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back printed acrylic panel, bonded to foamex/comacel
Hi Folks,
Looking for a set of fresh eyes on this as its ben whirring around my brain for a week….
The project is to install large 5mm acrylic panels (approx 1m x 2m) to internal walls without drilling and fixing through the front.
My approach on this is to back print direct to clear acrylic and bond to 10mm foamex/comacel. The foamex will then have split batons to fix to wall.
I have no issue with fixing the foamex to wall, but I’m trying to decide on the bonding method between the acrylic and the foamex. My reason for direct printing to acrylic and not apply a reverse printed film, is that I expect the weight of the acrylic to pull the back print off and create bubbles where double sided tape is.
My decision lies in the type of bonding I use. This lies between using a decent 3m clear tape run across the back, or an Avery laminating adhesive across the entire back of the panel .
it feels that the laminating adhesive would be a good choice as it is spread across so much of the surface area it will give a good grip. I don’t have enough experience with this material though to say how it will perform and perform over time.
I would really appreciate a second opinion on this as I just can’t draw it to a conclusion (basically pulling whats left of my hair out).
Thanks everyone
Simon
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1 Reply
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Hi Simon
We’ve made and fitted lots of rear printed acrylic panels of at least this size and the only way we’ve had good success was with fixings through the face. Rear mounted print was prone to pulling away and pocketing where bonded, as was rear UV print prone to cracking off. That said we only ever bonded around the perimeter rather than whole area coverage of adhesive – as you say that could spread the load. If you do use mechanical fixings then take into account expansion of the acrylic with oversized fixing holes – a 200cm tall panel wants to be 200.5cm – 201cm tall on a hot day! (most likely the reason for the rear prints failing rather than the hanging weight).
How about using some clear acrylic barrel locators – not invisible but not as obvious as aluminium ones, or the mirror fixings that just wrap around the edges and come round the front edge only about 5mm
Cheers
Dave
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