Summary for adhesive bonding to electroless nickel Discussion
Adhesive bonding to electroless nickel can be difficult because EN is very smooth, and the thread suggests that surface preparation matters more than simply sanding it once. James R. Myers said the bond failure may relate to inadequate roughening and recommended trying fresher abrasives, including 320 and 280 wet-and-dry paper, and even setting up a QC check to verify how well the surface is roughed up against failures. He also noted an old example where heating stainless steel to 400 °F helped tape stick better. Todd Osmolski added that Loctite makes an adhesive that bonds well to EN, though he did not name the exact product. In the later stainless-to-plated-metal question, Andrew Speer emphasized that for low-load service, 3M VHB structural double-sided tape could be a practical alternative, and stressed that cleanliness is critical for adhesion.
Q. Is electroless nickel inherently difficult to adhesively bond? What parameters affect bond strength?
Our company recently experienced an adhesive bond failure to electroless nickel. The adhesive separated cleanly to the electroless nickel surface, which was previously abraded with 400 grit sandpaper.
James R. Myers
Tucson, Arizona
2006
A. It can be tough to glue to EN as it is very smooth. A slightly used sandpaper, even a good one, will not abrade as well as a new one. A long time ago, we had a problem trying to mask a SS part. When it was baked at 400 °F for a half hour, the tape stuck very well. You might try it. You might try 320 and 280 wet and dry sandpaper to see if it might work better and establish a “QC” check for how well it is roughed up vs. failures.
James Watts
Navarre, Florida
A. Loctite makes an adhesive that bonds well to EN. Unfortunately I don’t know the specific product.
Todd Osmolski
Charlotte, North Carolina
Gluing Stainless steel to chrome/copper/alloy plate
Q. I have a 3″ stainless steel plate I’m gluing to the back of 12″ diameter brass disks plated in either chrome, simulated rose gold or simulated gold (probably some kind of copper zinc alloy?) for a motor shaft to attach to. This is for an art piece which is rotating very slowly (~7 RPM) so no substantial forces or acceleration to speak of.
My problem is that no matter what glue I use it always eventually falls off. I’ve tried superglue, epoxy, gorilla glue. It’s not that the plating is coming off, but I tried sanding off the plating anyway but it made no difference. I tried scuffing up the stainless steel plate – it’s quite hard to scratch so the scratches were pretty superficial but it still didn’t help.
What am I doing wrong?
A Sabeti
– San Francisco, California
February 29, 2024
A. Hi A. If there are bearings involved which are causing a misalignment, the adhesive would be pulled apart over time, starting at the edge of the disk, but if there is nothing forcing a misalignment, I don’t understand what is causing this problem.
Over-the-counter epoxy
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
should work, but there are structural adhesives that hold airplanes together, which you can try. Follow the instructions, but generally you wipe the surfaces with acetone
⇦ on
eBay
or
before applying the adhesive. If you decide to try structural adhesives remember that you need to buy the applicator, not just the cartridge.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
 | A. It is a question of surface energy and wettability and the problem is common. One solution is to expose the surfaces to a plasma for a few minutes just before gluing. Of course, the surfaces should be free of dust, grease, oil, etc,. before exposing to plasma. Two types plasmas can be used: H R Prabhakara A. For the low load application like your piece seems to be, you could try some structural adhesive double-sided tape, specifically 3-M VHB double sided tape ⇨ The thing with adhesives, just like in plating, cleanliness is next to godliness, if the substrate is not clean expect problems with adhesion. Andrew Speer |
Thanks, Prabhakara. Thanks, Andrew.
I didn’t think of double-sided tape, didn’t even realize it was available in structural adhesive grades. And now I see that it’s even available in 80 mm disc shape which sounds perfect for A’s 3-inch diameter plate.
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.