:: View topic - Questions on making a '3D' cassette

Hey Guys,

We are considering making a '3d' cassette for a few of our shapes and have a few questions about what others have done.

Where we are looking for help on comes down to the construction of the cassette - we are currently doing a flat layup and would prefer to keep things this way if possible. So this means a fairly thin gauge sheet aluminium maybe 16 guage thickest max.... So what is the best way to attach two thin (16 guage) sheets of aluminum together? I cant imagine screws would work.. all of my searches come up with taping screws that wouldnt leave the bottom flat. I was thinking maybe ditching aluminum and tack welding steel together but not sure if that would allow for the flat layup after the first press. Or perhaps get a thicker bottom plate and screw the thinner top pieces into that (which I have seen a few people do)?

Hope this makes some sense.. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

I'm not sure how you're attaching our building pieces together for your cassettes, but maybe rivets would do the trick. I'd be curious to see a sketch of what you're planning.

Mark

A tack/spot weld may do the trick if you have one of those tools. Here's an idea to try... now I have not done this... so you may want to try on a piece of scrap.

Some have used metal in a ski/board layup using VDS to help the bonding between metal and other material. What about abrading the metal surface, lay down a little bit of epoxy, then VDS, epoxy, and then another piece of abrade metal. Then press it until the epoxy sets. Just an idea...

Never considered this before but definitely makes sense. Thanks. After some looking into the subject it appears loctite make a few products that should work fine. Now I need to find a supplier in Canada and test it out.

http://www.henkelna.com/us/content_data/237605_LT3771_Metal_Bonding_Guide_v5_LR1.pdf

I believe I've seen Loctite at Home Depot. I may try this myself.

I talked to a sales rep and for this application he recommended LOCTITE U05FL which should be able to withstand the heat of the press, is super strong and should be flexible enough to bounce back flat..