Suggestions Glueing PVC Letters to PVC Backer

[Grizzly]

Hi Everyone,
I have to glue 320ea, 10" high, 19mm thick PVC letters to a 13mm PVC backer. I would normally use 2-sided foam tape but I'm looking for a more efficient option. Would you recommend using a spray adhesive such as 3M 77 Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive or 3M 90 Hi-Strength Spray Adhesive or something else?
Thanks

 

[Raum Divarco]

depending on application and life span of the sign, design and the equipment you have.
i am always a fan of EZ Bond glue and accelerator sprays.

depending on set up you could:
- use premask/low tack transfer tape on non mirrored side (2 layers)
- use perm adhesive applied on mirrored side
- mirror file
- choke in cut path and use knife tool to score
- router our the letter but not exceeding both premask layers.
pop you letters out and apply. clean up as necessary.

 

[unclebun]

I've had success using PVC cement. You can use the same kind you use for PVC pipe if you can deal with its thinness, or the kind that comes in a tube and is thicker.

 

[Grizzly]

depending on application and life span of the sign, design and the equipment you have.
i am always a fan of EZ Bond glue and accelerator sprays.

depending on set up you could:
- use premask/low tack transfer tape on non mirrored side (2 layers)
- use perm adhesive applied on mirrored side
- mirror file
- choke in cut path and use knife tool to score
- router our the letter but not exceeding both premask layers.
pop you letters out and apply. clean up as necessary.

I was trying to avoid routing any type of tape adhesive just due to all the buildup that it can cause.
That is a good idea though to kiss-cut inside the letters and maybe i could weed out all the excess and then route.

I've had success using PVC cement. You can use the same kind you use for PVC pipe if you can deal with its thinness, or the kind that comes in a tube and is thicker.

I had thought about using PVC cement but I'm worried about bleed out since the backer is black. Any kind of glue causes it to go shiny.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[rossmosh]

Use an 1/8" bit. Drill holes for studs in the backer board and letters.

Use E6000 to mount studs and letters on backer board. You could also use Lexel, but I've grown to really like E6000. Lexel takes way too long to dry.

The studs will take slightly longer on the CNC, but will save a huge amount of time when installing. Considering you're using adhessive and studs, you only need a few studs, primarily for indexing.

 

[fixtureman]

I inlay my letters and use PVC glue easy to do and perfect register

 

[Z SIGNS]

I can't think of anything quicker and cleaner than the proper VHB
Gluing things that expand and contract is never a good idea.

 

[visual800]

just use vhb, are you in that big of a hurry? what could possibly be quicker than vhb?
you must be working on a mass quote and thinking of best method, spray adhesive is NOT the answer

 

[johnnysigns]

tetrahydrofurane is a fast setting water thin PVC solvent. Not sure if Weld-on or any of the other solvent companies sell a similar blend. We buy ours from a chemical company in larger pails.

 

[Grizzly]

Use an 1/8" bit. Drill holes for studs in the backer board and letters.

Use E6000 to mount studs and letters on backer board. You could also use Lexel, but I've grown to really like E6000. Lexel takes way too long to dry.

The studs will take slightly longer on the CNC, but will save a huge amount of time when installing. Considering you're using adhessive and studs, you only need a few studs, primarily for indexing.

I might use this idea for the circle since it's a pain trying to get it in the right orientation. What kind of studs/pegs do you actually use?

I inlay my letters and use PVC glue easy to do and perfect register

Are you saying your surface route a 1/16 or so of the entire letter into the backer? I like this idea for a one off, I'm just not sure I want to do that for 40 signs.

I can't think of anything quicker and cleaner than the proper VHB
Gluing things that expand and contract is never a good idea.

just use vhb, are you in that big of a hurry? what could possibly be quicker than vhb?
you must be working on a mass quote and thinking of best method, spray adhesive is NOT the answer

We've always used two-sided foam tape in the past. I'd like to eliminate the gap that it creates between the letter and backer.
I'm not necessarily in a hurry just always trying to be efficient and avoid 1000+ pieces of vhb that have to be stuck and then peeled when applying.
Since there are so many VHB options, what type would you recommend?

tetrahydrofurane is a fast setting water thin PVC solvent. Not sure if Weld-on or any of the other solvent companies sell a similar blend. We buy ours from a chemical company in larger pails.

How would you apply this? Brush? Spray? Other?

Thanks everyone!

 

[MikePro]

you've got thick letters and a thick backer.... I'd be routing them both with matching mounting holes and just use a brush with a few dabs adhesive while you finish with rivots/cs-screws/studs

 

[unclebun]

When you use the water thin cement you get a little bottle with a needle coming out of the lid. Put the plastic parts together and touch the needle tip to the joint. The cement flows into the joint by capillary action.

 

[johnnysigns]

## double post

 

[johnnysigns]

How would you apply this? Brush? Spray? Other?

Thanks everyone!

Syringe bottles

 

[johnnysigns]

How would you apply this? Brush? Spray? Other?

Thanks everyone!

We use these bottles: https://www.mcmaster.com/7544a68

And these syringes: https://www.mcmaster.com/75165a763