Can someone please suggest which glue to use to glue opal acrylic letters to a sheet of acrylic, which doesn't hinder the back lighting. As in it allows maximum light through and you can't see glue marks. The job is a dibond panel with the logo cut out and opal 3d letters in the cut out area (which light up from the back light). To fix the letters I'm placing a 1.5mm acrylic sheet to the back of the dibond to allow me to fix the letters to the panel. I don't want any glue marks to hinder the light or to be visible. Thanks for any suggestions!
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Gluing backlit acrylic letters for a light box.
- Thread starter AdamTek
- Start date
This is the proper way to have acrylic light up on a opaque background. This is router and push through lettering , there is also router and backed up lettering. I dont think you will ever get it perfect that you cannot see a glue discoloration the way you are doing it. Do some testing and check, next time do it the way i showed you
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signbrad
New Member
You can get acceptable results using thin Weld On. The trick is using capillary action to spread the glue evenly under the flat cutout letters.
1.5mm is too thin for the backer, in my opinion. I would not use less than 3/16" or 1/4" for the backer. I don't know the equivalent metric thicknesses in Opal.
I worked at a shop for a while that routinely glued 1/8" colored acrylic letters to 1/4" flat faces with little or no noticeable glue marks. Needless to say, these faces were very durable.
I assume you are gluing white on white. If you are using clear acrylic letters you will have very noticeable spots. But white on white or colors on white will work.
Of course, the ideal "push thru" letter has a routered lip on each letter instead of a glued backer panel.
Brad in Kansas City
1.5mm is too thin for the backer, in my opinion. I would not use less than 3/16" or 1/4" for the backer. I don't know the equivalent metric thicknesses in Opal.
I worked at a shop for a while that routinely glued 1/8" colored acrylic letters to 1/4" flat faces with little or no noticeable glue marks. Needless to say, these faces were very durable.
I assume you are gluing white on white. If you are using clear acrylic letters you will have very noticeable spots. But white on white or colors on white will work.
Of course, the ideal "push thru" letter has a routered lip on each letter instead of a glued backer panel.
Brad in Kansas City
Thanks for the help. I should clarify a bit more... Unfortunately this job is 2 panels to slide into an existing box (it has 3mm channels which is the thickness of the dibond - sorry not sure on the imperial units), due to the side panel of the box being permanently fixed I don't have more than 1.5mm spare behind the dibond. I agree it should be thicker but there is no way I can increase it. And yes it is white/opal lettering, but the backing is clear (it sounds like I should have gone with white backing?). FS-Keith your method looks great and I'll do that in the future, but I couldn't do it with this job anyway, thanks for the pics. I will have to go with 979INC's suggestion and take on board the tips from signbrad. Cheers guys!
synergy_jim
New Member
if you insist on glueing them on, weld on is good, but it takes time to master. There are a few optically clear adhesive tapes that will do the trick also.
Typically, we machine a lip and slide through like Keith has pictured. We don't use studs though. We VHB retaining brackets to the back side over the lip on the push through.
Typically, we machine a lip and slide through like Keith has pictured. We don't use studs though. We VHB retaining brackets to the back side over the lip on the push through.
they are stud welded onto the .125 alum face that is glued to the retainer system. we typically glue the faces on the front of the retainer for a cleaner look when we are building the cabinet.