Bonding "sticky back" to steel

[notnats]

We use a material we buy as "stickybacK" and glue it to a stainless or galvanised steel sheet. It is used to hold a polymer letterpress printing plate in place during a scrubbing process in a warm water bath while the non-image areas of the plate are brushed away.

Over the last 10-15 years we have used several glueing systems, none of which are entirely satisfactory. The supplier of the stickyback is not helpful.

The stickyback is a floppy, tacky rubber-like sheet about 3mm thick. We prepare the side to be glued by roughening it with emery paper, then wipe it clean with acetone. We prepare the metal plate the same way.

We have used Rema Tip Top SC2000 glue which is a 2 part adhesive intended for conveyor belt repairs. It is difficult to apply evenly and lumps in the glue show through the stickyback and can show up on the printing plate.

We have used a 3M adhesive transfer system which is easier to apply.

Neither of them stick to the stickyback very well, and once it starts to peel back, water gets underneath and that's the end of the bond. We have chamfered the edge and used a silicone sealer around the edges to resist peeling. All these things help, but none are good.

We bought some stickyback pre-bonded to a stainless backing sheet from a large international supplier of pre-press materials. It looked great but didn't last any better than our own systems.

Does anyone have experience with this stickyback material? Can anyone suggest an improved bonding technique? Does anyone know who makes it?

Thanks for any help.

Jeff

 

[MadMango]

I haven't worked with "stickyback", but have worked with bonding pliable elastics to metal. Any bonding agent you use, you will have to seal the edges to prevent water intrusion. I would revisit 3M's website, or better yet contact one of their application engineers. Also, you might want to see the available options of SikaFlex.

"But what... is it good for?"
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
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