Knowledge Page

Gluing and Coating Tests

Try outs by Nadine & Anne

Stage March 2021 How can we make them sustainalbe?

Probelm: Plant signs that were outside got rusty - fell off

different signs:  old ones = small icons, new plant signs were printed with bigger icons

 

TEST 1

What: Dipping signs into graffiti coating

Conclusion: Graffiti coating doesn't stick on metal and the layer gets too thick when dipping it.

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Sign Coating - Test 1 -



TEST 2

What: Applying epoxy coating with a brush and letting it dry in an upright position

Conclusion: The epoxy coating needs to dry in a dust-free space (otherwise the sign will collect dust on the surface); by letting it dry in an upright position, uneven bulbs are forming on the bottom

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TEST 3

What: Applying epoxy coating with a brush and letting it dry horizontally by sticking it in a styrofoam box (Clean Lab)

Conclusion: satisfying result, the back side looks perfectly sealed

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Plant sign coating - test 3 -

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Plant sign coating - test 4 -

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TEST 4

What:

1. Cleaning the signs with alcohol (important, otherwise there will get dirt in the epoxy and on the other signs)

2. Coating a total of 22 signs with epoxy, by applying it with a brush; Duration: 30 minutes; Epoxy used: 25 ml of each component = 50 ml in total -> Almost finished after adding a layer of epoxy on both sides of the plant sign.

3. Letting it drip for about 20 min. by sticking it in a blue box

4. Removing the little bulb on the bottom with a brush + turning the sign upside down

5. Putting the used brush in vinegar in order to be able to reuse it

Conclusions: leave enough space between the signs on the drying rack to be able to turn them around without touching each other; don't wait too long to remove the bulb, otherwise you might take off too much of the resin

How to avoid little bubbles in the epoxy resin: 
- warm the resin before using it (put it in front of a heater or in a bowl of warm - not hot! - water) BUT making it to warm can shorten the processing time
- mix the two components together slowly - doing it fast can cause lots of bubbles
- use a small spatula for mixing

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TEST 5

What: Using a silicone kit for sanitary applications (transparent!) as a glue

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silicone -

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silicone-gun -

1. Cleaning the back of the plant sign with the cleaner that is included in the kit in order to get a fat-free surface.

2. Applying the silicone with a silicone gun on the back of the plant sign

3. Pushing the stick onto the silicone

4. Removing the excess silicone on the sides and make a nice edge with a scraper rubber

5. Applying a weight on the top to hold the stick in position

6. Letting it try

 

Conclusion: 

- The silicone doesn't fully dry out (-> use a silicone of better quality)

- The silicone layer needs to be thicker (-> find a way to dry it without applying weight on the top)

- Don't remove the excess material on the sides (-> it will seal the edges and prevents the sticks from getting rusty)


TEST 6

We want to use the same kind of signs that we are using in the grow beds to identify the plants growing in the aquaponics green house. Instead of using a stick and putting them into the soil, we will attach them with magnets onto the aquaponics steel 'sceleton'. A test has already been done and you can find the result in the project room. 

These are the next steps that need to be done:

  • Talking to the people that are working in the Aquaponics and asking them where the signs should hang. -> We don't want them to be in the way of their work. 
  • Making a stencil out of cardboard. (like the one for the sticks) This will make it easier to hold the magnets in place when gluing them. (Important: Make sure that all the surfaces are fat-free before gluing)
  • Finding out more about the different poles of the magnets. (Think about what would happen when you store them all together in a box)
  • The magnetic signs also need to be coated with epoxy

 

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magnet test -