Which adhesive to use for acrylic lettering?

Hi, guys. I'm a hobbyist CO2 owner. I'm cutting out small-ish letters (1.5" tall) and applying them to the wall (women's bathroom sign, men's bathroom sign, etc.).

How do I apply them? It's driving me nuts.

I tried a liquid glue, but I have 300 letters to do, so this is going to take awhile at that rate and the glue squishes out from behind the letter/gets on the wall and doesn't look great. Plus, I'm concerned I'm using the wrong glue and the letters are either a. going to fall off in a year or b. never come off without damaging the wall.

My dream would be to apply a sheet adhesive to the back of the sheet acrylic and re-cut the letters. (I read that I could ask the plastics company to do this when buying the material but, alas, I've already bought and had the acrylic cut down to a size to fit my machine.)

What adhesive/install process do you recommend?

P.S. I cut rectangles around each of the words to use as a guide so I can get the letter positioned properly on the wall. Just struggling with the adhesive choice. Also, we really want the look of individuals letters on the wall, not on a plaque.

Call up 3M. They have a lot of different tapes that would work for this application. The type of wall is really going to be the deciding factor. 3M 468MP is what I have and use with acrylic letters but I might look into something else if I was putting it on concrete walls. I've always used it for applying on wood or acrylic.

Hi,
We use the adhesive that JDS Industries sell. It is clear and dries clear in about 15 minutes. You would need a way to keep the letters on the wall during that time.

Dennis

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Originally Posted by Kelly Steensma

Hi, guys. I'm a hobbyist CO2 owner. I'm cutting out small-ish letters (1.5" tall) and applying them to the wall (women's bathroom sign, men's bathroom sign, etc.).

How do I apply them? It's driving me nuts.

I tried a liquid glue, but I have 300 letters to do, so this is going to take awhile at that rate and the glue squishes out from behind the letter/gets on the wall and doesn't look great. Plus, I'm concerned I'm using the wrong glue and the letters are either a. going to fall off in a year or b. never come off without damaging the wall.

My dream would be to apply a sheet adhesive to the back of the sheet acrylic and re-cut the letters. (I read that I could ask the plastics company to do this when buying the material but, alas, I've already bought and had the acrylic cut down to a size to fit my machine.)

What adhesive/install process do you recommend?

P.S. I cut rectangles around each of the words to use as a guide so I can get the letter positioned properly on the wall. Just struggling with the adhesive choice. Also, we really want the look of individuals letters on the wall, not on a plaque.

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I don't think the applied adhesive from the supplier is going to work well. Walls aren't flat and it you use that thin tape, then it won't conform to the wall and the letters will fall off. Been there, done that.

You need to use VHB tape. Get something like .020" or .030" VHB tape and you'll be all set. The paint will fall off the wall before that stuff does.

I rarely adhere letters or graphics to a wall. I always mount them on studs so they can be removed when its time to paint. Even if they are supposed to be tight on the wall you can still use studs and just a dab of adhesive in the hole, just enough to assure they won't fall off and not so much that you can't remove them later.

Use a drill template to mark the holes in the back of the letters and to drill the holes in the wall.
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Originally Posted by Keith Outten

I rarely adhere letters or graphics to a wall. I always mount them on studs so they can be removed when its time to paint. Even if they are supposed to be tight on the wall you can still use studs and just a dab of adhesive in the hole, just enough to assure they won't fall off and not so much that you can't remove them later.

Use a drill template to mark the holes in the back of the letters and to drill the holes in the wall.
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Yes, I also use studs most of the time, but f the customer doesn't want the wall drilled, I will put 2-3 small pieces of VHB foam tape, and then E6000 adhesive on the rest of the back of the letters. Press hard, and the VHB will hold until the E6000 sets up.Any that squeezes out can be cut off after it sets using an Olfa or Exacto knife, but it's clear so doesn't show much.

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Originally Posted by Scott Shepherd

I don't think the applied adhesive from the supplier is going to work well. Walls aren't flat and it you use that thin tape, then it won't conform to the wall and the letters will fall off. Been there, done that.

You need to use VHB tape. Get something like .020" or .030" VHB tape and you'll be all set. The paint will fall off the wall before that stuff does.

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Wow, thanks for all of the replies!

Scott, I think you're right. I am going to try this tape. Do you recommend I get the tape wide enough so that the entire letter will be cut with adhesive on the back, or can I get away with a thin strip of tape on the upper part and lower part of each letter? And I'm assuming the tape is safe to burn through? Is it toxic?


Kelly

Little letters you don't need a lot of tape, because they don't weight much, but you also want them to be stuck good enough to not allow someone to easily just pop them off.

You can cut through the tape with the laser. I haven't cut through VHB with the laser (we use another method of taping the backs), but I have ordered laser cut acrylic letters from Gemini (the largest letter supplier out there) and they laser cut them with the VHB on. Only issue I have with that is that it can make removing the release liner off the tape a little tough to start because it's been fused to the adhesive with the laser. Not something you can't deal with, but just a small irritant when trying to install them.

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Originally Posted by Scott Shepherd

Little letters you don't need a lot of tape, because they don't weight much, but you also want them to be stuck good enough to not allow someone to easily just pop them off.

You can cut through the tape with the laser. I haven't cut through VHB with the laser (we use another method of taping the backs), but I have ordered laser cut acrylic letters from Gemini (the largest letter supplier out there) and they laser cut them with the VHB on. Only issue I have with that is that it can make removing the release liner off the tape a little tough to start because it's been fused to the adhesive with the laser. Not something you can't deal with, but just a small irritant when trying to install them.

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Another question...after reviewing comments on the VHB tape it seems that it is strong enough to "hold 2 hondas together". I can see that the office manager might cringe over this. Is there anything similar that is not *as* strong? The office is leased, so removing the signs if/when we ever move out is something to consider.

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Originally Posted by Kelly Steensma

Another question...after reviewing comments on the VHB tape it seems that it is strong enough to "hold 2 hondas together". I can see that the office manager might cringe over this. Is there anything similar that is not *as* strong? The office is leased, so removing the signs if/when we ever move out is something to consider.

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Sorry, it either sticks or it doesn't and that's what property managers know, for the most part. If you use adhesive that will come off, then something will pull them off because people are destructive in office environments. If they can get a letter off, they'll pull it off. If they can pull letters to make it spell something nasty, you can count on that too.

When you remove the tapes we use, it will pull the wall paper off the sheetrock, or if it's painted, it's going to rip the paper from the sheet rock off as well.

There's no utopia for adhesive, if it sticks well, it's destructive, if it doesn't stick well, then it'll fall off and have someone remove it.

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Originally Posted by Scott Shepherd

Sorry, it either sticks or it doesn't and that's what property managers know, for the most part. If you use adhesive that will come off, then something will pull them off because people are destructive in office environments. If they can get a letter off, they'll pull it off. If they can pull letters to make it spell something nasty, you can count on that too.

When you remove the tapes we use, it will pull the wall paper off the sheetrock, or if it's painted, it's going to rip the paper from the sheet rock off as well.

There's no utopia for adhesive, if it sticks well, it's destructive, if it doesn't stick well, then it'll fall off and have someone remove it.

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Thanks, Scott! I figured as much, just thought I would ask first. Will go that route.


Kelly