Experience mounting on Sintra?

I have a client interested in large prints (30 X40 inches) and the best bet for mounting in terms of durability, weight, stability. etc. seems to be Sintra.

I was wondering if anyone has experience in hanging Sintra-mounted pieces. I hope to do a "float mount with cleats in the back - I expect that I will have to glue the cleats on. A bit of web searching suggests that gel cyanoacrylate is the strongest adhesive - but can I glue wooden cleats to the back?

I have ruled out gatorboard (too fragile, and susceptible to warping) and masonite (unattractive edges, also not sure how to hang).

Jaan

I don't have experience with Sintra, but I've used CA glues with wood, a gel type CA should bond to the wood with no problem. However, the plastic and the wood will expand differently, and you may want to consider backing up the glue with mechanical fasteners. I'm not sure I'd want to trust the glue on its own.

Jaan

I would recommend using PVC cement for plastic pipe. Home Despot is a good source. I have used it in the past with no problems.

Thanks!

I know that Sintra is a PVC product, but would the cement bond to anything other than PVC?

Jaan

I don't see why not. It seems to be a fairly agressive solvent cement. Let me know what you are thinking of and I can run a test tonight for you.

PVC cement works mostly by its solvent action on the plastic. I doubt that it would make a reliable bond with wood, for that I'd consider CA, epoxy or a polyurethane (aka "Gorilla" glue). As a guess, epoxy probably has the greatest shear strength of those three, that is, resistance to a load that's parallel to the glue line.
However, if you might use a plastic cleat, then PVC cement may be a good choice, as long as it's compatible with both pieces that you're joining. The plastic pipe cements are specific to the kind of plastic, which is why there are products labeled for PVC and others for ABS plastic. How much weight do expect to be dealing with here?

I am curious if you've found a vendor that can properly mount to cintra? I have to say it's not easy to do as the material is super slick plastic and very hard to mount to. At least I never found the correct adhesive that cintra would properly accept. I have seen prints mounted to cintra that were flat and got bubbles in the mount after a short period of time.

Gluing to the surface for mounting on a wall will probably be just as difficult. CA may not work properly you'll have to test it out. I would make sure you sand and rough up the area to be glued. Epoxy would probably just pop right off. I would be quite leery of using any glue to the cintra surface. Ask the manufacturer for help.

Bubbles can sometimes be a result of a dirty hand print. A supported cold mount adhesive may have a different coefficient of expansion which may cause a bubble due to temperature cycling. Fewer problems will occur if the cold mount adhesive is one with a high tack.
PVC cement will form a bond as strong as the base materials (Refering to Sintra).

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I have a mounted print coming, and will try to glue a wooden "shadow box" frame to the back using gel CA. One website tested various adhesives on sintra and found that PVC glue gave a strong bond, but I don't think it will bond the wood, and I am worried about it "melting" through the 3 mm sintra. Testing showed that gel CA gave a phenomenally strong bond.

I will report back on results.

I worked at a lab in Phoenix and mounted hundreds of prints on sintra. Sintra is not an archival material. We did use wood cleats and used industrial strength double-stick tape to aplly the cleats, then hot glued on the inside of the frame. - Jim

jpeets said:

Sintra

Click to expand...

http://www.piedmontplastics.com/html/prodname-SINTRA_PVC_Foam-25.htm
http://www.tri-dee.com/Sintra sheets information.htm
http://www.tri-dee.com/Sintra pvc adhesives.htm

Just a followup. And thanks to everyone who posted info and suggestions.

I received the print mounted on 3 mm black Sintra. It looks great, and is noticeably lighter than the masonite I used before. It is, however, fairly "floppy".

I built a square frame out of 1X2 poplar, which I stained black (because the print is hung on a corner wall, and the frame would be visible. I reverse beveled the top member for hanging. Corners were glued and nailed.

I attached the frame to the back of the Sintra using regular (not gel) cyanoacrylate, and found that the CA would dry before the entire glue area was covered. I ended up concentrating on gluing the top member of the frame. I had sanded the sintra with 220 sandpaper and cleaned the wood and sintra with isopropyl alcohol before gluing. The print was sprayed with a lustre protective finish.

The end result looked great to me, and to the customer. The cost was reasonable. I think that with a trend toward large prints, surface mounted without a frame, this is a "product" that I will continue to promote.

I would, of course, be interested in hearing how others approach such presentations.