Stick with it
When you hear actors and musicians giving their acceptance speeches at award ceremonies, you often hear them talk about the “unsung heroes” from behind the scenes, without whom they would not be standing on stage clutching their glittering award.
The same can be said when it comes to talking about tapes and adhesives in sign projects; without these solutions and the vital role they play in the final look of many applications, then they simply would not be a success.
Playing a major role behind the scenes in signage applications great and small, we take a look at some of the latest tapes and adhesives products on the market and analyse how they can help sign-makers gain an advantage.
Get it right first time
Eurobond Adhesives supplies a wide range of adhesives products to the sign market and its managing director, Simon Dearing, says the importance of working with quality products in this area cannot be overstated.
Eurobond supplies a wide range of adhesives products for a host of signage applications
“Most sign-makers have worked very hard to develop their reputation not just in their local area, but also in their industry,” Dearing says, adding: “Often they’ve achieved this by good design, great manufacturing with excellent installation and maintenance teams and ongoing customer support.
“However, the thing that can let them down is the quality of the adhesive that they have selected for a given job and the advice they’ve been given by their supplier. There is no such thing as one magic adhesive fits all; adhesives have to be carefully selected to ensure they meet the performance requirements for where they are going to be sited and also need to be able to cope with the forces and environmental conditions they will be exposed to.
“Selecting the wrong adhesive or cutting corners and using a cheaper alternative can lead to disaster. That cultivated reputation that took years to develop could be in tatters when the sign starts to come apart, where the cheap poor quality adhesive or the wrong choice of adhesive has led to failure. Sign-makers want to get it right first time, every time.”
O Factoid: Eurobond Adhesives has been supplying adhesives that have been tested and proved in the most hostile of environments for almost 40 years O
Dearing goes on to say that this choice is even more important when you take into account that different chemistries and different forms of adhesive or adhesive tapes can open up whole new revenue streams for sign-makers. He explains that production times can be reduced, as the clarity of the glue can be a huge benefit when working with transparent plastics or glass.
“Flexible adhesives offer many benefits by accommodating impact, vibration and of course expansion and contraction of the different materials at different temperatures,” Dearing says, adding: “Fast cure speeds mean faster production, slow cure speeds offer the fabricator time to manipulate the bonded parts.
“Adhesive tapes give even thickness and standardised width bond lines improving the quality of the finished sign. Adhesive tapes also help to cost a job efficiently as the designer will know exactly how much is being used regardless of which fabricator is making the sign.”
In terms of how Eurobond can help sign-makers both with their choice of product and how to use the solution to its fullest, Dearing says Eurobond can offer specialist training to help ensure successful use of its products.
“With a little training from the team at Eurobond and the correct adhesives and cure systems, sign-makers can increase their product offerings by manufacturing acrylic POS [point-of-sale], trophies, awards, display cases and polycarbonate machine guards,” Dearing explains.
“Ultraviolet and visible light curing adhesives are fundamentally optically clear, ‘cure on demand adhesives,’ designed specifically to bond acrylic, polycarbonate, metals and glass. The adhesive will remain completely liquid until the glue line is exposed to a focused, concentrated UV light source. Upon exposure to UV light the adhesive will cure in seconds, leaving a very strong optically clear bond line.
“Eurobond’s technical team will work with your designers, fabricators and sign-makers to make sure you get it right first time, every time.”
Planning for success
Another company with a range of adhesive products is Indasol, also known as Industrial Adhesive Solutions. Owner Martin Sadler explains that when spending so much time designing and fabricating a sign, it is often the case that the assembly or installation products get thought about last.
Indasol supplies both adhesive and tape products
In most cases, Sadler says that this is not an issue and Indasol has worked with sign-makers for many years, tailoring its tapes and adhesives to cope with most situations. However, he also says that there are times when the correct bonding method will not work due to the designing or planning and, as such, some companies use whatever they have lying around, which can lead to problems down the road.
“Invariably, this is a store-bought product not suitable for the bond required,” Sadler says, adding: “It is essential to plan the design, build and installation with the correct tape, adhesive or fixing method in mind. Some substrates work perfectly well with a tape in one application, but the same substrate and tape in a different application may fail. This is why we always like to be involved as early as possible.
It is essential to plan the design, build and installation with the correct tape, adhesive or fixing method in mind”
“We have tapes and adhesives that can bond to pretty much every surface, work in almost all applications and deliver a finish free from face fixings. We even have products that can replace rivets, welds and pass-through powder coating. Our UHB9120G has been tried and tested for many years and is the industry’s go-to product for channel/rail fixing. Similarly, our Indasol 900 and Indasol 930LX are the product of choice for most structural bonding such as locator fixing.”
