what is the best way to attach 5mm foamex to posts?

[Peter Dee]

Looks like a cheap job so screw through the face and put some white caps on the heads.
Liable to get broken though so a ply backing would be better which would also brace the posts.

[Peter Normington]

I tend to use skybond light for small signs like this, rather than foamex
it comes in 1250 x 2550 sheets from europoint so if you can get away with 700 x 625 it would only work out at only about a quid per sign more expensive, a better job, and cheaper than mounting onto ply

Peter

[Steve Vallis]

Thanks Peter & Peter!

[Robert Lambie]

what sort of location and purpose will these signs have?
i.e. remote location in the country… or city centre… school playground etc

[Steve Vallis]

quote Robert Lambie:

what sort of location and purpose will these signs have?
i.e. remote location in the country… or city centre… school playground etc

Car dealership forecourt, temporary sign explaining building works.

[Robert Lambie]

the best way i would say is plastic ties threaded through two holes top, bottom and possibley the middle of the sign.
holes should be about 1.5 – 2 inches apart.
using a permanent fixing like a screw is not the best way because the fixing is centred over a very small area. even if it is fixed using plastic, dibond or even alluminium. a good yank and the head of the screw will pull through the material. more so on software substrates.
ideally, for a cheap short life ide use plastic ties on ski-bond light 3mm. costs about 38-40 quid a sheet from europoint. alternatively, 5mm correx, or foamex.
Foamex gets brittle very quickly and can snap pretty easily after a month or so…

[Tim Painter]

what about something like Staufen PVC or HIPPS I think it’s called.
More pliable and less brittle than foamex.

[Robert Lambie]

I was thinking about HIPs also mate, but i thought at 700mm square it might be a bit to flexible… by that i mean, by the time you tighten the tie wraps it might pull the HIPs out of shape?

[Steve Vallis]

Thanks Robert for all the thought youve put in! I owe you a beer!

Steve

[Peter Normington]

If going the cable tie method with foamex, its still would be off with a "Good yank"
But try these if you want a to have hidden fixings, 25mm
Work a treat for small signs and can be place each side of the post to form a double fixing.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/70730/Ele … CSTHZOSFFI

Peter

[Steve Vallis]

quote Peter Normington:

If going the cable tie method with foamex, its still would be off with a “Good yank”
But try these if you want a to have hidden fixings, 25mm
Work a treat for small signs and can be place each side of the post to form a double fixing.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/70730/Ele … CSTHZOSFFI

Peter

Brilliant!!!

Thank you Peter

Steve

[Robert Lambie]

peter i think they would be fine for small signs lightweight signs but on 700mm square your back to concetrating the fixing on a small area which looks to be held by a foamstick type pad.

[Warren Beard]

I have used those to put up a dibond panel on to a fence, the panel was 600mm x 1500mm and they actually work very well and have a very high bond surprisingly. I did use about 12 in total with cable ties and it didn’t go anywhere although it was only up for about a month. If you use a few of them I think it might work.

Just be sure to round the corners slightly in case 😉

Cheers

Warren

[Peter Normington]

Rob, If six are used on each post that, assuming 2 posts will be used each pad has an area of 6.5 sq cm bond area, total x 12= 75 sq cm more than adequate I would think

holes with cable ties assuming a 5mm tie and holes 50mm apart
only 2.5 sq cm contact.

I have fitted 5mm correx 610 x 813 bords to railing, using 6 pads, all still there more than a year later.

Just looks a bit neater than cable ties showing to the front’

Just a little experiment i did, after which I tried to pull the pad off, but the cable tie gave way first!

pics in off topic

http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … 147#265147

Peter

[Mike Grant]

Why don’t you use correx, very lightweight and non recyclable and cheap as chips. You could also make it triangular like the police use in carparks to fit around the post. Not sure how they fix them though, not had a close look, but if your friendly plod can fix them then anyone could. Just a suggestion. 😀

[Robert Lambie]

In keeping with the posts here…

:lol1: Great example of how strong the fixings are peter. 😉

As i said, these are great for small signs.
So is the pad a "foam stick one" or a VHB?

