Best double sided tape for acrylic

[Jiten Patel]

Hi guys,

I am new to signs and have been asked to make one for a company. Just cut out letters from 3mm gold mirror acrylic that they want stuck to their shop wall. I have read on here various methods for sticking acrylic such as carpet tape etc, but need something permanent and in rolls or sheet of 600mm wide by 1000mm. Could anyone recommend anything suitable?

I would ideally like it to also allow me to adhere mirror perspex to clear or similar for rigidity as we will be cutting mirror but at 3mm it is too thin and warps.

[Ross Moshinsky]

3M VHB tape will work for applying it to the walls. You may find the VHB tape a bit thick when laminating the two pieces of acrylic together. 3M also has a good tape for that. We use 468MP.

Remember, on a job like this, a good template is key.

[Jiten Patel]

Hi Ross,

Thanks for that - the 468mp is about £400 a roll in the UK for 0.6m x 50m rolls. That works out at about £8 for a 600mm x 1000mm sheet. That seems quite expensive - more expensive than the acrylic....does that seem right?

[Joe Pelonio]

Yes, a little higher than here but close.

[Ross Moshinsky]

We bought our tape years ago. We bought 2" wide tape and I just lay down several strips. It's not the least expensive tape in the world but it's done the job for me in the past. With the use of nesting, I can typically get very good yeild out of both the acrylic and the tape. From U-Line, the tape is 2"x50yds for about $50. You need about 8 yards. So the additional cost is about $8. If the letters are large you could always use strips of gold line tape or something like it. That would be a much more economical way of doing it.

[Richard Rumancik]

Jiten, the 3M tapes tend to be expensive, but they work very well. A few things to note. Some of the tapes come in .005" thick (.12mm) and .010" (.24mm). If bonding two flat sheets, you can use a thin (.005") tape. But when bonding to a rough surface you may want a thicker tape as it will permit more contact due to the compliance of the adhesive. In the extreme, you need a foam tape if the two surfaces are not completely flat and smooth.

Also, I would be careful about buying very wide tape unless you also have very good application equipment. The wider the tape the easier it is to make a mistake when applying it, and it can waste the expensive tape and ruin the substrate (because it can take a lot of effort to clean off the residue). With material like .50 mm-1 mm Rowmark you might as well throw the material away and start over, as you will ruin it before you clean it.

It is not that difficult to apply narrower strips in parallel especially if you don't mind having a gap between them. With a little practice you can apply 2" wide tape (50 mm) tape with no gap. With a proper dispenser you could go wider.

If you choose a tape make sure it is compatible with the substrate(s). 3M makes a lot of different tapes for different applications and using the wrong tape can create problems. Unfortunately one tape can't do everything. A rep could give you some advice.