Sadler goes on to say that as the end customer probably does not have much thought as to how their sign or build will be fabricated or installed, and they will be more focused on the quality, impact and overall appearance of it, it is the responsibility of the sign-maker to ensure the right products are used.
“There’s a fair chance they would prefer not to see screws, rivets or other fixings, so by suggesting tapes and adhesives as an option, this may help win the business over someone proposing a sign with screws and caps,” Sadler explains.
“From a health and safety perspective, our own NCFR476 safe solvent and Class 0 Fire Rated contact adhesive is perfect for laminating and bonding where the end user is concerned about their employees’ or their customers’ welfare. This helps demonstrate a good duty of care from the installer.”
Looking more closely at the solutions available from Indasol, Sadler says while its primary products have been around for many years, as substrates change so does its research and development so the company has added a few products to its range to assist.
UHBSF18XT is the latest structural tape product from Indasol, offering an extra high initial grab. While the overall bond is similar to its other UHB products, the initial grab helps bond to surfaces that may not have an instant affinity to UHB. The PR100 primer helps overcome this in most cases.
Elsewhere and Indasol 930LX is an enhancement of the original 900. The LX stands for Low Exotherm, which Sadler says means it does not generate as much heat as the 900, which when used on delicate surfaces like ACM can create front face read through.
In addition, Sadler singles out Signbonder as one of the company’s most successful products for all sign fitters to carry on the van, billing it as a fantastic single part bonding adhesive or sealant that is useful for quick fixings.
Sadler adds: “Using the wrong product, or what may seem the right product but in the wrong application, can be catastrophic. Signs and builds today are getting bigger, some getting heavier and as such any possible failure due to poor product selection could result in a dangerous situation.
“Our tapes and adhesives have been tested to perform in demanding environments and work under stress, but tapes and adhesives cannot be used for every application, so it’s always best to seek expert advice.”
Driving ahead
Elsewhere and looking at other new products available to the market, Viking Industrial recently sealed a UK-wide distribution partnership with Italian-based Enimac, covering its five-strong stable of state-of-the-art adhesive tape application machines.
Viking has established a new in-house demonstration suite at its headquarters in Keighley in West Yorkshire, to showcase the Enimac range, with the UK sign and point-of-sale industry a keynote target market.
The facility includes two tape application units in the XT Light 700 and XT Light 1000, which are being used to demonstrate the latest technology for applying multiple strips of tape at up to 50m/min on flat surfaces such as paper, cardboard, plastic and metal.
Viking Industrial’s Darren Milner demonstrates one of the new Enimac adhesive appliance machines, the XT Light 1000
In addition, the machines also have the ability to apply tape to correx, foamex, acrylic sheet, plastic extrusion and aluminium composite - and can even be adapted to supply magnetic strip.
Colin Bennett, sales and marketing director at Viking, says the deal with Enimac, is a coup for the company. “The Enimac range of adhesive tape application machines is versatile and flexible, offering both speed and precision accuracy to improve productivity, with the ability to cut and apply all types of adhesive tape via touchscreen inputs,” he says, adding: “Specialist features include the ability to accommodate the largest formats of offset printing and many formats of digital printing and up to six independently programmable patented “paste and cut” applicators.
“The machines require limited space, are fully mobile, operate using standard electric and, unlike some others, do not require compressed air, so reducing maintenance costs. The current 130% super deduction on capital expenditure until 2023 also comes into the equation.”
Another new product comes from Sign Trade Supplies in the form of Stykra 800HT, a pre-powder coat adhesive tape developed to bond components prior to metal powder coating processes.
Available from Sign Trade Supplies, Stykra 800HT is a new pre-powder coat adhesive tape
“The Stykra 800HT is a new generation adhesive that can withstand temperature of over 200°C whilst creating long-lasting bonds between bare metal fabrications,” explains Garrick Dartnell, marketing and expansion manager at Sign Trade Supplies.
“Sign-makers can save time and improve aesthetics of powder coated sign systems by removing the need for spot welding or unsightly mechanical fixings. The Stykra 800HT is practically impervious to UV, temperature differential, ageing and solvent chemicals. Thus, making it the number one choice for fabricated systems ready to hit the powder coaters.”
Key features of the product include what Dartnell describes as ultra-high sheer and cohesion levels, it removes the need for spot welds, is developed to withstand demanding powder coating environments, resists impact, shock and vibration, and it is suitable for long-term, external application, opening up a host of opportunities for the user.
While plenty of high quality products are available to the market, when it comes to picking the type of tapes and adhesive solutions, speaking with knowledgeable suppliers about a job will help ensure its success.
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