[Gil]

How to Make Aluminum Clad Card Stock (Part II)

By Gil Russell
Edited by Leif Ohlsson

7 August 2009

Adhesive
After rejecting VOC based adhesives water based glues were tried. PVA based (Polyvinyl Acetate) white glue and Carpenter’s (Aliphatic Resin) yellow glue did not achieve a good aluminum bond (It will work in a pinch but leaves unbounded voids). An ideal bond fails a peel test paper first. Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue was tried next and it surprisingly passed the peel test. After several practice runs I became proficient in producing nearly perfect aluminum clad panels every time.

Bonding the Paper to the Aluminum
Using a fairly fresh tube of Tacky Glue spread a pattern approximately the size of the paper that’s to be glued to the aluminum.

Figure 9 Applying Glue Pattern to the Aluminum

Use the squeegee to spread the glue evenly over the surface. A thinner film is desirable as it helps to prevent paper curl. Wipe excess glue off the edge of the squeegee to achieve a thinner layer.

Figure 10 Spreading the Glue into a Film

Figure 11 Aluminum Ready for Bonding

Carefully place the paper card stock into the middle of the glue area.

Figure 12 Placing the Paper

Gently burnish the paper with the cleaned squeegee. Burnish the edges with a small burnishing tool.

Figure 13 Burnishing the Paper

Figure 14 Burnishing the Edges

Allow the lay-up to dry. This will take anywhere from one to four hours depending on humidity, type of paper and the depth of the applied glue film. I generally allow four to six hours to insure that the glue has set and will not debond when the paper is cut out of the foil. With a sharp razor blade carefully cut around the edges of the paper stock. The aluminum clad paper will spring into a convex section as shown.

Figure 15 Cutting the Paper Out of the Foil

Figure 16 Sheet Curl

Remove the curl in the sheet by placing a towel or newspaper on top of the glass pane. I use a cardboard mailing tube to roll the curl out. A rolling pin also works but make sure to protect the aluminum surface with a newspaper or towel to prevent scratching it.

Figure 17 Rolling the Curl Out of the Sheet

Resulting Aluminum Clad Sheet:

Figure 18 Finished Aluminum Clad Card Stock Sheet

Epilogue
Legal size card stock was used in this tutorial. I recommend practicing with smaller sizes till you’re familiar with the process before moving on to larger pieces.

Most any weight paper can be used as long as the surface is fairly smooth. Rougher surface textures require a thicker glue film application with longer drying times. Sheets of tracing vellum make easy to apply overlay panels for models.

I regularly put the aluminum clad card stock through an inkjet printer to print part patterns on the paper backside. Remember to mirror reverse the pattern before printing.

A piece of adhesive backed shelf paper applied to the aluminum surface will protect the surface during the model building process.