[Peter Normington]

as far as i am aware, vhb stands for very high bond,
well yes, then they are,
Whichever way you look at it, a cheap way to fix panels
but not just for small signs, more fixings, more stregth, however you scale it up…
and that applies to screws and cable ties.

peter

[Warren Beard]

and as I said before I have used them and they do work great and do have a VHB.

It’s always nice to agree with Peter every now and again 😉

[Peter Normington]

quote Warren Beard:

and as I said before I have used them and they do work great and do have a VHB.

It’s always nice to agree with Peter every now and again 😉

Bog off Warren, you know you wouldnt dare dis-agree

😉

Peter

[Warren Beard]

quote Peter Normington:

quote Warren Beard:

and as I said before I have used them and they do work great and do have a VHB.

It’s always nice to agree with Peter every now and again 😉

Bog off Warren, you know you wouldnt dare dis-agree

😉

Peter

Never, not me :no1:

.

.

:tongue:

[Robert Lambie]

no it doesn’t… VHB is a permanent long life tape. costs much more also… (as much as £50 for a 30 metre roll of 3M.
a foam stick pad has a great grab on many substrate but does deteriorate. its adhesive is very strong but the 1.4mm of foam tears apart because it is just foam. In the past, lots of sign firms put flat cut letters up with foam stick pads. they work because of the down-word pressure is virtually nothing due the letters weight. but go up and grip the letter and you will tear it off… however, you will be left with a letter with part of a foam pad on its rear and the other part on the sign.

Around 7 years ago. 3M VHB tape was actually used to hold up one of the largest signs in the UK.
Around 7 years ago, I used 3M VHB tape to hold up 10mm foamex letters on a temporary sign. they fell off in 1 week. when i spoke to the 3M rep, they sent out guys to inspect. i was told that it was because of the foamex porous surface, coupled by how smooth it was that made it fail. (also requires scoring of the board).

My point is, there are reasons why VHB tape was invented and why we pay high price tags for the luxury.
I am in no way saying these pad fixings are unreliable or that they are not extremely strong. (you have proved that in your pictures). i am just trying to say that over a matter of days, weeks, adhesives break down on initial tack. you just have to look at the different variations on vinyl adhesive to see what i mean.

Andrew may remember this, if he reads it… :lol1:
we had a large roll of double sided tape in our store. we called it "1 day tape". (it was just carpet tape) :lol1:
anyway… a new guy started with us. he was a joiner… cut story short he takes this tape out and uses it on a job. i told him he would need to replace it and to go back to the job. he was adamant it was very strong. "and i believe him" however. i took a small bit of lightweight HIPs plastic and stuck it to a door. I had covered the rear of it in this tape. i turned and said to him, pull that off the door. after about 3-5 minutes of trying he gve up… said "its solid" then spouted on… "see rob, told you it was strong". i said come and see me when we get into work tomorrow.
next morning he says, "well?" i walked into the room and pointed at the door. no HIPs plastic on the door. he said where did it go? i pointed to the floor, there it was… flat on its back.
so one day this grown man couldn’t pull the plastic off the door. next morning it fell off on its own.

my point is just that there is much more to tapes/adhesives etc than we are all aware of. As i said, i am not saying those fixings wont work peter. i am just saying that given the material in question.(foamex) the size of it being fixed to a single post, and the length of time it is expected to last for budget signage. a simple tie fixing through drilled holes will probably do the job better than most. I also dont see the point in adding expense to hide fixings on temp budget signs mate, where the fixing of them maybe questioned further down the line. (i said maybe) 😀

[John Childs]

Good tip Peter.

I was aware of their existence, and even use them on occasion for keeping cable runs tidy, but never thought of using them for holding up signs.

[Peter Normington]

Rob, the job in question was for a temporary fix, so not arguing about long term, and heavy weights, these fixings are use on commercial vehicles to fix brake lines and electrics to the chassis. and do last anyway.
but to put in context, at a less than a penny each, a cheap, way to fix cheap signs, for short term, and quicker than drilling holes.

End of the day not worth arguing about for a 2 bob sign 😉

what does vhb stand for then?

Peter

[Robert Lambie]

Vaginal Herpes Bacteria, an extremely high bonding discharge when dried and mixed with alcohol.

quote :

End of the day not worth arguing about for a 2 bob sign

not arguing mate, just tugging your chain Peter. 😉

VHB = Very High Bonding

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