Need help attaching acrylic print to aluminum backing

[partysigns1]

I have 40"x30" 1/4" acrylic uv print that I am attaching to aluminum hanger. I tried VHB tape on which sticks great to the aluminum hanger part but after a few days the acrylic part fell off the hanger.

Any recommendations on what I might try? Thanks

 

[unmateria]

Screws or a discreet support if u want to sleep good. Any adhesive is just a matter of time, temperature differences, shrinkage, etc, but finally it will fall. Maybe in years, but it will lol when weight is involved, adhesives are good just only for mounting them before screwing.

If u still want adhesives... Look for sika primers for aluminium. Look instructions very carefully. Check humidity and temperature recomendations. But even with that, u wont sleep well during some days lol

 

[partysigns1]

This would be for a wall mounted indoor print.

 

[unmateria]

Then put a non acid adhesive and a pair of little L screwed to the wall on the bottom

 

[FlyingSquirrelBrigade]

I have seen people use adhesive to attach a large piece of 1/8” white sintra to the back of the print maybe two inches or so Inset from the edges. This gives you more surface area to adhere to essentially just the ink I assume on the back of the acrylic. Then attach the aluminum hanger to the sintra (the one I saw was custom made so that the entire piece of sintra was covered with aluminum with the top part folded over to make the channel for hanging. This was for a half inch piece so it was probably heavier.

 

[partysigns1]

Thanks. What type of adhesive was used?

 

[FlyingSquirrelBrigade]

I’m note sure. We didn’t disect it we were just supposed to imitate it. We use a film on the back of acrylic instead of printing onto the acrylic so we just had to make sure our hanging system could be swapped out over what this one was. All I told you so what I could gather from how the other guys did it. Ink doesn’t have much sheer strength so the sintra helps distribute the load better. It looked pretty tight onto the acrylic so I’d doubt it was VHB. Maybe some two sided film?

 

[Superior_Adam]

that is quite a bit of weight on the acrylic and I would not trust any adhesive over time to hold. You will need to find a way to use screws/bolts. Personally I would go with standoffs to give it a more finished look.

 

[FlyingSquirrelBrigade]

the weight in this scenario is on the ink on the back which is probably worse but these particular ones have been there for eight years without an issue. I have ten year old acrylics with French cleats and VHB on the back that are still holding great. None of my clients would go for standoffs drilled through their images. We only do that for clear acrylics with some parts printed where you would see the hanging device.

 

[partysigns1]

Is there a particular type of vhb you use?

 

[MikePro]

i always pair 3M vhb tape with 100% silicone adhesive. never fails

 

[partysigns1]

Do you apply any silicone directly on top of vhb tape?

 

[FlyingSquirrelBrigade]

Do you apply any silicone directly on top of vhb tape?

I could only guess no chance in hell. The vhb is its own thing, it gets the grip to hold initially and the silicone sets and is permanent. we use Rp+ 110gf 3m and previously used rp45 but apparently the ingredient for that is unavailable like other weird things 3m can't make anymore.