Rubber to metal bonding

Correction, the thinkness is .081 combined thickness.

Many years ago when we had reel to reel tape players we had an aluminum tape that was sticky on one side that was used to "mark" where the tape player would reverse when playing the tape.

I suspect this is still around somewhere, a source may be pattern makers who had almost everything.

Another similar tape is used in the electroplating industry when doing hard chroming they tape the areas they don't want plated with a thin conductive tape as I recall.

I have had success with standard contact cement in bonding neoprene to steel in an applicatin that was subjected to water and vibration.

Its not easy to bond rubber to metal. If you use aluminium it would be adviseable bead blast the surface and anodise first (but not seal) to increase adhesion before bonding. Similarily, stainless steel need a roughening and heat treatment to produce an oxide layer to assist adhesion.

Rubber processors would screen print a primer and adhesive to the metal before inserting in an injection mould tool to mould, bond and cure the rubber and adhesive system. Cleanliness and quality control of the process is an issue where if it is wrong the rubber will peal off the metal.

Selection of the rubber and the adhesive is important as will be the development of the manufacturing process.

Contact some rubber processors for their recommendations.

Apple Rubber does a lot of work with what they call 'composite seals' - o-rings or gaskets bonded to a metal or plastic part. They have custom engineering support that might be expensive, but is certainly worth looking into. You can at least order a design guide for free - it is very good and easier for beginners than Parker's guide.

http://www.applerubber.com/

If you're just doing one or two quick parts, the contact cement method above will certainly work, just check the adhesion for your type of rubber, compatibility with whatever environment you're working in, and watch for degradation over time.

For adding the thru holes, look into using a press rather than drill when you're going through a thin, soft gasket like that.

Lord Chemical has several adhesives that work well to bond rubber to metals. Some make a bond so strong that the rubber will tear before the bond breaks.

McMaster Carr # 7580A52 is a very strong cement. It is Permabond # 910. When I read your question, I took a piece of .0625 gum rubber gasket and cemented it to a piece of smooth aluminum. The only cleaning I did was rubbing the aluminum with my finger. I waited about 15 seconds and the piece was bonded securely. After about 20 minutes I went to pull off the rubber and it tore. This is a metal bonding, general purpose, instant cement. I hope this helps.

Pepple

Thanks for the info, what type of rubber was it? (durometer rating) if you know. What type of aluminum was it? (5052,6061,etc..). I think i'll experiment with that myself, thanks so much.

The rubber is part # 8525t52 from McMaster Carr. It's durometer rating is A35. The aluminum is 6061. I attached some zinc plated steel tee nuts to Neoprene Spring Rubber Tubing to make some motor mounts and it will tear the rubber before it will release.