dogs doo daa’s in our opinion !

Just got mittor dibond from AboutSigns (Fabricut) and the locators are stuck on with what looks like a rigid silicon, this must be the stuff you are describing…..surface is perfect (3mm thick.)